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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #68749 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68749)
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of Peggy in Toyland, by Archibald
-Marshall
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
-using this eBook.
-
-Title: Peggy in Toyland
-
-Author: Archibald Marshall
-
-Illustrator: Helen M. Barton
-
-Release Date: August 14, 2022 [eBook #68749]
-
-Language: English
-
-Produced by: Charlene Taylor, Amber Black and the Online Distributed
-             Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-             produced from images generously made available by The
-             Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEGGY IN TOYLAND ***
-
-
-
-  PEGGY IN TOYLAND
-
-  BY
-  ARCHIBALD MARSHALL
-
-  Author of “Exton Manor,”
-  “Sir Harry,” etc.
-
-  _ILLUSTRATED BY
-  HELEN M. BARTON_
-
-  [Illustration]
-
-  NEW YORK
-  DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
-  1920
-
-
-
-
-  COPYRIGHT, 1920,
-  BY DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, INC.
-
-
-
-
-  TO
-
-  KATHLEEN ANN
-
-  I DEDICATE THIS STORY
-  WHICH WAS BEGUN FOR HER MOTHER
-  KATHLEEN NOEL
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS
-
-
-  CHAPTER                                           PAGE
-
-      I INTRODUCES PEGGY AND SOME OF HER FRIENDS       1
-
-     II PEGGY’S SURPRISING ADVENTURE BEGINS           16
-
-    III THE ROYAL ARK AND THE BAD BEHAVIOUR OF
-          WOODEN’S AUNT                               31
-
-     IV MOMENTOUS NEWS IS BROUGHT BY A DUTCH DOLL     46
-
-      V ARRIVAL AT THE ROYAL PALACE OF DOLLTOWN       59
-
-     VI KING SELIM HOLDS AN AUDIENCE                  74
-
-    VII THEY ALL GO TO PRISON                         90
-
-   VIII PEGGY BATHES A BABY AND HAS A SURPRISE       107
-
-     IX THEY DISCUSS A PLAN OF ESCAPE                124
-
-      X PEGGY TALKS TO A ROYAL PRISONER              137
-
-     XI THE RELEASE OF PEGGY AND WOODEN              151
-
-    XII PEGGY STAYS IN A REAL DOLLS’ HOUSE           165
-
-   XIII THE DOLLS TALK IT ALL OVER                   176
-
-    XIV THE ESCAPE                                   190
-
-     XV THE PURSUIT                                  203
-
-    XVI COLONEL JIM ATTEMPTS A RESCUE                216
-
-   XVII THE BATTLE                                   227
-
-  XVIII THE SIEGE                                    238
-
-    XIX SELIM IS CAPTURED                            252
-
-     XX THE LAST                                     264
-
-
-
-
-PEGGY IN TOYLAND
-
-
-
-
-PEGGY IN TOYLAND
-
-
-
-
-I
-
-INTRODUCES PEGGY AND SOME OF HER FRIENDS
-
-
-Peggy was just eight years old. She had very long rather straight hair,
-blue eyes, a dear little pudgy nose, and a small mouth. She lived with
-her father and mother in a nice house in the country with a big garden
-round it. It was about five miles from the sea, and she was sometimes
-taken there in the motor-car, to paddle and to play on the sands.
-
-The place she used to go to had only one house near it. This was a
-large bungalow belonging to some friends of Peggy’s father and mother.
-It was built right on the beach, but there was a little lawn beside it,
-and on the edge of the lawn were two wooden figures that had been once
-figure-heads of ships. They were both ladies, and it was difficult to
-tell whether they were old or young, because one of them had had her
-nose broken off, and the other had lost every bit of paint off her
-face. But there was something agreeable in the appearance of both of
-them, and Peggy used to think she would have liked to know them when
-they were leading a more active life, perched up in the very front of
-the ships to which they belonged, and travelling over the sea to all
-sorts of strange places. But they still looked over the sea, which was
-better than being broken up and burnt, with the rest of the ships; and
-of course they always looked in one direction, straight across the
-water to the big Island on the other side of it.
-
-Peggy had never been to the Island, and when she was playing on the
-sands she would sometimes look at it, and wonder what it was like
-there. She could see a little town and a little church, and a few
-houses scattered about among the hills; and she wondered what sort of
-people lived in them.
-
-Well, when she was eight years old she found out, and she also got to
-know a good deal more about the two wooden ladies of the bungalow. What
-she found out was so remarkable that it is doubtful if any little girl
-has ever seen anything like it before, and I am going to tell you the
-story of it.
-
-But before I begin I must say this: that if Peggy had not had a kind
-heart she would never have found out anything. I do not mean to say
-that she was never naughty; but she was never naughty in that most
-horrid of all ways, by being cruel or unkind. She had several pets--two
-rabbits and four guinea-pigs, a bantam cock and hen, two white pigeons,
-and a kitten, which she liked best of them all. If she had once been
-cruel to any of these pets, just to see what they would do, it is quite
-certain that she would never have been taken to the Island. And if she
-had made fun of old people or poor people, she would never have gone
-either, because that is an extremely unkind and horrid thing to do.
-But Peggy had never done any of these things, because she was a really
-kind little girl, and if something horrid inside her whispered: “Now,
-just be a little bit cruel,” she was almost as much ashamed of it as if
-she had really been cruel, and she never listened to the whisper for a
-moment. So when she was eight years old she was taken to the Island in
-the extraordinary way I am going to tell you about.
-
-Peggy had a good number of toys, and amongst them two dolls, which will
-now engage our attention.
-
-The elder of the two was a wooden doll, which she had had for some
-time, and the story of this doll is rather interesting.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-When Peggy was five years old she had a doll given her called Rose.
-Rose was well-dressed, in clothes that would come on and off; and
-rather a nice hat came with her. But somehow Peggy could not get
-to like her much. She took her about everywhere for quite a week,
-undressed her every night and dressed her again every morning, and
-sometimes gave her a bath, but not with water in it, because her body
-was stuffed, although her head was composition. She also took her out
-in the new pram that had been given to her at the same time, and put up
-the hood if it was sunny. In fact she did everything that a nice little
-girl could to make Rose feel that she had come to a kind and loving
-home.
-
-But at the end of a week she didn’t feel that Rose really loved her.
-Most little girls know dolls like that. You may do all you can for
-them, and they don’t seem to appreciate it at all. Well, Rose was one
-of those dolls.
-
-One morning Peggy went out with her nurse, and took Rose with her
-in the pram. They went down through the village, and along the road
-on the other side, and presently they came to a cottage where a lot
-of children lived. Their mother was not very kind to them, and so
-they were not very kind to each other, but were always fighting and
-squabbling.
-
-One of these children was a girl a year older than Peggy, called Mabel,
-and just as Peggy and her nurse came up to the cottage they saw Mabel
-banging the head of an old wooden doll on the hard road.
-
-Now children and dolls are sometimes naughty, and must be corrected,
-but their heads should never be banged against anything hard. There
-are plenty of ways of correcting them without doing that, and every
-nice mother knows it. Peggy knew it as well as anybody, although she
-was a year younger than Mabel; so directly she saw what was being done
-she cried out to her nurse how cruel it was.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Mabel stopped beating the wooden doll’s head against the road, and
-stared at Peggy, and at Rose, who was sitting in the pram; and she must
-have fallen in love with Rose at first sight, because her face became
-quite different when she looked at her.
-
-While Mabel was looking at Rose, Peggy was looking at the wooden doll;
-and the more she looked the more her heart went out to her. She was
-not what you would call a beautiful doll, and perhaps never had been.
-One of her legs had been amputated at the knee, one of her arms at the
-shoulder, and the other at the elbow. Her face was round and open; so
-were her eyes. Her nose was gone. The less said about her hair the
-better; she would never need another shampoo. She was dressed in a
-loose frock of spotted red flannel, tied round the waist with an old
-piece of black hair-ribbon.
-
-Such was this doll, who was destined to play so large a part in Peggy’s
-life, as she first saw her; and it may seem odd to some people that she
-should instantly have loved her. Perhaps being such a kind little girl,
-and feeling so dreadfully sorry to see the doll so badly treated, had
-something to do with it; but it could not have been only that. No,
-there was something about this wooden doll which made Peggy love her at
-once, and when you have read this story, perhaps you will be able to
-understand what it was.
-
-Peggy told Mabel that she ought not to knock her doll’s head on the
-road, and Mabel pointed at Rose, and said: “If I had a doll like that,
-I wouldn’t want to knock ’er ’ead on the road.”
-
-It was then that the idea first came to Peggy that she would much
-rather have the wooden doll than Rose; and she asked her nurse if she
-might give Rose to Mabel, and ask Mabel to give her the wooden doll
-instead.
-
-Nurse said: “The idea of such a thing!” and told Peggy to come on. Of
-course she was right not to let Peggy exchange dolls there and then,
-because she didn’t know whether Peggy’s mother would like it. But
-where she was wrong was when she said, “Fancy wanting to exchange a
-beautiful doll like Rose for an ugly old wooden thing like that!” She
-didn’t understand that what she called beauty had nothing to do with it
-at all. You don’t love a person for their looks, but just because you
-can’t help loving them. And Peggy was quite right to love the wooden
-doll more than Rose, as afterwards turned out.
-
-Fortunately, Peggy’s mother understood these things better than the
-nurse. The end of it was that Peggy was allowed to give Rose to Mabel,
-with all her clothes except the hat, which had come on the same
-birthday as she had, but had not belonged especially to her. And Mabel
-gave Peggy the wooden doll, but without its red flannel dress, which
-Peggy’s mother thought might contain germs.
-
-Now that the wooden doll belonged to Peggy she had to give her a name.
-She called her Daffodil, because the daffodils were out in the garden
-when she came. But the name never stuck to her. She was always called
-Wooden in the family circle; and presently it was forgotten that she
-had ever had any other name.
-
-The first thing that happened to her was that she underwent an
-operation for restoring the limbs that were lost. It was a serious
-operation, and she was under chloroform for about a week. The
-chauffeur, whose name was Herbert, performed the operation, and when
-it was over Wooden had two arms and two legs just like everybody else.
-One of the legs sometimes came off at the knee, and both arms at the
-elbows. But Herbert, accustomed to making quick repairs, was always
-ready to perform other minor operations, and Wooden was seldom without
-her full number of limbs for long together.
-
-Wooden went through the usual illnesses, and was carefully nursed by
-Peggy. Perhaps she suffered rather more than most dolls, but Peggy’s
-father was a doctor, and there was always help at hand if anything
-serious happened. And of course Peggy knew more about cases, and
-nursing, than other little girls whose fathers were not doctors. Wooden
-had whooping-cough, croup, mumps, scarlet-fever, chicken-pox, measles,
-German-measles, swollen glands, general debility, bronchitis, typhoid,
-and lung trouble, all in the ordinary way. For some little time she
-was a spinal case, and had to be kept on her back. But she was always
-good and uncomplaining through her ailments, and Peggy loved her more
-because she was a trifle delicate than if she had always been in robust
-health.
-
-In fact, the longer Peggy had Wooden the more she loved her. She played
-with her more than with her other dolls, and Wooden was always the one
-she took to bed with her. Peggy had a large Teddy bear, which she also
-loved and took to bed with her. But there could be no jealousy between
-Wooden and Teddy, because they were so different. If Peggy sometimes
-dressed Teddy up in a jacket and skirt belonging to Wooden, it was
-always treated as a joke. As a rule he went about with nothing on but
-his own thick fur.
-
-[Illustration: Peggy had a large Teddy bear]
-
-Wooden had all the clothes of Peggy’s dolls’ wardrobe to wear, if they
-fitted her, and was better dressed than most dolls. And as everybody
-liked her when they once came to know her, she had plenty of things
-given her as time went on. When Miss Clay came to the house for a week
-or two to sew, she would generally make something for Wooden out of
-the material left over. Once she made her a purple velvet jacket, and
-once a tailor-made skirt. As for nightgowns, and petticoats, and things
-like that, trimmed with lace, and sometimes with pink and blue ribbon,
-Wooden was so well supplied that Peggy’s father said her laundry bill
-was becoming quite a serious item. So it will be seen that Wooden was
-very much better off than when she had belonged to Mabel, and had only
-had one red flannel dress.
-
-We now come to the other doll of Peggy’s, of whom mention has been made.
-
-Her name was Lady Grace. She came on Peggy’s eighth birthday, and was
-really a beautiful doll, as everybody who saw her bore witness. She had
-been born in France, although she herself was English, and the clothes
-that came with her were finer than any of Wooden’s. Her face was wax,
-and she had beautiful hair. Her eyes opened and shut, and she had the
-sweetest little hands and feet, with pink toes and fingertips.
-
-Peggy loved her at once. This was not altogether because of her beauty,
-for Rose had been beautiful--though not so beautiful as Lady Grace--and
-Peggy had never been able to love Rose at all. There was something
-about Lady Grace which made Peggy feel that she must look after her and
-pet her. And she never felt, as she had felt with Rose, that all her
-petting was of no use. Lady Grace might not say much, but she showed
-that she was grateful to Peggy for all the care she took of her by
-being always sweet and good; though she was, as I have said, rather
-helpless.
-
-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.
-
-But, just at first, it must be confessed that Wooden had rather less
-attention; and if she had not been so sensible she might have felt
-jealous. I don’t think she did, or she would have told Peggy so
-afterwards. She probably knew exactly how things were, and that, when
-Lady Grace had been made to feel quite at home, her turn would come
-again.
-
-Well, one night when Peggy went to bed, she took Lady Grace and Teddy
-with her, and left Wooden on the top of a chest of drawers with all her
-clothes on. And then Wooden might have felt a little sad, because it
-was the first time that such a thing had ever happened to her; and she
-might have begun to wonder whether, after all, Peggy loved her quite as
-much as she had done before.
-
-But fortunately for this story, which might not otherwise have been
-written, as you will presently see, soon after Peggy had been tucked
-up and left to go to sleep, she remembered that she had not undressed
-Wooden. So she called her nurse, who was in the next room with the door
-a little open, and asked her to give Wooden to her.
-
-The nurse would not let her have two dolls in bed with her. Teddy
-didn’t matter because he was so soft. So Peggy asked her to put
-Lady Grace in the dolls’ cot, and give her Wooden instead. She felt
-dreadfully sorry that she had forgotten about Wooden, and wanted to
-make it up to her. Lady Grace would have to get used to sleeping in the
-cot some time or other, and Peggy thought she might just as well begin
-now.
-
-So Peggy went to sleep hugging Wooden in her arms; and Teddy lay on his
-back on the pillow on the other side of her, with one paw stuck up in
-the air and the rest of him under the bedclothes.
-
-By-and-by the nurse came in to look at her, and then went to bed in the
-next room. Then her father and mother came in and kissed her, but she
-did not wake up. Then the house became quiet and dark, and everybody in
-it was fast asleep.
-
-And then things began to happen.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-II
-
-PEGGY’S SURPRISING ADVENTURE BEGINS
-
-
-Peggy was awakened by the noise of a motor outside. It sometimes
-happened that her father had to go out at night, and she heard the car
-start off. But she generally went to sleep again as soon as ever the
-noise had died away.
-
-But this time the car, instead of standing throbbing for a few minutes
-before the door, and then starting off down the drive and leaving
-everything as quiet and still as before, seemed to be coming nearer
-and nearer. In fact, it seemed as if it was being driven right into
-the room, and made such a noise that Peggy opened her eyes. And when
-she did open them, she opened them very wide indeed, for the car _was_
-in the room, standing right at the foot of the bed. And who should be
-driving it but Teddy, whom she had last seen lying on the pillow by her
-side?
-
-And that was not nearly all, for everything was changing all
-around her. The apple-blossoms on the wall-paper had become real
-apple-blossoms, and were dancing in a bright spring breeze; the ceiling
-had melted away into blue sky; and suddenly the little birds that had
-been sitting in a long row on the bough which ran round the top of the
-paper flew up all together and filled the air with their singing.
-
-[Illustration: The apple-blossoms on the wall-paper had become real
-apple-blossoms]
-
-Peggy sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. When she looked again there
-was Wooden standing by the side of the bed, smiling at her.
-
-“Get up, dear,” said Wooden in the kind and gentle voice that Peggy had
-known she would speak in if she ever spoke at all. “I am going to take
-you to Toyland.”
-
-Teddy spoke at the same moment. He waved a paw in the air and said,
-“What ho! What larks!” and sounded his motor-horn.
-
-Now the moment that Wooden and Teddy spoke, Peggy left off being
-surprised altogether. Everything seemed quite natural, and she jumped
-up full of pleasure at the idea of an adventure.
-
-The moment her feet had touched the floor, lo and behold! she was fully
-dressed, in a clean blue over-all, with her outdoor shoes and her big
-straw hat trimmed with daisies. Her face and hands were washed, her
-nails scrubbed, and her teeth cleaned; and her long hair, which was
-always plaited for the night, was brushed and tied up with her blue
-ribbon.
-
-“Come along, dear,” said Wooden, taking her hand. “We must start at
-once. Are you quite ready, Lady Grace?”
-
-“Yes,” said a soft, musical voice. Peggy looked towards the
-dressing-table, and there was Lady Grace pinning on her hat. She came
-and kissed Peggy. “I am sure you will like Toyland, dear,” she said,
-“and it is a great honour to be taken there.”
-
-Both Wooden and Lady Grace seemed to be grown up all of a sudden, and
-ready to take care of Peggy, instead of her taking care of them. Lady
-Grace had on the beautiful French clothes in which she had come, and
-Wooden was dressed in her purple velvet jacket and her grey tailor-made
-skirt. She wore the straw hat that had come at the same time as Rose,
-and looked very nice altogether, but a little different, because her
-nose was now perfect, and her face and eyes and hair had got all their
-colour back. She had a wonderfully kind and simple expression of face,
-and Peggy felt that it would be quite safe to go anywhere with her.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Teddy was also life-size. Peggy had always known that he was of a very
-cheerful nature, for his face had always seemed to be laughing at some
-joke. But he seemed to be rather forward in his manners, for as Lady
-Grace kissed Peggy he said with a sort of crow, “What ho, girls! You
-jump up and sit alongside me, my lady, and we’ll have a nice little
-chat as we go along.”
-
-“Be careful, Teddy,” said Wooden in a warning voice.
-
-“Oh, I’ll be careful all right,” said Teddy encouragingly. “Oh, what
-larks we’re going to have!”
-
-Lady Grace got up in front of the car, and Peggy and Wooden behind. It
-was not Peggy’s father’s car, but a toy one which had been given to
-her. But it was now big enough to hold all four of them comfortably.
-
-Teddy sounded his horn and gave a whoop of joy, and the car drove
-straight out of the bedroom into the garden, though how it got there
-from her nursery on the first floor Peggy could never remember.
-
-Now, although it had been winter when Peggy went to bed, and the
-thermometer on the pergola outside had registered two degrees of frost,
-it had suddenly become the most delicious spring and summer weather
-combined. When Peggy saw the garden she clapped her hands with delight.
-Never was seen such a blaze of colour. Everything was out at once--all
-the trees, and all the shrubs, and all the flowers. The house was
-smothered in roses and honeysuckle and clematis. The daffodils were
-dancing in the grass. The rhododendrons and azaleas flamed against
-the green of the darker shrubs. Every flower in the long border was
-in full bloom, from the scarlet anemones of the early spring to the
-yellow sunflowers and Michaelmas daisies of the late autumn; and so
-were the lilacs, white and purple, the guelder roses, the syringas,
-the may-trees and laburnums, the pink almond, and the Pyrus Malus
-Floribunda, which was Peggy’s favourite tree, though she never quite
-got its name right. There were thousands of blooms in the rose garden;
-the climbing roses trained over the pergola were as gay as gay could
-be; and even the newly-planted nut-walk had grown twelve feet in a few
-hours, and made a shady green tunnel through which you could see the
-park beyond.
-
-But there was not much time to take in all the wonders of the garden,
-for Teddy whirled them through it in no time, out into the road and
-down to the village. The car seemed to be going faster than Peggy’s
-father’s big new one, but it travelled so easily and so smoothly that
-Peggy, who was a little nervous of motors going very fast, said, “What
-a nice drive we’re having!” As they passed the clock over the Abbey
-gateway the hands were pointing to twelve o’clock, and Peggy, who
-could of course tell the time, knew somehow that it was really twelve
-o’clock at night, and not twelve o’clock in the daytime, although the
-sun was shining with all its might. And as they turned and drove up
-the village street all the windows had their blinds down, and there
-were no people about.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“Where are we going?” Peggy asked.
-
-“We are going to Toyland,” said Wooden. “We all go there every night
-when people are asleep, and it is a lovely place; I am sure you will
-like it, dear. And I must tell you that it is very seldom we are
-allowed to take little girls there. When you were so kind to me, and
-rescued me from Mabel, I told the Queen about it, and asked if I could
-bring you. And she said that if you went on being kind to me for three
-years and a week I might bring you; but if you once grew tired of me
-and neglected me, the three years and a week would have to begin all
-over again. You can’t think how I have been looking forward to it,
-dear. Yesterday I was able to tell the Queen that you had never once
-neglected me, and Lady Grace said the same. She is one of the Queen’s
-ladies-in-waiting, and she thinks a deal of her. So the Queen said, ‘I
-shall be very glad to see such a nice little girl. Bring her tomorrow.’”
-
-When Wooden told her this Peggy remembered that she had not been
-_quite_ so attentive to Wooden since Lady Grace had come, and wondered
-what would have happened if she had left her to sleep on the chest of
-drawers with all her clothes on that very night. It would have been
-too awful if she had had to begin the three years and a week all over
-again, after so nearly getting through it once.
-
-But Wooden did not refer to that at all, and Peggy felt grateful to
-her, and took hold of her hand and squeezed it. And Wooden squeezed
-Peggy’s hand in return, and smiled at her and said again, “Toyland is a
-wonderful place. I am sure you will like it.”
-
-When they had passed through the village Teddy took the road towards
-the sea. He drove very well, and talked all the time to Lady Grace,
-sometimes leaning towards her and saying something in his gruff, hearty
-voice, and sometimes throwing his head back and laughing loudly.
-Lady Grace seemed to be receiving his attentions kindly, but Wooden
-looked a little anxious, and leant forward sometimes and joined in the
-conversation.
-
-“Lady Grace is engaged to Colonel Jim of the Lifeguards,” she explained
-to Peggy. “The Queen takes a great interest in the young couple, and I
-promised her that I would give an eye to Lady Grace. The Queen trusts
-me, you know, dear.”
-
-“Shall I see the Queen?” asked Peggy. “What is she like?”
-
-“She is not very well,” said Wooden sadly. “I don’t know whether you
-will be able to see her, but I hope so.”
-
-“What is the matter with her?” asked Peggy.
-
-“Well they told me last night at the Palace that they were afraid she
-had a mump.”
-
-“What is that?”
-
-“Why, you know all about that, don’t you? You have had mumps
-yourself--several of them. If a doll has more than one it is generally
-fatal. But I quite hope that the Queen has not got any; and if she is
-better I am sure she would like to see you. You asked what she was
-like. Well, she is wax, of course, and she is about a hundred years
-old, or perhaps a thousand, or a million, but quite as beautiful as
-ever. She was one of the first wax dolls ever born, and they made her
-Queen because they admired her so.”
-
-“Is there an elective monarchy in Toyland?” asked Peggy, who had got on
-quite a long way in history.
-
-Wooden did not seem to understand the question fully, but she answered
-in her soothing voice, “No, dear, all the animals are tame; you need
-not be afraid of any of them.”
-
-They drove on towards the sea, and when they got within sight of it
-Peggy cried out, and clapped her hands with pleasure.
-
-For the sea was full of boats crowded with dolls all going to the
-Island. It was the prettiest sight. There were hundreds of toy yachts
-with their white sails, steam-boats and motor-boats and clockwork boats
-and rowing boats, and even boats made of paper, and walnut shells. 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.
-
-“Yes, dear,” said Wooden. “I like it very much.”
-
-“But if you go to Toyland every night, and it is day there, you never
-have any real night at all,” said Peggy.
-
-“No, dear,” said Wooden reflectively. “I suppose not.”
-
-When they reached the shore Teddy turned to the right. “Are we going to
-the Bungalow?” asked Peggy.
-
-“That is where we shall set sail for Toyland,” said Wooden. “And, you
-know, I have two relations there.”
-
-Peggy could not think what she meant for the moment. Then she
-remembered the two wooden figure-heads, and asked Wooden if they were
-her relations. Wooden said they were. One was her mother and one was
-her aunt. “I’m sure you will like mother, dear,” she said. “Aunt has
-wonderful high spirits, and doesn’t always behave as she ought, through
-picking up sailors’ ways. But she says herself she never did no harm to
-nobody, so we must overlook it.”
-
-It was well that Wooden had given Peggy this warning about her aunt, or
-Peggy might have been rather surprised at her behaviour when the car
-drew up before the grass-plot by the Bungalow. The two figure-heads,
-now full length and moving about freely, were waiting for them, and
-when she saw them coming Wooden’s aunt gave a loud screech and rushed
-forward to meet them, but caught her foot on a root of gorse and fell
-full length in front of the car.
-
-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!”
-
-In the meantime Wooden had introduced Peggy to her mother, who was as
-fresh as paint could make her, but had a weather-beaten look, too, and
-a husky voice, owing to her having taken so many sea voyages that the
-fog had got into her throat. She said that she was very pleased to see
-Peggy, because she had heard a lot about her, and when they got on to
-the boat they must have a nice long talk.
-
-“Aunt seems in very good spirits today, mother,” said Wooden, looking
-at her doubtfully as she was being danced about the grass by Teddy.
-Wooden’s aunt was really being rather common, and Wooden would not
-like Peggy to think that her relations were common.
-
-Just at that moment Wooden’s aunt sat down on the grass in the rather
-vulgar way already described, and Wooden’s mother said to her sharply,
-“Now, Polly, do adone now, and remember what company you’re in. Get up,
-and come and be introduced to the little lady.”
-
-So Wooden’s aunt came and shook hands with Peggy, and gave her a
-smacking kiss, which tasted of salt. “Dear little precious! Bless her!”
-she said in quite a kind voice, which made Peggy like her a little
-better. “Lawks, Maria! _She_ ain’t one to mind a body having a bit o’
-fun.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-III
-
-THE ROYAL ARK AND THE BAD BEHAVIOUR OF WOODEN’S AUNT
-
-
-Lying tied to one of the groins, which seemed to have widened out into
-a sort of pier, was a rakish-looking clockwork steamer, with a red hull
-and a broad white line above it, all very smart and clean.
-
-“Why, it’s my very own steamer,” cried Peggy, “just as it was when it
-was new, only much bigger.”
-
-“Yes, dear,” said Wooden. “We use it every night to take us across to
-Toyland. You didn’t know that. You will see all your other toys when we
-get across, and some of them are coming with us.”
-
-“Is the man who shoots pennies into my money-box coming?” asked Peggy.
-
-“Yes,” replied Wooden. “He is the Queen’s head game-keeper. He shot the
-three china hares that stand on the nursery mantelpiece. He shot them
-with the sixpences you got out of the Christmas pudding.”
-
-The steamer and the pier beside it were now crowded with doll sailors
-and doll passengers preparing to take the journey across the water
-to Toyland, and the road along the beach in both directions was full
-of dolls hurrying to the various starting-places. Every row of piles
-along the shore had turned into a pier, and scores of boats were moored
-alongside them, in which dolls were embarking.
-
-But still they came, from north, east, and west. Many of them were in
-motor-cars, others were packed into wooden carts, the babies were being
-wheeled in prams, and many were walking. Some way off Peggy saw a troop
-of lead soldiers riding down to the shore on black horses, and they
-looked very fine with the sun shining on their helmets and breastplates.
-
-Lady Grace shaded her eyes and looked at them, too, and Wooden said to
-her, “Lady Grace, I believe that is Colonel Jim’s regiment.”
-
-Teddy turned round and grinned at them, and said, “What ho, girls!”
-
-Wooden said sharply, “Now behave, Teddy, and don’t let’s have any
-byplay.”
-
-They all embarked in the toy steamer, and Peggy was pleased to find
-her own sailor doll acting as captain of it. Very well he did it, too,
-standing on the bridge and shouting his orders down a tube, while the
-steamer was loosed from the quay and started off at a splendid pace,
-making a hundred knots an hour across the blue calm water.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-It was a delightful voyage, pleasanter even than the motor drive had
-been. The sun was shining so brightly, and every one seemed so pleased
-to be going to Toyland. They could hear the dolls laughing and singing
-from the other boats, which were all round them. On one of them was
-a toy piano with five notes, on which a gentleman doll with long hair
-was playing a tune so difficult that you would never have thought it
-possible if you had not heard him.
-
-Wooden’s mother and aunt went forward and stood in the bows of the boat
-as she drove across the sea. They sniffed the salt breeze with rapture,
-and their brightly-coloured faces glistened in the sunshine. “This,”
-said Wooden’s mother, “is Life!” And Wooden’s aunt enjoyed it so much
-that until they came to the other side she said nothing vulgar or
-common.
-
-But the moment the steamer began to move, although the water was as
-smooth as it could possibly be, Teddy became as green as pea soup and
-rushed downstairs to the cabin.
-
-“He’s always like that, poor fellow,” said Wooden. “I suppose it comes
-from being a bear. He will be all right when we get to the other side.”
-
-Very soon the voyage was over, and the toy steamer came alongside a
-quay carpeted with red felt. There were many other landing stages
-all along the shore, at which other boats were landing their doll
-passengers; but the steamer was the only one which came alongside this
-special quay. It was decorated with flowers and flags, and round it
-stood a row of wooden soldiers, with shiny black bearskins, red coats,
-and spotless white trousers. They lined three sides of the square, and
-looked very smart, all of exactly the same height, and all standing at
-attention.
-
-Wooden seemed to be rather embarrassed as the steamer made fast
-alongside this gaily decorated quay. “This is the royal quay,” she said
-to Peggy. “Only the Queen uses it. There must be some mistake.” And she
-asked the captain why they were landing there.
-
-“Orders, ma’am, orders,” said the captain briefly, touching his cap.
-
-“I expect,” said Lady Grace, “that it is to do honour to our little
-visitor.” She put her hand on Peggy’s shoulder and smiled at her.
-
-Wooden’s honest face beamed with pleasure. “Now, I do call that kind of
-Her Majesty,” she said, “very kind indeed.”
-
-The wooden soldiers all presented arms as Peggy stepped off the steamer
-between Lady Grace and Wooden, while Wooden’s mother and aunt followed
-them, and Teddy came up from below no longer looking green, but quite
-cheerful again and grinning all over. One of the soldiers let off
-his gun by mistake. He had only lately joined the regiment, and did
-not quite understand the words of command. The captain of the wooden
-soldiers boxed his ears soundly, and nobody took any further notice
-of the episode, which, however, had far-reaching effects, as will
-presently appear.
-
-Directly the party had landed, a band struck up and led the way along
-a broad carpeted passage, which was also lined on one side by wooden
-soldiers. On the other side was the water, for the royal quay was at
-the mouth of a broad river, and a little farther on was another quay
-towards which they were going. And here Peggy saw an extraordinary and
-pleasing sight.
-
-There was a large, gaily decorated Noah’s Ark lying at the second quay.
-At each end of the house on the Ark was a big platform. The one in
-front was shaded by a gaily striped awning. There was also a carpet on
-it, and big pots of flowers, and comfortable chairs and little tables.
-On the platform at the back stood Mr. Noah in a long yellow robe, and
-Mrs. Noah in a blue robe. Mr. Noah had taken off his black shiny hat,
-and was bowing low, as Wooden and her party approached the Ark.
-
-But the most curious thing of all was the long line of animals that
-were standing two and two along the towing-path by the river. They were
-all in charge of the rest of Mr. Noah’s family, and were harnessed
-to the Ark, which they were evidently going to pull. There were two
-elephants and two camels, giraffes, zebras, cows, hyenas, leopards, and
-a lot more, all much the same size; and at the head of the procession
-were two antelopes. Hovering round the Ark were a great number of
-birds--wild geese, and rooks and parrots and peacocks and canaries and
-budgeree-gars and others, all flying in pairs.
-
-[Illustration: On the platform at the back stood Mr. Noah and Mrs. Noah]
-
-“The Queen’s own Ark,” said Lady Grace. “It must have been sent down
-for somebody. I wonder who.”
-
-“Do you think it could be for a specialist?” Peggy asked. “They do send
-for them, you know, if anybody is ill.”
-
-“Oh, I do hope her mump isn’t worse,” said Wooden.
-
-“I expect it’s sent down for me,” said Wooden’s aunt, with her vulgar
-laugh. “She knowed I was coming all right.”
-
-“Now, Polly, behave,” said Wooden’s mother. “Mr. and Mrs. Noah are
-looking at us.”
-
-Mr. Noah advanced to the side of the Ark and bowed to Wooden. “I have
-been ordered to bring the Ark down for you and your party,” he said. “I
-hope we shall have a nice trip up the river.”
-
-Wooden turned to Peggy with a pleased smile on her face. “Now that is
-an honour,” she said. “I am so pleased, dear. It is a most lovely ark
-inside.”
-
-Then she asked Mr. Noah how the Queen was, and he shook his head and
-was just going to tell her how the Queen was when Wooden’s aunt gave a
-wild whoop, and picking up her skirts ran along the quay, kicking her
-feet out in front of her, and shouting, “Come on, girls! Here’s larks!”
-
-And I am sorry to say that Teddy joined her, and they danced up the
-quay together and rushed down the bridge from the bank to the ark,
-jostling each other and quite spoiling everything by their behaviour.
-
-“Oh dear, oh dear!” said Wooden’s mother in a vexed voice, “Really,
-Polly does carry on something awful.”
-
-But Mr. Noah only laughed and said, “I like a little fun sometimes.”
-
-Then he led the way to the platform in the front of the ark, and Mrs.
-Noah walked by Peggy and said to her, “I like your face very much. I am
-sure we shall be friends.”
-
-The captain of the wooden soldiers now gave some words of command, and
-all his troops fell into their places ready to march alongside the
-ark. Mr. Noah blew a whistle, and his sons made themselves very busy
-unfastening ropes, pushing the ark out into the river, and getting
-ready to start the animals. Mr. Noah blew his whistle again when the
-ark was clear of the shore, and with a great deal of shouting and
-cheering, the procession of animals started off, and pulled the ark at
-a good pace up the river.
-
-It was a very pleasant journey. The air was warm and the sky was
-blue. All the different animals that were pulling the ark were very
-interesting to look at, and the birds that flew in couples overhead
-were very pretty, too, and sang most melodiously.
-
-They had not travelled very far before a smart servant doll in cap and
-apron came out of the house in the ark, and said, “Would you like to
-take a little light refreshment?”
-
-Wooden’s aunt instantly jumped up from her chair and said, “I’m always
-ready for my grub.” Then she pushed in front of all the others and
-rushed into the house in the most vulgar and objectionable manner. And
-again, I am sorry to say, Teddy followed her.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Wooden blushed with annoyance at the behaviour of her relative, and
-Wooden’s mother said in an angry voice, “It is really too much. But
-please don’t think because she is my daughter’s aunt that she is
-my sister. Quite the reverse. I wouldn’t own her. My poor brother
-married much beneath him. He was a wooden Scotchman of irreproachable
-character, outside a tobacconist’s shop, and a perfect gentleman in
-every way.”
-
-Peggy smoothed the wounded feelings of Wooden and her mother, and said
-it didn’t matter. “I think I had better say a word to Teddy,” she said.
-“He is not behaving nicely.”
-
-“Oh, she leads him on,” said Wooden’s mother, who was still very much
-annoyed.
-
-“Teddy has always been flighty, for a bear,” said Wooden. “I haven’t
-liked to say anything, dear, but I think it would be a good thing if
-you were to speak to him. He would pay attention to you.”
-
-When they got inside the house of the ark they found a most beautifully
-furnished apartment, with big windows on either side, through which the
-scenery on the banks of the river could be observed as they went along.
-
-On the table was spread a most sumptuous repast. There was a dish of
-chicken, consisting entirely of wishing-bones; there was a pudding made
-of one gigantic chocolate cream; there were little baby bananas growing
-on a live tree in the middle of the table; there were sandwiches of
-toast and butter and watercress and blackberry jam and potted prawns,
-all mixed up together in the most ingenious manner, and very seductive
-to the palate; there was a birthday cake and a wedding cake; there was
-a jelly that tasted of violets and another that tasted of carnations;
-there were delicious drinks, from the sweet and comforting chocolate
-of the cold north to the iced sherbet of the burning south; there were
-dozens of crackers, and every one of them contained a beautiful toy,
-a motto, a cap of coloured paper decorated with gold and silver, and
-a small but valuable piece of jewellery. In short, there was every
-delicacy of the season, and all in the utmost profusion.
-
-Wooden’s aunt was already deep in the repast when they got inside. She
-was purple in the face, and beginning to breathe heavily.
-
-“Such greed I never saw,” said Wooden’s mother, eyeing her severely.
-“She has not even washed her hands.”
-
-Teddy, however, was nowhere to be seen, and the servant-doll said that
-he had gone out by another door into Mr. Noah’s cabin. Mr. Noah had
-invited him to have a steak and onions with him. Peggy was rather glad
-not to have to rebuke him before company, for she was fond of Teddy.
-She thought that if he were kept away from Wooden’s aunt he would
-probably behave all right.
-
-The servant-doll had led them into a nice airy bedroom, which opened
-out of the main saloon, and Peggy washed her hands, and then put on a
-very pretty pinafore made of lace and chiffon, which the servant-doll
-gave her. When they were all ready they went into the saloon and sat
-down at the table, and much enjoyed their repast, while the ark was
-drawn rapidly along the winding river.
-
-Unfortunately their enjoyment was marred by the continued bad behaviour
-of Wooden’s aunt, who went on as if she had really never been in
-respectable company before. When she could eat no more--and that was
-not for a long time--Wooden’s mother gave her a dose of Gregory powder,
-which she always carried about with her for such emergencies, or she
-would probably have died. As it was she felt very ill, and said so in a
-thoroughly vulgar manner.
-
-Wooden was most distressed at her behaviour, but she was so
-kind-hearted that she could not help making excuses for her.
-“Greediness and vulgarity and vanity are her only failings, poor
-thing,” she said. “Otherwise she has a very charming character. We all
-have our little weaknesses, and we must not think too much of them.”
-
-“I’m ashamed of her,” said Wooden’s mother. “And I shall tell her so
-to her face directly she regains consciousness.”
-
-For Wooden’s aunt was now stretched on one of the luxurious sofas of
-the saloon in a state of complete collapse.
-
-“Let us leave her there,” said Lady Grace. “She will be better when we
-arrive at Dolltown.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-IV
-
-MOMENTOUS NEWS IS BROUGHT BY A DUTCH DOLL
-
-
-They left Wooden’s aunt in the saloon and went on deck again, and
-seated themselves in the comfortable chairs under the awning, from
-which they could observe the scenery. This was very beautiful.
-
-They were now going through a mountain gorge. The river was narrow
-here, but deep. The mountains came steeply down into the water, and
-on one side of the river was a road cut in the rock, along which all
-the animals were walking two by two, pulling the ark at a smart pace.
-Perched up on the mountains here and there were pretty wooden Swiss
-chalets, large and small; and numberless clean wooden cows, with bells
-round their necks, were browsing in the mountain pastures, which were
-gay with flowers. The wooden peasants who were looking after them
-showed great interest in the progress of the ark. They came running
-down the steep paths to see who was on board, and shouted and waved
-their hats in their excitement.
-
-[Illustration: On the mountains here and there were pretty wooden Swiss
-chalets]
-
-By-and-by they had passed through the mountains, and had come to a
-perfectly flat country, planted with wooden poplars of a vivid green.
-Here and there were farms--dear little wooden houses with doll-farmers
-living in them, and taking care of more wooden animals, cows and
-horses, and sheep and pigs. After a time they came to a small town
-consisting of streets of dolls’ houses, with a church built of toy
-bricks.
-
-“Oh, I would like to go into one of those dear little houses,” said
-Peggy. “Can’t we stop here, Wooden?”
-
-“We shall see much better dolls’ houses than those when we get to
-Dolltown,” said Wooden. “I have got a very nice dolls’ house myself,
-bigger than any of those. I shall take you there, dear, and you will
-occupy the spare room. And I will show you the Queen’s Palace, which is
-finer than any of them.”
-
-At this moment Mrs. Noah came forward, and stood by them smiling, as if
-she would like a little conversation.
-
-“Won’t you sit down, Mrs. Noah?” said Lady Grace politely; and Mrs.
-Noah thanked her and sat down.
-
-Mrs. Noah was a large smiling woman who liked to make friends. She
-smiled at Lady Grace, and Wooden, and Wooden’s mother, and Peggy, and
-then said suddenly, “I thought you’d like to know how it all was.”
-
-Of course they would like to know how it all was, though they didn’t
-quite know what she meant. So they smiled back at her, and then she
-began.
-
-“Of course he is wood,” she said, “begging your pardon, Lady Grace, and
-I ought to like him on that account. But the truth is that I don’t, and
-can’t.”
-
-There was a little pause, and then Wooden’s mother said, nodding her
-head wisely, “Ah, I know who you mean, and I don’t much like him
-either. I suppose because he’s a foreigner.”
-
-Wooden shook her head, but said nothing. Lady Grace said, “I hate him;
-but then I’m wax, you see.”
-
-Peggy wondered who they were talking about, but just as she was going
-to ask Wooden, Mrs. Noah looked at her, and said, “Why, bless me! the
-little lady must be thinking that we’re talking in riddles.”
-
-And then she told the following story:--
-
-Some time before, a ship had been wrecked on the coast of Toyland, and
-all its passengers drowned except King Selim. He had been brought to
-Dolltown, and, because he was a king, Queen Rosebud had given him a set
-of rooms in her palace, where he had lived very comfortably ever since.
-
-“What was he King of?” asked Peggy.
-
-Mrs. Noah hesitated. “I really don’t know, dear,” she said. “Do you
-know, Wooden?”
-
-“No,” said Wooden. “I never thought of asking.”
-
-It seemed that nobody else had ever thought of asking either. They knew
-he must be a king because he said he was. Besides, he wore a crown.
-Everybody was very sorry for him, because his Queen had been drowned
-when the ship had been wrecked, but when some time had passed and he
-had got over that, he had become rather interfering, and he was not so
-much liked now as he had been, especially by the Waxes. For although
-all the dolls in Toyland generally lived happily together, still
-there was always apt to be a little feeling between the Waxes and the
-Woodens. The Waxes thought the Woodens were rather common, and the
-Woodens thought the Waxes were rather stuck up.
-
-“Of course, speaking for myself,” said Mrs. Noah, “I’ve never had no
-quarrel with a Wax in my life, and, if I may say so, have as many
-friends among the Waxes as I have among the Woodens.”
-
-She looked at Lady Grace, who said, “The Queen has always disliked
-having anything said against the Woodens, and has often told me that if
-she had not been born Wax she would have liked to be born Wood.”
-
-There were murmurs of approbation at this speech, and Wooden’s mother
-said, “Wax is as wax does, I always say. If all was as polite as the
-Queen, there wouldn’t be no trouble at all. But you haven’t told us
-about the Queen’s health yet, Mrs. Noah.”
-
-“Well,” said Mrs. Noah, “it’s my belief that the Queen is dead.”
-
-“Dear, dear!” said Wooden’s mother. “And such a nice lady as she was,
-too.”
-
-“What makes you think that, Mrs. Noah?” asked Lady Grace. “Surely I
-should have heard of it if it had been true.”
-
-“Well, perhaps you would, Lady Grace,” said Mrs. Noah. “Anyhow, she
-is alarmingly ill, and has appointed King Selim regent, to act in her
-place until she gets better. And if she dies, King Selim is to reign in
-her place. You see, the Queen having no children, naturally the only
-other royal person in Toyland has to reign instead of her.”
-
-“Is that the law in Toyland?” asked Peggy.
-
-Mrs. Noah looked at her affectionately. “Bless your pretty face, what
-questions you do ask, dear,” she said. “I don’t know nothing about the
-law, but it’s what King Selim says, and of course he knows, or else he
-wouldn’t say it.”
-
-“Oh, no,” said Wooden decisively. “Some people don’t like him, but he
-isn’t as bad as that. Was it him that ordered the royal barge to meet
-us, Mrs. Noah?”
-
-“Yes, it was,” said Mrs. Noah. “Now I must be getting back to my old
-man. He says there ain’t no flavour in his pipe unless I fill it for
-him.”
-
-“I hope the Queen isn’t really dead,” said Wooden, when Mrs. Noah had
-left them. “That would indeed be a sad pity. Look, dear, you can see
-Dolltown now. It won’t be long before we are there now.”
-
-The ark had turned a bend in the river, and Peggy could see across the
-flat plains a large town with an enormous tower standing in the middle
-of it.
-
-“That is the House of Cards,” said Wooden, in answer to her question.
-“It stands in the middle of the market-place, and is thirteen stories
-high.”
-
-“What is it used for?” asked Peggy.
-
-“It is used for going to the top of, dear,” replied Wooden. “You get a
-magnificent view of the surrounding country, and when you have looked
-at it you come down again.”
-
-It was not long before they reached the outskirts of Dolltown. On
-either side of the river were rows of houses in which the poorer
-dolls, mostly wooden and rag, lived. The weather was warm, and many of
-the fronts of the houses stood wide open, showing the inside of the
-four rooms into which each of them was divided. There were generally
-a kitchen and a dining-room on the ground floor, and a drawing-room
-and a bedroom above. None of these houses had staircases, and it was
-puzzling to think how the dolls could get into the upstairs rooms.
-Wooden explained, when Peggy asked her, that the dolls either climbed
-in through the windows, or, if the house-front was open, put a kitchen
-chair on the kitchen table, and scrambled up somehow. Those who were
-not strong enough to do so had to spend the night sitting on chairs in
-the kitchen or dining-room.
-
-“Isn’t that rather uncomfortable for them?” asked Peggy.
-
-“Well, dear, perhaps it is rather,” said Wooden. “But, you see, we’re
-not so particular as you are, so we don’t feel it so much.”
-
-“But didn’t you say there wasn’t any night in Toyland?” asked Peggy.
-
-“Perhaps, I did, dear. I say so many things in the course of time that
-I can’t possibly remember all of them. But there is one thing I should
-never do, and that is tell a lie.”
-
-Peggy looked at her quickly, fearing that she might be offended, but
-her face still wore its amiable sweet-tempered expression, and when
-Peggy gave her a kiss, just in _case_ she might have said something to
-hurt her, she kissed her back, and called her a precious lamb.
-
-Some of the dolls’ houses that they were passing were quite well
-furnished. 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. In fact one party of Dutch dolls became so excited
-as the ark passed that they all fell into the river, and had to be
-rescued by Mr. Noah’s youngest son, who was attending to the elephants.
-All were got safely to land, except the father of the Dutch doll
-family, who swam out and clung to the ark, and was dragged on board by
-Mr. Noah himself.
-
-Just at the moment when this was happening Wooden’s aunt came out of
-the saloon, and seemed highly delighted at the scene. She bent down
-and slapped her knees with both her hands, and then threw her head
-back and roared with laughter.
-
-“Lawks! I wouldn’t have missed that for anything,” she said, when the
-Dutch doll had been led below. “Well, I’ve had a nice little nap,
-girls, and now I’ve come to cheer you all up a bit.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“Then behave yourself, do, Polly,” said Wooden’s mother severely, “and
-don’t let’s have any more of your carryings on.”
-
-When the Dutch doll was quite dry he insisted upon being led into the
-presence of “the company.” Mr. Noah had lent him his second-best yellow
-robe, in which he looked rather funny, as it was too long for him. He
-came up the steps from the saloon, and, tripping over the skirt of the
-robe, fell flat at the feet of Wooden’s aunt, who roared with laughter
-at him again.
-
-So far from getting up again as quickly as possible, the Dutch doll
-remained where he was, rubbing his forehead on the deck of the ark.
-
-“Get up, man,” said Wooden’s mother sharply, “and don’t stop lying
-there like a silly.”
-
-The Dutch doll got up, looking foolish, and bowed low to Wooden’s aunt.
-“I hope your Majesty is quite well,” he said. “I am very pleased to see
-your Majesty.”
-
-“Lawks! he calls me ‘your Majesty!’” said Wooden’s aunt. “Well, I
-never! I shall die of laughing if this goes on.” And indeed it seemed
-likely that she would.
-
-“The man’s silly,” said Wooden’s mother. “His ducking has turned his
-head. The Queen isn’t here. We’re only the party that the royal ark has
-been sent down for.”
-
-But still the Dutch doll kept on bowing to Wooden’s aunt, and calling
-her your Majesty; and Wooden’s aunt enjoyed it.
-
-Lady Grace intervened in her polite and aristocratic manner. “Don’t you
-know Queen Rosebud by sight?” she asked. “In calling this lady your
-Majesty you are coming very near to telling a story.”
-
-“Oh, I wouldn’t do that, my lady,” said the Dutch doll, much shocked.
-“Queen Rosebud is dead, you know.”
-
-“I feared it,” said Wooden. “It is very sad.”
-
-Lady Grace turned pale. “She was a loving mistress and a great Queen,”
-she said.
-
-Wooden’s mother said, “Yes, she was. But crying out about it won’t
-bring her to life again, poor thing!” And Wooden’s aunt had the grace
-to leave off with her nonsense, and say, “I’m sure I’m sorry to hear
-the news. Then who is going to be Queen now?”
-
-“You are, your Majesty,” said the Dutch doll, bowing to her again.
-“King Selim is going to marry you.”
-
-“What, marry me!” exclaimed Wooden’s aunt, forgetting to be vulgar
-for once, in her surprise. “Well, I never! Why, I hardly know the
-gentleman.”
-
-“Surely you are making some mistake,” said Lady Grace.
-
-The Dutch doll looked offended. “Do you think I’d tell you a lie?” he
-asked.
-
-“Oh, no, of course he wouldn’t do that,” said Wooden hastily. “If he
-says so, of course it is so. But you’re not Queen yet, aunt.”
-
-“No, nor never will be, if you don’t learn to behave proper,” said
-Wooden’s mother. “If I was you I should keep quiet till the wedding
-ceremony.”
-
-Wooden’s aunt seemed to think this was good advice, for she gave no
-more trouble till the ark drew up at the royal quay in the middle of
-Dolltown.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-V
-
-ARRIVAL AT THE ROYAL PALACE OF DOLLTOWN
-
-
-The Royal Quay was a great open space carpeted with red felt, and
-decorated with palms and flowers. Wooden soldiers were standing all
-round the square, and inside it was a royal carriage with six wooden
-horses, and servants in scarlet liveries. A little troop of lead
-soldiers on black horses was drawn up by the carriage, and looked very
-gallant with their scarlet tunics, silver breastplates and helmets and
-waving plumes. Lady Grace blushed when she saw that the head of the
-troop was Colonel Jim, and said to Peggy, “The rather nice-looking
-officer is a friend of mine, dear. I will introduce him to you when I
-get an opportunity.”
-
-Behind the wooden soldiers was a great crowd of dolls, all cheering
-themselves hoarse as the royal ark was being tied up by the quay, and
-the bridge was being run out. Peggy noticed that there were no wax
-dolls among them, and rather wondered at this, but had not time to ask
-about it in the excitement of the moment.
-
-Just by the landing stage was a little group of gentlemen dolls. The
-most important person in it was an old gentleman doll of patriarchal
-aspect. He had no beard, but his head was completely bald, and he was
-dressed in a long gown of black velvet. As soon as the bridge between
-the quay and the ark was put into position, he came forward with his
-party on to the platform of the ark, and bowed low before Wooden, who
-happened to be standing a little in front of the rest.
-
-[Illustration: He had no beard, but his head was completely bald]
-
-“Welcome, your Majesty,” he said, “to the Capital of your kingdom of
-Toyland. I will explain why I thus address you later.”
-
-Wooden was quite taken back, and could only stammer out, “But
-Mr.--Mr.--I don’t know your name, but----”
-
-“My name is Norval,” said the old gentleman doll. “And I am the Lord
-Chancellor of your Majesty’s kingdom.”
-
-“But why do you call me your Majesty, Mr. Norval?” asked Wooden.
-
-“_Lord_ Norval, at your Majesty’s pleasure,” corrected the Lord
-Chancellor. “I address you as a Queen because King Selim, successor
-to our late lamented Queen Rosebud, has intimated his intention of
-marrying you, and in these matters I feel that one cannot begin too
-soon. Besides, it is his Majesty’s pleasure that you should be paid
-every possible honour, as his highly respected bride to be.”
-
-“But Lord Noodle!” stammered Wooden, getting his name a little wrong in
-her perplexity, “this gentleman said that it was my aunt here that the
-king wanted to marry.”
-
-She indicated the Dutch doll, and the Lord Chancellor looked at him in
-anger. “Did you say that?” he asked.
-
-Wooden’s aunt broke in before the Dutch doll could speak. “Yes, he did
-say it,” she said. “And I ain’t going to give up my Selim for nobody.
-Him and me has always been friendly like, and I wasn’t a bit surprised
-to hear he wanted to marry me. Why should he want to marry a young
-thing like Wooden, I should like to know? Why she’s like a kid beside
-of him! It’s me that’s going to be Queen, not her.”
-
-“Captain Cook,” said the Lord Chancellor to a lead soldier of his
-party, “arrest this Dutchman for telling a lie, and arrest this woman
-for telling another.”
-
-“What, me!” cried Wooden’s aunt. “How dare you accuse me of telling a
-lie, you old creature with a head like an egg? How dare you? What lie
-have I told?”
-
-“Arrest her again for insulting the Lord Chancellor,” said Lord Norval.
-“You said you were going to be Queen, and that’s a lie. King Selim
-wouldn’t look at you. He has confided to me that he has been in love
-with--with--I suppose I had better say _Princess_ Wooden, for some
-time, and has reason to believe that she is not indifferent to him.”
-
-“Well, he has looked at me sometimes,” said Wooden, “but I’m sure I
-never gave him any encouragement. I don’t like him very much, Lord
-Noodle. He’s a foreigner, you see, and I don’t like foreigners.
-Couldn’t it be arranged for him to marry my aunt, as she’s ready for
-him! I’d rather it was her than me.”
-
-The Lord Chancellor looked muddled. “I couldn’t say anything without
-consulting his Majesty,” he said. “He _might_ consent; but then again
-he might not. The best way will be for us all to go up to the Palace,
-as already ordered, and ask him. I am sorry your aunt will have to
-appear there under arrest, but as she has committed a crime, or rather
-two crimes, that can’t be helped.”
-
-The situation was certainly awkward. Nobody quite seemed to know what
-to do about it. But Peggy, who had been listening with great interest
-to what had been said, ventured to make a suggestion. “If Wooden’s
-aunt _does_ marry the King,” she said, “then she wouldn’t have told a
-story, would she?”
-
-Everybody brightened up, and the Lord Chancellor said, “That is one of
-the cleverest things I ever heard said. But who is this ingenious and
-attractive-looking young lady, may I ask?”
-
-Wooden explained to him who Peggy was, and he bowed low to her, and
-said he was proud to make her acquaintance. “Well, after what you have
-pointed out,” he said, “I have no difficulty in unarresting this lady
-for telling a lie. But she has also insulted a high official. She said
-that my head was like an egg. It may be or it may not be, but nobody
-could say that it was a polite thing to point out.”
-
-He looked at Peggy as if he expected her to make another suggestion,
-and would not be sorry if she made it.
-
-Peggy could think of nothing better to say than, “I like eggs myself,
-especially if they are new-laid.”
-
-The Lord Chancellor caught at this instantly. “Did you have a new-laid
-egg in your mind when you referred to my head, Madam?” he asked of
-Wooden’s aunt.
-
-Wooden’s aunt, who was looking much more subdued than usual, standing
-by the officer who had arrested her, said, “Well, there’s one thing I
-never would do, and that’s tell a lie. I can’t rightly say that I had
-a new-laid egg in my mind, because I won’t deceive you, I don’t know
-where my mind is. I went to sea early, and never had much schooling,
-and never learnt no physiognomy. There may be a new-laid egg in my
-mind, or there may not. I wouldn’t like to say.”
-
-“What I would suggest to you, madam,” said the Lord Chancellor, “is
-that in likening my head to an egg you didn’t mean an old-laid egg, or
-an addled egg, or a bad egg, or anything of that sort. If it is like an
-egg at all, it was a fresh egg you meant.”
-
-“Oh, lawks, yes,” said Wooden’s aunt. “I’d never be one for insulting a
-gentleman. I know what’s due to myself and my family better.”
-
-“Then that is quite enough for me,” said the Lord Chancellor, evidently
-greatly relieved. “Captain Cook, unarrest this lady completely.”
-
-“And the Dutch doll, too,” said Peggy, pleased at having succeeded so
-well.
-
-“And the Dutch doll, too, of course, Captain Cook,” said the Lord
-Chancellor. “And my advice to you, sir, is to make yourself scarce. You
-have had a narrow escape, and let it be a lesson to you.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The Dutch doll, whose knees had been knocking together with fright,
-picked up the skirts of Mr. Noah’s second-best yellow robe, and ran
-away as fast as he could. He poked in between two of the wooden
-soldiers guarding the quay, and was lost in the crowd. But he was
-an honest doll, for the next morning Mr. Noah received back his
-second-best robe by parcel’s post, with a note of thanks, which he
-could not read, as it was written in double-Dutch.
-
-The party was now ready to land and get into the royal carriage, but
-just as they had stepped off on to the red carpet on the quay, the Lord
-Chancellor’s eyes fell upon Lady Grace, whom he seemed not to have
-noticed before.
-
-His face darkened, and he said, “Why, what is this? A wax doll
-at large, after the royal proclamation that all Waxes are to be
-imprisoned! Captain Cook, do your duty instantly.”
-
-Captain Cook stepped forward to arrest Lady Grace, who shrank away from
-him, while Wooden and her mother and aunt began to protest volubly
-against such an outrage, for they were all friendly to Lady Grace, who
-had always treated them with perfect politeness.
-
-Peggy felt dreadfully frightened at the moment at all the hubbub, and
-at the idea of poor Lady Grace being taken off to prison; but just
-as she was trying to think what she could do to stop it there was
-an unexpected diversion. Colonel Jim, the officer in charge of the
-Lifeguards standing by the royal carriage, rode forward with a clatter
-of harness and accoutrements, and said in a loud voice, “Unhand that
-lady!”
-
-There was a moment’s pause. Then the Lord Chancellor said, “Colonel
-Jim, you are taking a great deal upon yourself. You know what the royal
-proclamation was. All Waxes are to be arrested and sent to prison.”
-
-“What for?” asked Colonel Jim, with soldierly brevity.
-
-“The general charge against them,” said the Lord Chancellor, “is giving
-themselves airs.”
-
-“Has Lady Grace ever given herself airs?” asked Colonel Jim.
-
-“No, that she never has,” said Wooden’s mother indignantly. “I will say
-this for her, Wax or no Wax, that a nicer-spoken or nicer-behaved lady
-never stept.”
-
-“And she was a great favourite of Queen Rosebud’s, besides,” said
-Wooden. “She thought the world of her.”
-
-And even Wooden’s aunt showed up well in the emergency. “If I’m to be
-Queen,” she said, “I shall have Lady Grace as my own lady-in-waiting.
-She shall put in my hairpins for me, which I never could do rightly
-myself. And how’s she to do that if she’s in prison?”
-
-Colonel Jim rode back to his troop without saying another word. But
-his interference had been successful, for the Lord Chancellor said,
-“Under the circumstances, I will not have Lady Grace arrested now. She
-can come with us to the Palace, and we will see what the King has to
-say about it.”
-
-Then Wooden and her mother and aunt, and Lady Grace and Peggy got into
-the royal carriage, and the Lord Chancellor and his suite got into two
-other carriages. Colonel Jim and his Life Guardsmen formed themselves
-on either side, and with a clash and a glitter, the little procession
-started. 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.
-For one thing, there were no signs of mourning in the streets, but on
-the other hand there were flags on some of the houses, and all the
-people seemed to be out of doors watching for the royal procession,
-and when it appeared they cheered heartily, and seemed as happy and
-pleased as possible. This was all the more remarkable because, if what
-the Lord Chancellor had said was true, which of course it was, as he
-would never have told a lie, all the wax dolls in the place had already
-been sent off to prison, and you might have thought that that would
-have sobered the rest. But even the four dolls in the carriage seemed
-to have forgotten it, and also the unpleasant episode of Lady Grace
-nearly being taken off to prison, too. They were all anxious to point
-out to Peggy the interesting sights to be seen on either side of them,
-and had nothing to say about anything else, not even about what might
-happen when they arrived at the royal palace. And as they seemed able
-to forget everything but the pleasure and interest of the moment, Peggy
-was able to do so, too.
-
-What she saw of Dolltown enchanted her. It was like all the toys
-she had ever had, and her friends had had, and she had seen in
-shop-windows, all become real, and not only that, but of a size to
-be used. 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, 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. Peggy could have used everything she saw herself,
-and it was really quite thrilling and delightful to feel that she could
-pretend to be a doll if she wanted to, and have all the fun for herself
-that little girls give to their dolls.
-
-Just outside the royal quay was a large station, with platforms and
-signal boxes and bridges and lines of rails all complete, and a train
-waiting there with a bright green clockwork engine, ready to go off
-into the country. One of Peggy’s boy cousins had collected a splendid
-railway plant--his relations always gave him things for it at Christmas
-and on his birthdays--and Peggy had often wished she could go for a
-ride in it all round his playroom floor, and be shunted and go under
-the little tunnels, and stop at the stations, just as the tin soldiers
-he put into the carriages did. Well, it would be just as much fun going
-in this railway system, and she could get into the toy carriages just
-as easily as her cousin’s tin soldiers.
-
-They crossed over the river on one of those suspension bridges that
-you see in shop-windows, and then climbed a hill into the town. At the
-beginning of the hill was a large toy fort, crammed with tin soldiers,
-who were looking over the parapet and cheering them as they passed.
-
-Then they went through a street of shops, and the joints of meat
-hanging in the butchers’ shops, and the fish lying on the slabs of the
-fishmongers’ shops, and the stores in the grocery shops were all real;
-and specially attractive were the highly-coloured fruits.
-
-As for the shops where they sold the baby-clothes, they were too
-delightful. But the first one they passed brought a most disturbing
-thought to Peggy. She turned to Wooden and said, “Oh, Wooden, dear,
-where are all the long-clothes babies! Surely they haven’t been cruel
-enough to send them to prison, too!”
-
-“Oh, no, dear,” said Wooden decidedly. “Nobody is cruel in Toyland.”
-
-Peggy did not feel quite so sure of that, considering that Lady Grace
-had nearly been sent to prison already for being wax; and of course
-most long-clothes babies are wax, or composition. “Then where are
-they!” she asked.
-
-“They are all having their morning sleep, dear,” said Wooden’s mother,
-and Peggy had to be content.
-
-When they reached the more important streets of Dolltown, most of
-the houses were built of wooden or terra-cotta bricks, and very fine
-some of them were. But this part of the town _was_ rather silent and
-deserted, for the owners of most of the fine houses were wax, and they
-had all been taken off to prison.
-
-At last they reached the royal palace. It was a most gorgeous building,
-built of ivory, with windows made of enormous diamonds and rubies and
-emeralds and sapphires, all glittering in the sun.
-
-The carriages drew up underneath an ivory porch. The Lord Chancellor
-was at the door of the royal one as soon as it was opened. “I will
-conduct you straight to his Majesty,” he said.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-VI
-
-KING SELIM HOLDS AN AUDIENCE
-
-
-They were led through several magnificent ivory halls, with a great
-many looking-glasses in them but scarcely any furniture, and into the
-great Hall of Audience, where there was a lovely ivory throne on a daïs
-at one end, and on either side of the Hall a row of ivory chairs.
-
-Here Peggy had two great surprises.
-
-The first surprise was the new King, who was sitting on the throne.
-Directly she saw him, Peggy exclaimed, “Why, he’s a White Chess King!”
-
-[Illustration: “He’s a White Chess King!”]
-
-And so he was, though none of the dolls seemed to know it. His crown
-was on his head, and he had a face underneath it, which chess kings
-don’t have, and, although he was wood himself, his robes did not appear
-to be. But there was no doubt about his being a chess king, in spite
-of these differences, and the moment she saw him Peggy had the feeling
-that he ought not to be King of Toyland, for he wasn’t a real doll that
-children play with, but only part of a game for grown-ups.
-
-The King was sitting on his throne when they came into the Hall, and
-standing by his side on the daïs was a lady doll. And this was Peggy’s
-second surprise. For the lady doll was no other than Rose, who had
-once been her own doll--the one she had given to Mabel in exchange for
-Wooden.
-
-Now, as we know, Peggy had never really loved Rose; she had tried to,
-but had not succeeded. But she had not come to _dis_like her in any
-way, and had kissed her affectionately when she had given her up to
-Mabel, and told her that she would come to see her sometimes. And she
-had done this now and then, until Mabel’s father had left the village
-shortly afterwards, and taken Mabel and Rose with him.
-
-But now, directly she set eyes on Rose again, and recognized her, Peggy
-felt that she did dislike her. She looked very proud, for one thing,
-and pride is not a quality that becomes anybody, least of all dolls,
-who are generally free from it. She also looked bad-tempered, and that
-again is a fault from which dolls are usually free. The only point to
-admire about her was her good looks, but as Peggy had never been able
-to love her because of them when she had been her own doll they did
-not recommend her now. Peggy felt once for all that she had been quite
-right in not liking Rose, and also felt that it would be impossible
-ever to like her.
-
-But we must get on. Directly the party introduced by the Lord
-Chamberlain made its appearance at the door of the Hall of Audience,
-the King rose from his throne. As they advanced up the Hall, he
-stepped down from the daïs, and approaching Wooden, bowed to her in a
-stately but somewhat foreign fashion, and took her hand. Then he said
-with great respect, “Madame, our wedding will take place in half an
-hour, and our coronation half an hour after that. I wish to get both
-ceremonies over before tea-time.”
-
-He spoke in an imperious way, and although there was a sort of smile on
-his face as he looked at Wooden, showing that she was dear to him, it
-was not altogether a pleasant smile; nor did King Selim seem to Peggy
-an agreeable person. He was tall and fat and ugly, and looked as if he
-ate and drank too much.
-
-Wooden was taken aback by the suddenness of the proposal. And no
-wonder! It must be remembered that she hardly knew King Selim, and had
-had no idea until half an hour before of anything in the nature of
-a marriage with him. And, although he had smiled at her, he had not
-uttered a word of love, nor even asked if she wanted to marry him or
-not. No lady would like a gentleman simply to tell her that he was
-going to marry her in half an hour, even if the gentleman _was_ a King.
-
-“I don’t know, your Majesty,” she said hesitatingly. “Of course it’s a
-great honour you’re doing me. But I haven’t thought of such a thing,
-and--and----”
-
-The Lord Chancellor stepped forward and bowed to the King. “Your
-Majesty,” he said. “I am empowered by this lady to make a suggestion
-to you. Would it be the same to your Majesty if you were to marry the
-lady’s aunt instead of her? She has the advantage of being wood, and
-of possessing considerable personal attractions. Wooden’s Aunt, kindly
-step forward, and display those attractions to his Majesty.”
-
-Wooden’s aunt stepped forward, dropped a curtsy to the King, and
-smirked.
-
-The King’s face darkened, and he was about to speak, when Rose, who was
-still standing by the throne on the daïs, interrupted. “Your Majesty,”
-she said, “this woman is not at all suitable for the purpose that has
-been suggested. She lives in the same part of the country over there
-as I used to, and I know all about her. She is quite a common woman--I
-believe she was once a sort of stewardess on a ship--and, if I may
-so express myself, it is like her impudence to think of marrying your
-Majesty.”
-
-Wooden’s aunt bridled. “And who are you, I should like to know,” she
-burst out, “to call me common? Common yourself! I dare say you think
-yourself very grand now, talking to a Majesty, but I’ve seen you
-dressed in dirty pink flannelette, and held head-downwards by one foot,
-over there. So there now, Miss Superior! Common, indeed! _I_’ll learn
-you!”
-
-From these two speeches, Peggy understood that when dolls in Toyland
-talked about the world of real people they called it “over there.”
-
-“Peace, woman!” ordered the King in an angry voice. “How dare you make
-a brawl in my royal palace?”
-
-Wooden’s aunt was affected by the majesty of his demeanour, which
-was certainly that of a King, though not perhaps of a good king. She
-shrank back, and Selim went on: “I have no idea of marrying this woman,
-Norval, and I wonder at your suggesting such a thing. But before we
-talk about that I should like to know how it comes about that a wax
-doll is brought into my presence, when I have given orders that all
-Waxes are to be imprisoned. And I should also like to know who this
-human child is, and how _she_ comes here. It looks to me very much like
-prying.”
-
-King Selim had very bushy eyebrows, and he bent them with a terrific
-frown upon Peggy and Lady Grace, as he spoke.
-
-Lady Grace shrank back, evidently frightened by Selim’s anger. But
-Peggy wasn’t frightened at all. She knew somehow that she had nothing
-to fear from a chess king, however angrily he might look at her. She
-even thought that she might be able to do something to save Lady Grace,
-if the King tried to punish her for being wax. But at present she
-thought she had better keep quiet, and see what happened.
-
-The Lord Chancellor did not seem to be frightened of the new King
-either. He said, in a chatty sort of way, “Now those are both very
-interesting questions, your Majesty, and I shall be delighted to
-discuss them with you. Then there’s the question of your marriage to be
-decided, and several other little matters, which will give us quite an
-agreeable discussion, if we take them one by one. What I say is, let’s
-have an Audience.”
-
-The King stepped back on to the daïs and whispered to Rose, who
-shrugged her shoulders and looked disagreeable, but did not seem to be
-able to object to the proposal.
-
-“Very well,” said the King, seating himself on his throne. “We’ll have
-an Audience.”
-
-The Lord Chancellor seemed pleased at the idea of an Audience. “Bring
-in the Woolsack,” he said to the royal servant dolls, who were standing
-round the daïs; and two of them went out, and came back with a large
-sack of wool, which they placed in the middle of the Hall. The Lord
-Chancellor took his seat on it, facing the throne, but it was so soft
-that he fell back into it, and it covered him up so completely that
-only two little thin legs could be seen sticking into the air. But
-the two royal servants quickly rescued him, and sat him in the middle
-of the sack, which bulged up all round him. He laughed in a very
-good-humoured way at his mishap, and said, “Now the rest of you take
-your seats, please, and then we’ll begin.”
-
-All the company sat down on the ivory chairs on either side of the
-Hall, except Rose, who still stood at the right of the King on his
-throne.
-
-“Now we must have everything quite in order,” said the Lord Chancellor
-cheerfully. “I don’t know who the lady is standing by his Majesty. I’ve
-nothing to say against her whatever. In fact, I’m sure she will be of
-great assistance to us in our important deliberations. But I should
-like her to take her place with the rest, please.”
-
-“I am advising his Majesty on behalf of the Composition dolls,” said
-Rose hastily. “It is his Majesty’s wish that I should keep by him.
-Please get on with the Audience, and don’t fuss.”
-
-“Oh, if it’s his Majesty’s wish, I’ve nothing more to say,” said the
-Lord Chancellor genially. “I only thought you would be more comfortable
-sitting down. Now the first thing to be done is to announce what steps
-have been taken by your Majesty for the welfare of the Kingdom of
-Toyland. Let’s have it all, please, from the time you received the last
-wishes of our dear lamented Queen Rosebud.”
-
-The King frowned. “I don’t want to have to go into all that again,” he
-said. “I want my questions answered.”
-
-“All in good time, your Majesty,” said the Lord Chancellor. “But let’s
-have your statement first, please.”
-
-Peggy quite expected that the King would refuse, and might even do
-something to the Lord Chancellor for giving him an order in that sort
-of way. But it seemed as if it was difficult for a doll to refuse to
-obey any order, if it was given with enough firmness. At any rate, the
-King obeyed this one, although he frowned and looked very disagreeable
-about it.
-
-“Well, if you must have it,” he said, “when the late lamented Queen
-Rosebud was nearing her end she told me that she wished me to reign
-over Toyland in her place.”
-
-“Will you kindly make a note of this?” said the Lord Chancellor to his
-secretary, who was standing beside him. “Take it all down in shorthand;
-then we shall know where we are. Go on, please, your Majesty.”
-
-“That’s all,” said the King. “Queen Rosebud said I was to reign, and
-I’m reigning.”
-
-“Did his Majesty say it was raining?” asked the secretary.
-
-“No, no,” said the Lord Chancellor testily. “The King said _he_ was
-reigning--with a ‘g.’ Keep your ears open, please. Well, that’s all in
-order, then. Now what about the imprisonment of all wax dolls, your
-Majesty? Let’s have that explained, please.”
-
-The King frowned again. “Have I got to explain everything I do, when
-I’m already King?” he asked.
-
-“Yes, please, your Majesty,” said the Lord Chancellor firmly.
-
-“Well, then,” said the King, “I was given reason to believe that there
-would be a revolution among the Waxes, when it was known that a wooden
-King was to succeed a wax Queen, and I took steps to prevent it, that’s
-all.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“Who gave your Majesty reason to believe such a thing?” asked the
-Lord Chancellor. “I am China myself, but I have always lived on good
-terms with Waxes and Woodens alike--Compositions and Rags, too, for
-the matter of that--and I believe I may say the same of most of the
-inhabitants of this happy country. I see no reason to believe that
-there would have been a revolution of any sort, when it was given out
-that Queen Rosebud had nominated you as her successor.”
-
-“Did you say that she abominated her professor?” asked the secretary.
-“You talk so very fast.”
-
-The King broke in before the Lord Chancellor could reply. “Are you
-giving me a lecture?” he asked angrily.
-
-“Yes,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Will your Majesty kindly answer my
-question?”
-
-“No, I won’t,” said the King. “It is enough to say that I gave orders
-that if there was any trouble among the dolls landing from over there,
-a gun was to be fired. The gun _was_ fired, and I ordered the Waxes to
-be locked up at once.”
-
-“The gun was fired by mistake,” said Wooden’s mother sensibly. “I saw
-the soldier’s ears boxed for firing it with my own eyes.”
-
-“Did she say she fired it with her own eyes?” asked the secretary. “She
-does mumble so.”
-
-“Mistake or no mistake,” said the King, “the gun was fired, and the
-Waxes were locked up. And now we’ve finished all that, I should like
-to know what this lady is doing here, when she ought to be in prison.”
-
-He frowned terrifically at Lady Grace, who was sitting between Peggy
-and Wooden. Peggy took hold of her hand. Although Lady Grace was grown
-up, and she was only a little girl, she felt that she must protect her.
-For after all she was her own dearly loved doll, and Peggy was not
-going to have her bullied by a chess king, if she could help it.
-
-It was Wooden who answered, in her calm, kind voice. “Lady Grace was a
-favourite lady-in-waiting of dear Queen Rosebud,” she said. “I think it
-would be a great pity to send her to prison, and I hope you won’t do
-it, your Majesty.”
-
-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.”
-
-“_You_’re not even Composition,” broke in Wooden’s aunt, who had been
-glowering at Rose all along, and seemed to have forgotten her own
-fright. “You’re Composition down to the neck, and your hands and feet
-and the rest of you is stuffed rag. Yes, _stuffed rag_! So there,
-Sawdust!”
-
-The Lord Chancellor held up his hand. “That is a very serious
-accusation to bring against a lady,” he said. “I understood the lady to
-claim that she was Composition. Do you mean to accuse her of telling a
-lie, madam?”
-
-“I’ve seen her held upside down by the leg,” said Wooden’s aunt.
-“Composition below, sawdust above. Deny it if you can.”
-
-Rose did not deny it. She looked as if she were going to, but her eyes
-rested on Peggy, and she knew that Peggy knew all the truth about her.
-She burst into angry tears. “It is most offensive to be addressed in
-that way by a vulgar creature like that,” she said. “Before gentlemen,
-too! She hasn’t got any legs at all, herself, over there. Nor a nose
-either. She’s a regular figure of fun.”
-
-The King put out his hand to soothe her. “The first law I shall make,”
-he said, “will be that no doll in my dominions shall ever refer to the
-deficiencies of another doll over there, under pain of imprisonment.
-I feel very strongly on the subject. That is why I object to human
-children being brought over here to pry, and perhaps to tell tales. I
-shall make a law forbidding that, too.”
-
-“I think it would be a pity to do away with the good feeling that
-exists between us and human children,” said the Lord Chancellor.
-“Allowing one of them occasionally to visit us here is the only return
-we can make for special kindness. I shouldn’t make that law if I were
-you, your Majesty.”
-
-“When I was at the head of my Pieces over there,” said the King, “there
-was a horrible child who used to put my head in her mouth. She had at
-the time only one tooth, but I bear the marks of that tooth upon me to
-this day.”
-
-Directly he had spoken, a sudden memory came back to Peggy. A year or
-so before, her father had wanted to play a game of chess with a friend.
-The chess-men had been brought out, but it had been found that the
-white king was missing. Then it had come out that Peggy had had him to
-play with when she had been a baby, and he had not been seen since. Of
-course she had been too young to remember playing with him, but she
-felt almost certain that King Selim was the very same piece, especially
-as he was exactly the same in pattern as the black king, who still
-remained.
-
-“Why, I do believe you’re our white chess king!” she cried out. “Father
-_will_ be glad that you are found again.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-VII
-
-THEY ALL GO TO PRISON
-
-
-It would be impossible to describe the consternation that Peggy’s
-remark caused in the Hall of Audience. King Selim grew purple in the
-face with passion, and cried out in a terrible voice, “Arrest this
-Human instantly, and take her off to prison. She has spoken the truth,
-and it shall be her own undoing.”
-
-Some royal guards stepped forward to do his bidding, and there was a
-great commotion among the other dolls in the Hall.
-
-But before the soldiers could reach Peggy, the Lord Chancellor made
-his voice heard above the hubbub. “Half a moment! Half a moment! Half
-a moment!” he kept on calling out, louder and louder, and quicker and
-quicker, until the words sounded like “Ar-mo! Ar-mo!” The soldiers
-paused, and the noise died down, until he could make himself heard.
-
-“It is rather a serious thing to arrest a Human, your Majesty,” he
-said. “I don’t think it has ever been done before, and it may make a
-deal of trouble. We ought to be careful how we go.”
-
-The King was still almost beside himself with rage. “Do you think I am
-going to let my enemy go, now I have got her in my power at last?” he
-cried. “Yes, that’s the odious child who made these scars.”
-
-Since his face had become so red, a lot of little white marks had come
-out all over it. They were the marks of Peggy’s dear little first
-tooth, and she couldn’t help laughing as she looked at them, which made
-the King angrier still.
-
-“How dare you laugh?” he cried passionately. “I’ll send you to prison,
-and keep you on bread and water and mustard. I’ll execute you. I’ll
-have your ears boxed three times a day, an hour before meals and half
-an hour after. If my mouth was big enough I’d bite _your_ head, and
-see how _you_ liked it. Arrest her instantly and take that wax doll
-with her as well, and the woman who dared to think she was going to
-marry me. Do it at once, and don’t you dare to cross my royal will any
-longer, Norval, or I’ll have you arrested, too.”
-
-As the King had given way when the Lord Chancellor spoke firmly, so the
-Lord Chancellor now gave way when the King spoke firmly. He shrugged
-his shoulders, and said, “Well, I think you are making a mistake, your
-Majesty, but if you say it is to be done, of course it must be done.”
-
-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. But he was so beside
-himself with rage that he hardly knew what he was doing or saying.
-“Take the whole lot of them off,” he ordered, “and don’t let me see
-their ugly faces again.” Then he gathered up his robes and stalked off
-the daïs and out of the Hall, by a door at the back, which he banged
-after him.
-
-The royal guards now approached the five prisoners, but did not take
-hold of them or put handcuffs on them, or anything of that sort. For
-the Lord Chancellor said to them, “Go easy, now! It’s only a little
-flash in the pan, ladies. The King is rather irritable by nature, and
-I don’t think his lunch has agreed with him. But he will think better
-of this by-and-by, and you will all be let out again.”
-
-“Not if I know it,” said a haughty, scornful voice.
-
-It was Rose, who still stood on the daïs, and was looking at them with
-a cruel joy, which she made no effort to disguise.
-
-Her contemptuous gaze fell upon each of them in turn, but when she came
-to Peggy it turned into one of absolute ferocity. She stretched out her
-forefinger, and pointed at her. “Base human,” she addressed her. “I
-never thought to get you into my power, but now I have you you will rue
-the day when you came across the path of Rose, who never forgets and
-never forgives.”
-
-“Tut! tut!” said the Lord Chancellor. “These are hard words, madam, and
-quite out of order.”
-
-“Silence!” cried Rose, in a terrible voice, and flashing a terrible
-look at him from her dark and flaming eyes. And the Lord Chancellor
-shrugged his shoulders again, and kept silence, until she had finished
-her oration.
-
-“Was it not enough,” she said, “that I should be born into the world
-over there as the property of a human child whom I despised and hated,
-but I must be treated by her with the grossest indignity?”
-
-Peggy thought this was a little too much. She was not in the least
-frightened of Rose, nor of the King, nor of all the palace guards put
-together, and thought it would be rather amusing to go to a dolls’
-prison, and see what it was like. But she was not going to be stormed
-at and told stories about by Rose.
-
-“Why did you hate me?” she asked. “I was always kind to you, and I
-would have loved you if you had let me.”
-
-Rose laughed her scornful laugh. “As if I wanted _your_ love!” she
-exclaimed. “Or the love of any human child! I hate the whole tribe of
-them, and wish I could have them _all_ over here, and tell them what I
-thought of them.”
-
-“Oh, this is quite out of order, quite out of order,” said the Lord
-Chancellor fussily. “I wish you would finish what you have to say,
-madam, and let us get on with our work. You are keeping us all waiting.”
-
-Rose took no notice of him, but went on. “You exchanged me,” she said,
-“for a battered wreck of a wooden doll, without a vestige of beauty
-such as mine, or indeed of any sort.”
-
-“Who are you talking about, Miss Imperence?” said Wooden’s aunt,
-suddenly breaking in. “This young lady exchanged you for my niece, who
-is going to be Queen when she comes out of prison. You’d better be a
-bit more careful of what you say; that’s my advice to _you_. And don’t
-forget that what we can’t see of you is stuffed with sawdust.”
-
-“Yes, I should leave off, if I were you,” said the Lord Chancellor.
-“You are not being polite, you know, and it is quite true what the lady
-says. It is the future Queen of Toyland that you seem to have been
-exchanged for, and his Majesty won’t like it if you call her names.”
-
-Rose laughed her scornful laugh again. “_She_ will never be Queen of
-Toyland,” she said. “I’ll see to that.” And with a toss of her head and
-a swish of her skirts she swept out of the Hall, by the door through
-which the King had already disappeared.
-
-The Lord Chancellor completely recovered his good humour the moment
-she was gone. “What a very talkative lady!” he said, with a laugh.
-“However, we needn’t worry our heads about her. We’ve got plenty to
-occupy ourselves about, haven’t we?”
-
-It really seemed as if they had. It is not every day that five ladies
-are taken off to prison, not knowing when they will be let out again;
-and the experience would naturally make them think. But the four dolls
-did not seem to be much cast down by the prospect, and Wooden kept on
-assuring Peggy that the House of Cards was a very nice prison, and
-there was a magnificent view from the upper stories.
-
-The Lord Chancellor proposed that they should walk to the prison, so
-that Peggy might see some of the life of Dolltown before she was shut
-up. “I should have liked to take you about myself,” he said politely,
-“and to show you some hospitality during your visit. It’s a pity you
-didn’t come when Queen Rosebud was alive. However, we must make the
-best of things, mustn’t we? I’ll see that you’re comfortable, and
-have plenty of pot-plants. We might buy a few as we go along. I like
-pot-plants.”
-
-They set out. The Lord Chancellor gave the palace guards instructions
-to walk behind. “The people will think they are just a guard of
-honour,” he explained kindly. “If they were to put handcuffs on you,
-it would be different. But I have always been one for making things
-comfortable all around. Live and let live is my motto.”
-
-He walked between Peggy and Wooden as they went through the streets,
-and turned out to be a pleasant, chatty old gentleman, with a
-well-stored mind, and a fund of varied information. He told Peggy a
-good deal that interested her about the conditions of life in Dolltown,
-and she found it difficult to believe that she was really being taken
-to prison, and quite enjoyed her walk.
-
-[Illustration: He walked between Peggy and Wooden]
-
-The streets were gay, and crowded with dolls of all sorts except
-those made of wax. A good deal of interest was aroused by the little
-procession, with the six palace guards bringing up the rear. Gradually
-a crowd of dolls gathered and walked with them, so that the streets
-became rather full, and the dolls who were driving the toy hansom cabs,
-and the toy motors, and the toy carts, had some difficulty in making
-their way along.
-
-The Lord Chancellor seemed to enjoy the attention that was being drawn
-to them, but also to be a little anxious about being recognized. He
-called his secretary to him, and said, “You might just tell some of the
-people that the elderly gentleman in the velvet gown, with a learned
-and amiable expression of face, is the Lord Chancellor. Then they
-will hand it on to the others. We will go into this shop and buy some
-pot-plants.”
-
-They went into a flower-shop, full of toy flowers in very bright red
-pots, and the Lord Chancellor made a handsome purchase, and paid for
-it with toy money, which Peggy thought most fascinating. She wished
-she had brought some of hers with her, for she had had a lot given to
-her for a Christmas present, and would have been quite rich with it
-in Toyland. The pots were given to the guards to carry, and they said
-good-bye to the nice pleasant woman doll who kept the shop, and set out
-again.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-While they had been in the shop, the Lord Chancellor’s secretary had
-been telling everybody who they were, and also that they were all on
-their way to prison. He had not been told to say this, but he was
-rather stupid. The only reason why he was kept on was that he was so
-willing. But this time he had been a little too willing, for a lot of
-the doll people were inclined to be angry at so much sending to prison,
-and some of them thought that the Lord Chancellor could have stopped it
-if he had liked.
-
-So when they all came out of the shop, there were not quite so many
-smiles for them as before, and there were even a few boos and hisses as
-they continued on their way.
-
-The Lord Chancellor looked surprised and pained. “Now I did think that
-when they were told who I was they would be pleased,” he said. “I
-must say that I do like people to like me, and it makes me positively
-miserable if they don’t. What can I have done? There isn’t a smut on my
-nose, or anything like that, is there?”
-
-“No,” said Wooden. “There is only a small pimple that people might
-mistake for a smut if they were a little short-sighted.”
-
-“Ah, then I expect that is it,” said the Lord Chancellor. “That pimple
-has been growing lately, and I always feared that it would bring me
-trouble.”
-
-Peggy now began to be a little frightened, for the crowd of dolls was
-pressing more closely round them, and the hisses and the booing were
-beginning to get louder. Many of the dolls looked angry, too, and she
-found that it was one thing to laugh at a single chess king being
-angry, and quite another to have several hundred dolls as large as life
-jostling round her in a crowd.
-
-You see, an angry doll is not what you are accustomed to, and you are
-always apt to be a little frightened at something that is quite strange.
-
-But just as it was beginning to be difficult to move forward, because
-of the crowd, Peggy suddenly caught sight of something that took her
-mind off what was happening. This was the shiny black hat and yellow
-robe of Mr. Noah on the edge of the crowd, and not only that, but
-the brown coat and merry face of her own old Teddy. She had been so
-occupied with all the curious and interesting things that had been
-happening since she had come off the ark that she had had no time to
-think about Teddy, or to wonder what he was doing. But evidently he
-had made great friends with Mr. and Mrs. Noah, and was going about with
-them.
-
-Well, Teddy was peering between the heads of the people to see what
-was happening, and directly he caught sight of Peggy he pushed his way
-through the crowd, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Noah. All of them were tall
-and strong, and although there were some complaints from the dolls they
-elbowed aside, such as, “Now then, where do you think you are going?”
-and “Mind who you’re shoving, can’t you?” the three of them quickly got
-through.
-
-“Now then, Mr. Man,” said Teddy to the Lord Chancellor, “where are you
-taking my young mistress off to?”
-
-“Why, they’re taking them off to prison!” said an indignant voice
-from the crowd, and it was repeated by several other voices, equally
-indignant. “They’re taking them off to prison.”
-
-The Lord Chancellor held up his hand. “Now then, my good people,” he
-said, “don’t disturb yourselves, I do pray and beg of you. It’s the
-King’s orders, you know, and you can really hardly call it going to
-prison. They are going to be his Majesty’s guests for a little time
-in the House of Cards. There’s a glorious view from there, and they
-will get very good food. You see, we’ve just been buying pot-plants to
-brighten up their apartments for them. Here they are. The guards are
-carrying them. You can see them for yourselves. Do please let us get
-on. The ladies want their tea.”
-
-The Lord Chancellor seemed to attach great importance to the
-pot-plants, and they did make some impression on the crowd, because
-they could all see them, and there was no doubt about them at all. They
-made way for the Lord Chancellor to go on for a few steps, followed by
-his charges.
-
-But Teddy wasn’t at all satisfied. “Here, wait a minute, Mister,” he
-said. “What are you taking my young mistress to prison _for_? That’s
-what I want to know. And, why bless me! here’s Wooden, too, and Lady
-Grace, and Wooden’s mother and aunt. I say, this won’t do at all, you
-know. Are they all going to prison?”
-
-“Oh, yes, but only--well, you might almost call it for a little fun,”
-said the Lord Chancellor. “It’s more like a first-class hotel than a
-prison, you know. And--and--well, look at the pot-plants! You can see
-for yourself!”
-
-“Oh, blow the pot-plants!” said Teddy; and Peggy did not object to the
-vulgarity of the expression, as he spoke as if he really meant to do
-something. “What are they going to prison _for_?”
-
-“Three wooden dolls, too!” said Mrs. Noah. “And one of them was going
-to be Queen, we were all told. It doesn’t seem to me as if the new King
-was acting quite right, it doesn’t.”
-
-There were murmurs among the crowd. Mrs. Noah seemed to have hit upon
-a feeling that they all shared, more or less. “No, it isn’t right.”
-“There was hardly any sending to prison in Queen Rosebud’s time.” “They
-don’t look as if they had done anything wrong either.” “Nice kind
-faces, all of them!” These were a few of the speeches that reached
-Peggy’s ears from among the dolls who were all round her.
-
-The Lord Chancellor still kept his good-natured expression of face, as
-if they were all making a great fuss about nothing, but he would put
-up with it for the sake of pleasing them. “Now, look here,” he said in
-a persuasive voice, “I think there’s a great deal in what you say, and
-I should be the last one to want to go against you. A more intelligent
-and intellectual-looking crowd I have seldom set eyes on, and it’s a
-real pleasure to address you.”
-
-There were murmurs of approval, and one smartly dressed lady doll
-standing near to Peggy, said, “Lord Norval can be trusted. I know all
-about him, and I once met him at a garden party.”
-
-“Now suppose we come to a compromise,” said the Lord Chancellor.
-
-There were more murmurs of approval. Another lady doll near to Peggy
-asked, “What is a compromise?”
-
-“Oh, don’t you know?” said the first lady doll. “It’s ‘If you give way,
-I’ll pretend to.’”
-
-“What I suggest is this,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Let us all take
-these ladies to the House of Cards--it isn’t really like a prison at
-all, you know--and when we have made them comfortable there, and got
-them off our minds, then we’ll talk about what can be done. Now that
-strikes me as eminently fair.”
-
-“Yes, that’s a compromise,” said the first lady doll, “and a very good
-one. But I knew that the Lord Chancellor could be trusted. A cook I
-once had had been kitchen maid to a great friend of his wife’s.”
-
-Peggy did not think much of the Lord Chancellor’s compromise, but
-it seemed to satisfy the crowd, who greeted it with enthusiasm, and
-immediately made a way through for them, and went along with them.
-Peggy thought that Teddy would have seen that if they were once all
-shut up in prison it would be much 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.
-
-So on they all went, and by-and-by they came to the House of Cards.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-VIII
-
-PEGGY BATHES A BABY AND HAS A SURPRISE
-
-
-The House of Cards was a noble structure, and one which interested
-Peggy extremely. She had once built one herself, up to five stories,
-and had nearly finished the sixth before it tumbled down. But the House
-of Cards in Dolltown was of no less than thirteen stories, and towered
-high above all the other buildings. Each story was as high as the shops
-round the market-place, and not even the Post-Office, which was an
-imposing edifice of terra-cotta bricks, reached higher than its second
-story. It was built up of gigantic cards, just as Peggy had built hers
-with ordinary sized ones, but it seemed quite strong, and as if it
-would last for ever. There were windows and doors in the cards, and the
-ones that were laid flat at each story formed platforms and balconies,
-on which you could go out to look about you.
-
-Just as the Lord Chancellor was ushering them in to the House of Cards,
-a lead Life Guardsman from the palace rode up on his black horse and
-handed him a note. “Now I am rather sorry for that,” he said, when
-he had read it. “I had intended to shut you all up in the top story,
-for the sake of the view. But the King doesn’t wish that. You are to
-be imprisoned on the first floor. Those are his very words. Well,
-you will be able to see the life of the market-place, which is very
-entertaining. As a distinguished doll once said, ‘There is no cloud
-without its silver lining.’ You couldn’t do that so conveniently from
-the top story. Perhaps the King thought of that. There is a good deal
-of thoughtfulness in his nature, though he is apt to be a little
-irritable after meals.”
-
-“It’s like his nastiness not to let us see the view,” said Wooden’s
-aunt. “I wouldn’t marry him now, not if he was to go down on his bended
-knees, I wouldn’t.”
-
-Peggy would have liked to go up to the top of the House of Cards, but
-it turned out very well for them all that they were not shut up there,
-as will presently appear.
-
-The cards of which the house was built were so enormous that each
-story had two floors of several rooms. They were taken upstairs by a
-policeman doll, and found themselves in a spacious apartment furnished
-with quite nice dolls’ furniture, and not like a prison at all. The
-Lord Chancellor rubbed his hands as he looked round him, and said,
-“Well, this isn’t so bad, is it? With the pot-plants it will look quite
-home-like, and I should think, when you are set free, you will hardly
-like to leave it. You can go out on this balcony, see? We might go out
-now, and look at the people. I’m sure they will be pleased to see us
-all, especially me. The people have a great love for me, and it is very
-gratifying. I often think about it when I am alone, and it sometimes
-brings tears to my eyes.”
-
-They went out on the balcony, and looked down at the crowd of dolls in
-the market-place. There were all sorts there except wax. Peggy looked
-to see if she could see Teddy or the Noahs among them. There were
-several Teddy bears, and one or two Noahs in the crowd, but although
-she might not have recognized the Noahs of the royal Ark, Peggy would
-have known her own Teddy anywhere. She was sure that he was not in the
-crowd, and wondered what had become of him.
-
-The crowd of dolls cheered when they appeared on the balcony. The Lord
-Chancellor put himself in front, and bowed repeatedly, but the dolls
-seemed to be cheering Wooden more than him. This was probably because
-they had been told that she was to be their Queen, and because any
-doll who knew her would have told their friends how nice and good
-she was. So the news would have spread, and Wooden would have become
-popular. At any rate the dolls kept on calling out, “Wooden! Wooden!
-Speech! Speech!”
-
-The platform was too high above the market-place to make it convenient
-for anybody to make a speech from it, even if they had wished to.
-Wooden did not wish to, not being accustomed to public speaking, but
-her aunt offered to dance a Highland fling, which her late husband had
-taught her. This offer was refused, and Wooden’s mother told her to
-behave herself, and remember where she was.
-
-“Now, I must leave you,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Good-bye, ladies,
-and a very pleasant imprisonment to you!”
-
-He shook hands affably with all of them, and bowed himself out. He
-seemed already to have forgotten the compromise he had come to with the
-people, and they seemed to have forgotten it, too; for Peggy watched
-him go off, followed by the palace guards, and bowing to right and
-left. The dolls in the market-place cheered heartily, but none of them
-stopped him to say anything, and he disappeared round the corner.
-
-“Dolls seem to have very short memories,” said Peggy to herself. She
-could not help feeling a little unhappy at being shut up in a prison,
-though it was only a dolls’ prison, and quite different from the stone
-cells she had read about. She did think that her own Teddy might have
-done something more to help them. She knew now that he was rather
-flighty, but surely he need not have gone off like that, and have left
-his mistress and her friends to be locked up, without trying to do
-anything to rescue them! She supposed he was amusing himself with his
-new friends, Mr. and Mrs. Noah, and had forgotten all about her.
-
-But she did Teddy an injustice there, as you will soon see.
-
-The policeman doll came up to see if they wanted anything directly
-the Lord Chancellor had gone, and brought his wife with him. He was
-a large, amiable-looking doll, and his wife was nice too. She was
-dressed as a Swiss peasant, and when she saw Peggy she said, “Bonjour,
-Mademoiselle! Comment ça va t’il?”
-
-Now Peggy knew a good deal of French already, because her father and
-mother took her to Etretat every summer for the holidays. So she said
-at once, “Merci, Madame, ça va bien. Et vous?”
-
-The policeman doll’s wife was delighted to hear her own language
-spoken, and asked Peggy if she might kiss her. The policeman doll
-beamed affectionately at them, and said, “Isn’t that clever now? I
-never could pick up her lingo.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-They said they would like some tea as soon as possible, and apricot jam
-with it. The policeman doll’s wife, whose name was Mrs. Emma, said that
-she would bring it up as soon as she had bathed her baby.
-
-“Oh, have you got a long-clothes baby?” asked Peggy, clasping her two
-hands together.
-
-Mrs. Emma said that she had, and Peggy begged her to let her go down
-and bathe it for her.
-
-The policeman doll said he didn’t think he could allow that without
-orders, but Mrs. Emma persuaded him, and he said that as the outer
-door of the house was locked, perhaps it wouldn’t much matter after
-all; only she wasn’t to tell anybody. Peggy would have promised almost
-anything for the sake of bathing a real live baby doll, and promised
-this readily enough. So she left the four dolls, promising to come back
-soon, and went downstairs with Mr. and Mrs. Emma.
-
-They lived in the basement, where they had a large and well furnished
-kitchen, spotlessly clean. In one corner of it was a pretty bassinette
-covered with muslin and ribbons, and inside it was the sweetest little
-baby doll, beautifully dressed in a hand-made robe of cambric and lace.
-Everything was so pretty and dainty that it might have belonged to
-a princess, and Mrs. Emma told Peggy that she took a great pride in
-having everything very nice for her baby.
-
-Peggy lost her heart to the baby doll at once. She would have loved
-it even if it had been just like other dolls, but when it smiled at
-her, and put out its little pudgy hands, and gurgled happily, she could
-almost have eaten it, it was so fascinating.
-
-[Illustration: Peggy lost her heart to the baby doll]
-
-Mrs. Emma put on her a large bath apron, and got out a white enamelled
-toy bath, with a gold rim round it, and a cake of pink soap, and filled
-the bath with hot water. And then Peggy lifted the baby doll carefully
-out of the cot and undressed it and put it into the bath, first putting
-her own hand in the water to see that it was not too hot.
-
-It was lovely, bathing that beautiful fat laughing baby doll. Mrs. Emma
-stood over the bath smiling at them both, but she soon saw that Peggy
-knew exactly what to do and how to do it, so she went away to her work
-in another part of the kitchen.
-
-Peggy was so busy with the baby doll, and so wrapped up in it, that
-she did not pay much attention to what Mr. and Mrs. Emma were talking
-about. But she heard some of the things they said, and, although she
-did not pay much attention to them at the time, as I have said, they
-turned out to be important afterwards, as you will see.
-
-When Peggy had bathed the baby doll, and dressed it and put it back
-into its cot, she was taken upstairs again. She found the Woodens and
-Lady Grace on the balcony, where something interesting was just about
-to happen.
-
-A Teddy bear had made its appearance in the market-place with an
-enormous pole, and just as Peggy went out on to the balcony he was
-balancing it on his head. Then he balanced it on different parts of his
-body, as he knelt or lay or stooped on the ground. The crowd of dolls
-who still filled the market-place was absolutely delighted with his
-performance, and when he shouted out that he would climb up to the top
-of the pole and balance himself on his head, if somebody would hold it
-for him, all the gentlemen dolls in the market-place wanted to have the
-honour of holding the pole for him.
-
-But the Teddy bear said he must choose who should hold the pole
-himself, and chose out of the crowd four tall wooden dolls with shiny
-black hats and different coloured robes. Then he looked up at Peggy and
-the four dolls standing on the balcony of the House of Cards, and waved
-his paw and made a low bow, and told his four assistants to hold up the
-pole near the House, so that the ladies could see. The crowd of dolls
-was pleased at this, for they were sorry for the prisoners, and wanted
-them to have all the amusement that they could get.
-
-Well, of course you have already understood that the Teddy bear who was
-so clever at his acrobatic feats was Peggy’s own old Teddy, who had not
-forgotten her at all, but had evidently chosen this means of getting
-at them. 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.
-
-Teddy climbed carefully up to the top of the pole, and when he got
-there he stood on one foot and waved his paws about, and then changed
-to the other foot, and kissed his paw to the crowd, and to Peggy and
-the dolls on the balcony. Peggy was afraid that he might tumble, and
-almost forgot to listen for anything that he might say when he got near
-to them. But he seemed quite at home on his pole, and as he turned
-towards them and kissed his paw, he said in a mysterious voice, “One of
-you go to the other side.”
-
-That was all he said, and the crowd down below could not have known
-that he was saying anything at all, he did it so cleverly. He was just
-on a level with the balcony, and could easily have jumped on to it if
-he had wanted to. Peggy had thought that perhaps he had meant to do
-that, so as to be with them, because he could not have got there in
-any other way. But he was too clever for that, for if he had stepped
-on to the balcony, all the dolls who had been watching him would have
-known at once that they had been deceived. And besides, he would only
-have been locked up with Peggy and the four dolls, and could have done
-nothing more to help them.
-
-When Teddy had said, “One of you go to the other side,” he turned round
-again, and then stood on his head on the top of the pole, as he had
-promised to do. The crowd of dolls was wild with delight, and none of
-them suspected that he had given a message to the prisoners.
-
-“What does he mean? What are we to go to the other side for?” asked
-Wooden.
-
-“I expect there is somebody there,” said Lady Grace. “Shall I go?”
-
-“No, I’ll go,” said Wooden’s aunt, who had largely recovered her
-spirits during Teddy’s performance, and had danced a few steps of a
-Highland fling on her own account, while he was posturing on the pole.
-
-“I think Peggy had better go,” said Wooden’s mother. “She has a
-slightly better head than any of us, because she is human.”
-
-“Oh, yes, let Peggy go,” said all the others at once. So Peggy went
-round the balcony to the other side of the house, feeling proud at the
-trust reposed in her, but a little alarmed also at what should happen.
-But she hid that from the dolls, and walked with a firm and confident
-step.
-
-There was as big a space in the market-place on the other side of the
-House of Cards as in the one in which Teddy was performing, but it was
-absolutely empty. Every doll was watching Teddy, and even the shops
-were deserted, as all the doll shopkeepers had gone round to the other
-side. A thief might have taken anything he liked from the shops, and
-nobody would have seen him. But dolls are never thieves, so it was
-quite safe.
-
-Perhaps I ought not to have said that that side of the market-place was
-absolutely empty. It looked so to Peggy when she got there, but when
-she looked over the edge of the platform she saw a solitary doll figure
-standing below her, looking up. It was rather a disappointment to
-her, for it was a gentleman doll wrapped up in a long black cloak, and
-he had his arms full of pot-plants, like the ones the Lord Chancellor
-had bought to brighten up their rooms. Peggy thought they had quite
-enough pot-plants to go on with, and, if the gentleman doll only wanted
-to sell them some more, it was hardly worth Teddy’s cleverness to get
-all the people round on the other side, so that he might do so without
-being observed.
-
-And that was apparently all that the gentleman doll did want, for
-directly he saw Peggy looking over the platform at him he called up to
-her, “Kind lady, buy a few pot-plants from a poor man. I’ve got some
-lovely ones here.”
-
-“No, thank you,” said Peggy. “We have plenty. Besides, I haven’t got
-any money; at least, not here.”
-
-“I don’t want any money for them,” said the gentleman doll. “Let me
-come up and show you my lovely pot-plants.”
-
-Now there was something in his voice that Peggy seemed to recognize.
-She thought she had heard it before, but she couldn’t remember where or
-when. However, she began to understand that the pot-plants were only an
-excuse for the gentleman doll to get into the House of Cards, and that
-if he did so he might have something interesting to say.
-
-“I should be glad if you could come up,” she said. “But the doors are
-locked, and I don’t suppose they will let you.”
-
-“Yes, they will, if you say the word ‘pot-plants,’” said the gentleman
-doll. “Say that somebody has come from the palace with some pot-plants
-for you. Go quickly, before anybody comes.”
-
-Peggy went back, and told Wooden and the others what had happened. “I
-don’t know who it was,” she said, “but I couldn’t help thinking that I
-had heard his voice before.”
-
-“Was it the Lord Chancellor?” asked Wooden’s mother. “Perhaps this is
-his compromise.”
-
-“I don’t think so,” said Peggy. “But hadn’t we better ask for him to be
-let in?”
-
-Teddy had finished his performance, and was climbing down the pole. It
-was time to do something, for soon the crowd of dolls would disperse,
-and some would go round to the other side of the House.
-
-“Yes, dear, we had better do that,” said Wooden. “It is a very good
-idea. Perhaps you had better go yourself, if you don’t mind, as it was
-you who heard what he said.”
-
-Peggy would have been quite willing to go down, but the door of their
-room was locked. So after a little more discussion they rang the bell,
-and presently Mr. Emma came up to see what they wanted.
-
-The dolls seemed to expect Peggy to speak, so she said, “There is a man
-outside who wants to come up and see us.”
-
-Mr. Emma beamed affectionately upon her. “Bless your dear little
-heart!” he said. “I’d do anything to please you, but I can’t let
-anybody up to see you without orders. It would be as much as my place
-is worth.”
-
-“He has come from the palace with some pot-plants,” said Peggy.
-
-Mr. Emma’s face underwent a complete change. “Come with what?” he asked.
-
-“With some pot-plants.”
-
-“Oh, well then, I’ll let him up at once,” said Mr. Emma. “Oh,
-certainly.”
-
-He went out quickly, but did not forget to lock the door behind him.
-
-Just as he had locked it, and they thought he was on his way
-downstairs, he unlocked it again, and put his head into the room. “What
-did you say the man had come with?” he asked.
-
-“With some pot-plants,” said Peggy again.
-
-“Ah, that’s the word,” he said. “I wasn’t quite certain I’d got it
-right.”
-
-Then he locked the door behind him again, and they heard his feet going
-heavily downstairs.
-
-In a few minutes he came back again, unlocked the door, and came into
-the room with the gentleman doll, who was wrapped in his long cloak,
-and carried his pots in his arms.
-
-“I’ll leave the gentleman with you for a bit,” said Mr. Emma, “as I’m
-just in the middle of my tea.”
-
-He went out and locked the door behind him once more. The gentleman
-doll, who had put the pots down on the floor, stood up and threw off
-his cloak, and revealed the stalwart form and handsome features of
-Colonel Jim, of the Lifeguards.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-IX
-
-THEY DISCUSS A PLAN OF ESCAPE
-
-
-The first thing Colonel Jim did when he had thrown off his disguise
-was to bow politely to all of them. But to Lady Grace he did more than
-that. He took her hand and kissed it respectfully, and then said,
-“Very sorry to see you here, my lady. Forming plans to get you out.
-Disgraceful affair altogether!”
-
-[Illustration: He took her hand and kissed it respectfully]
-
-Lady Grace looked pleased at the attention paid to her, and blushed.
-Peggy had not known before that dolls could fall in love, but it was
-quite plain that Lady Grace was in love with handsome Colonel Jim.
-It seemed plain also that he was in love with her. He spoke in short
-sharp sentences because he was a soldier, and loved deeds better than
-words. But there was a tenderness in his manner when he addressed Lady
-Grace which he did not show to anybody but her, though his manners were
-always courteous.
-
-Wooden’s aunt gave a screech of enjoyment when Colonel Jim kissed Lady
-Grace’s hand, and said, “Lawks! I wish I’d got a handsome beau like
-that.” But nobody took any notice of her, as there was so much to talk
-about. Wooden’s mother requested Colonel Jim to take a seat, which he
-did, and proceeded to explain himself.
-
-“Didn’t hear you were shut up till Teddy bear came and told me so,”
-he said. “Determined at once to use the pass-word for the day, which
-I knew, as commanding troops at palace. Pass-word ‘Pot-plants.’ So
-concocted plan with Teddy bear, and here I am.”
-
-Peggy wondered that she had not known who he was under his disguise.
-But he had not then spoken in the military way he used now, as he had,
-of course, been playing his part as well as he could.
-
-“And very pleased we are to see you, Colonel Jim,” said Wooden, in her
-nice gentle manner. “It’s a sad thing, this shutting up of Waxes and
-others. I’m sure dear Queen Rosebud would never have allowed it, if she
-had been alive.”
-
-“It’s my belief,” said Colonel Jim, “that Queen Rosebud _is_ alive.”
-
-All the dolls exclaimed, in surprise. And Wooden said, after the pause
-which followed, “But King Selim said that she was dead, Colonel Jim. We
-all heard him with our own ears.”
-
-“I know that,” said Colonel Jim shortly.
-
-There was another pause of consternation. “Do you mean that you think
-the King has told an untruth?” asked Lady Grace, in an awestruck voice.
-
-“Yes,” said Colonel Jim.
-
-Another pause. “It would be a dreadful thing if he had,” said Wooden.
-“He wouldn’t deserve to be King if he could do a thing like that, would
-he?”
-
-“He doesn’t deserve it,” said Colonel Jim.
-
-Nobody spoke. The matter was too serious to be treated in a light
-conversational way, and it was felt that Colonel Jim must have more to
-tell them, if he could only get it out.
-
-He seemed to feel, himself, that he owed them explanations, and must
-try to make them as clear as possible, for he spoke slowly, and in
-longer sentences than he usually employed. He could do this all right
-if he liked.
-
-“It was Rose who put him up to it all,” he said. “She’s mad all the
-time because she isn’t Wax.”
-
-“And only half Composition,” put in Wooden’s aunt.
-
-“Well, that’s as may be,” said Colonel Jim. “Anyhow, she got him to let
-her nurse the Queen, and told him to give out that she was dead. She
-wasn’t dead at all, but getting better all the time.”
-
-“Do you mean that _she_ told a story?” asked Wooden, in a voice of
-consternation.
-
-“Yes,” said Colonel Jim. “I do.”
-
-“Well,” said Wooden, “I never liked her; but I did not think she would
-go so far as that.”
-
-“It’s depravity,” said Wooden’s mother. “That’s what I call it;
-positive depravity.”
-
-“Well, that’s as may be,” said Colonel Jim again. “Anyhow, that’s what
-she did.”
-
-“How did you find out about Rose so cleverly?” asked Lady Grace.
-
-Colonel Jim looked pleased at being called clever, which he wasn’t
-very. “One of my troopers is going to be married to Rose’s maid,” he
-said. “She heard them talking--Rose and Selim--and told him about it.
-He came and told me. Very proper thing to do. Made him a lance-corporal
-on the spot. He marries the maid tomorrow. Shall give them a wedding
-present. Silver pepper-castor.”
-
-“Then, where is dear Queen Rosebud?” asked Wooden. “I am so glad she
-isn’t dead after all. I wish we could see her.”
-
-“This is my month to be in waiting,” said Lady Grace. “Could you take
-me to her, do you think?”
-
-“Afraid that’s impossible,” said Colonel Jim. “Don’t know where she
-is. She was taken out of the palace and hidden somewhere.”
-
-“How dreadful it all sounds,” said Wooden. “I shouldn’t have thought
-such things could have happened in Toyland. I do hope they give her
-enough to eat.”
-
-“I expect she’s having her tea now,” said Wooden’s aunt. “If I was a
-Queen, I’d have herrings every day.”
-
-It was a foolish remark, as many of Wooden’s aunt’s remarks were, but
-it turned out to be a lucky one, for it reminded Peggy of something she
-had heard downstairs, while she was bathing the baby doll.
-
-“I suppose she couldn’t be the lady in the top story!” she said.
-
-They stared at her. “What do you mean, dear? What lady?” asked Wooden.
-
-“When I was downstairs just now,” said Peggy, “Mrs. Emma was getting
-tea ready for the lady in the top story, and Mr. Emma said he was
-sorry for her being shut up there, and he wondered if she would like a
-herring for her tea.”
-
-“Did they give her one?” asked Wooden’s aunt.
-
-“No,” said Peggy. “Mrs. Emma said that as she was Wax she might not
-like herrings.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“It’s the best fish out of the sea,” said Wooden’s aunt, smacking her
-lips. “Lawks! How I wish they’d bring me one!”
-
-“Adone, now!” said Wooden’s mother sharply. “We’re talking about the
-Queen in the top story, not about what you’d like to have for your
-tea.”
-
-“I don’t know that it is the Queen,” said Peggy. “But there is a lady
-on the top story, and she is Wax. I know as much as that.”
-
-“And it’s a good deal to know, dear,” said Wooden fondly. “It was very
-clever of you to find it out.”
-
-“Oh, it’s the Queen, right enough,” said Colonel Jim. “Wonder we never
-thought of her being here before. Question is now how to get at her. I
-wish that Teddy bear was here.”
-
-They all seemed at a loss what to do next, and the suggestions they
-made were not very helpful. Wooden thought that it would be a good
-thing if Teddy were to bring a very long pole and climb up to the top
-of the House of Cards. But it was quite certain that there wasn’t a
-pole long enough in the whole of Toyland, or anywhere else. Wooden’s
-mother suggested throwing the Queen a rope. But it was equally certain
-that nobody could have thrown it far enough. Wooden’s aunt said,
-why not telephone to her? But this was silly, because there was no
-telephone.
-
-By-and-by they all looked at Peggy, as if they expected her to suggest
-something sensible. She did not like to disappoint them, as it was
-flattering the way they seemed to believe in her. So she knitted her
-brows hard, to see if she could think of something.
-
-“We could do so much more if we weren’t locked up in prison,” she said
-at last.
-
-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.
-
-“Now, I wonder what made her think of that?” said Wooden’s mother.
-
-“Well, we did make a plan,” said Colonel Jim; “though how you guessed
-it I don’t know, as you couldn’t have heard us talking. Our plan was
-this: When I’m ready to go out, I say to Mr. Emma, ‘I should like to
-look at the view.’ He says, ‘With pleasure,’ and takes me up to the top
-story.”
-
-“But supposing he doesn’t say ‘With pleasure,’” suggested Wooden.
-
-Colonel Jim looked worried. “Teddy bear said he’d say ‘With
-pleasure,’” he said. “Never thought of asking what to do if he didn’t.”
-
-“If Teddy said he’d say ‘With pleasure,’ I should think he would,” said
-Wooden. “Teddy is flighty, but I have always found his word reliable.”
-
-Colonel Jim brightened. “Well, then, we go up to the top story,” he
-said. “Then I look at the view, and I say--let’s see, what is it I say?
-I’ve learnt it all up, but it’s difficult to remember. Oh, yes, I know.
-I say, ‘What’s that bird flying towards the sea?’ No, that’s wrong. I
-say, ‘What’s that bird over there?’ He says, ‘What bird? Where?’ I say,
-‘Over there!’ pointing towards the sea. He turns to where I point, you
-see, and----”
-
-“But are you sure there will be a bird to point at?” asked Lady Grace.
-“If not, won’t it be telling a story?”
-
-“Do you think it will?” asked Colonel Jim. “I shouldn’t like to do
-that.”
-
-There was a pause. “I like the plan,” said Wooden, “but that does
-rather interfere with it, doesn’t it?”
-
-They all looked at Peggy as if they expected her to find a way out of
-the difficulty; and she did so at once. “I think there are sure to be
-birds flying about,” she said, “and some of them will be flying towards
-the sea.”
-
-Their faces brightened, and Wooden’s aunt slapped her knee. “Now,
-doesn’t that beat all?” she said. “How she do think of things, to be
-sure! Well, go on, soldier.”
-
-“Directly he says, ‘What bird, where?’” proceeded Colonel Jim, “that’s
-my sign. I get behind him. I whip off my cloak. I throw it over his
-head. I tie the cord--it’s got a cord, you see--round his arms, so that
-he can’t move. Then I say to him, ‘Your keys, please.’ Then I come
-downstairs with the keys, unlock the doors, and off we go. Well, that’s
-the plan, and if it all goes right I don’t think a better plan was ever
-invented. It’s Teddy bear’s plan chiefly, but it was me who thought of
-saying, ‘Your keys, please,’ instead of ‘Hand over your keys.’ More
-polite.”
-
-The plan was not received with the pleasure that Colonel Jim seemed to
-expect. Wooden said doubtfully, “Mr. Emma is a very nice man. He might
-not like to have a cloak thrown over his head.”
-
-“Don’t you think he would?” asked Colonel Jim, in a disturbed way. “I
-never thought of that. What do you say, Peggy?”
-
-“If you were to treat him as gently as you could,” said Peggy, “and
-tell him that he might go downstairs to Mrs. Emma and the baby in five
-minutes, when we had all got away, he might not mind so much.”
-
-“He couldn’t do that,” said Colonel Jim. “His legs would be tied up
-too. I forgot to say that. Can’t keep everything in your head at once.”
-
-“Try again, dear,” said Wooden hopefully.
-
-“Well, supposing we told Mrs. Emma she could go up and untie him, as we
-went out!” suggested Peggy.
-
-“The very thing!” exclaimed Wooden’s mother. “I should never have
-thought of that if I had tried for a week.”
-
-They had no time to settle anything further, for at that moment the key
-was heard turning in the lock outside. Colonel Jim had just time to put
-on his long cloak again before Mr. Emma came into the room.
-
-He seemed not to be in quite such a good temper as before. Directly he
-came in, he said to Colonel Jim, “Now, then, my man, you’ve been here
-quite long enough. Pot-plants or no pot-plants, it’s time you cleared
-out.”
-
-Colonel Jim hesitated. Peggy was afraid for the moment that he had
-forgotten the words he had learned so carefully. But they seemed to
-come to him all of a sudden. He straightened himself up, and said in a
-firm voice, but rather as if he were repeating a lesson, “I should like
-to go up to the top story and look at the view.”
-
-Peggy heard Wooden say, “With pleasure,” under her breath, as if she
-were helping Mr. Emma to remember his part.
-
-But unfortunately Mr. Emma had not learnt his part. What he did say
-was, “Oh, you would, would you? Well, I’m afraid I can’t oblige you.
-I’m almost run off my legs with work as it is. Now you come along down
-with me.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-X
-
-PEGGY TALKS TO A ROYAL PRISONER
-
-
-Colonel Jim threw a despairing look at Peggy; she could just see it
-under the hood that he had put over his head. His carefully arranged
-plan had gone wrong at the very beginning, and he hadn’t the least
-idea what to do next. Of course, he might just as well have thrown
-his cloak over Mr. Emma’s head there and then, as done it on the top
-of the House of Cards, after pointing to a bird which might not have
-been there. But perhaps he did not like to exercise violence before
-ladies, or perhaps it never occurred to him to alter the plan so as to
-suit the circumstances. At any rate, he prepared to follow Mr. Emma
-downstairs without any further ado. If Peggy had not suddenly thought
-of something, there would have been an end of any good he had done by
-making his way in to them.
-
-As they were going out, Peggy said to Mr. Emma, “If you and Mrs. Emma
-have got so much work to do, couldn’t I come down and help you?”
-
-Mr. Emma turned round and beamed at her. “Now, you _are_ a kind little
-lady!” he said. “And I don’t know as you can’t help us. Yes, you come
-along o’ me, dearie. My missus will be glad to see your pretty little
-face, anyhow, and you can talk to her a bit in her own lingo, which I
-never could fathom, nohow.”
-
-Peggy was very glad at that moment that she had paid attention to her
-French, which gave her this opportunity of helping her doll friends,
-though she had been far from thinking that she would ever make such
-extraordinary use of it when she had talked as much as she could to
-French people during her holidays. She followed Mr. Emma out of the
-room, and he locked the door carefully after him, and led the way
-downstairs.
-
-Now would have been Colonel Jim’s opportunity, either to throw his
-cloak over Mr. Emma, who was in front of him, or else to bolt upstairs
-instead of down. If he had done that, Mr. Emma would have had to follow
-him, and then they could have had it out together, and Colonel Jim
-would probably have won, as he was younger and stronger than Mr. Emma.
-But, though as brave as a lion, Colonel Jim had a brain that did not
-move very fast. All he could do, as they went downstairs, was to nudge
-Peggy with his elbow, and that did not take them very far, for when
-she whispered to him, “What is it?” he had nothing to say.
-
-So it rested with her to think of something, and she whispered to
-Colonel Jim, unheard by Mr. Emma, whose large feet were making a
-considerable noise, “I will try to get upstairs, and see if it is the
-Queen who is there; and you and Teddy must try to get in to us again.
-Then I will tell you what I have found out.”
-
-Colonel Jim nodded his head repeatedly, and Peggy could only hope that
-he had understood what she had said, and would remember it, for she had
-not time to say it over again, as they had now reached the ground floor.
-
-Mr. Emma unlocked the big door leading into the market-place, and
-Colonel Jim went out. Just as he was going down the steps, Peggy had
-another bright idea. She said to Mr. Emma, “We should like this man to
-bring us a few more pot-plants later on. I suppose you will let him in,
-if he comes.”
-
-But Mr. Emma spoilt that little plan at the beginning, for he said,
-“No, dearie, I can’t do that. When he once goes out he stays out.” Then
-he locked the door.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Mrs. Emma was pleased to see Peggy again. She and Mr. Emma had had
-their own tea, and she was preparing trays to take up to the prisoners.
-Peggy helped her to do this, while Mr. Emma sat by the cradle of his
-baby doll, of which he seemed to be very fond. Peggy couldn’t help
-going over to have a look at it sometimes, and see it smile and gurgle;
-and it delighted Mr. Emma to see her so taken up with his baby doll.
-This was a very good thing, for when Peggy said, “Now, I will take up
-the trays, if you like,” Mr. Emma replied, “I ought not to let you do
-it, I suppose, because I shall have to give you my keys. But I’ve been
-so rushed off my legs today that I shan’t be sorry to sit still for
-a bit; and you’re such a nice little lady that I really feel as if I
-could do anything for you.”
-
-“It is more like Mademoiselle doing something for _you_,” said Mrs.
-Emma, with a laugh. But if she had only known, she might not have said
-that.
-
-“I know you wouldn’t want to get me into trouble,” said Mr. Emma as he
-handed Peggy his keys. “You won’t tell the King now, will you? He’s
-Wood, and so am I; but he don’t seem above punishing Woods, if it suits
-him, any more than the rest.”
-
-Peggy promised not to tell the King, readily enough. She was not quite
-sure that Mr. Emma might not get into trouble, if anything came of her
-taking his keys; but she made up her mind to speak up for him when
-affairs in Toyland came to be righted, as she hoped they would be.
-Selim was only a usurping King, after all, and if Queen Rosebud was
-restored to her throne he would not be able to do any harm to Mr. Emma,
-or to anybody else.
-
-“First of all,” said Mrs. Emma, “you might take this tray up to the top
-story. There is a wax lady there who hasn’t been very well. I should
-like her to have her tea first.”
-
-Peggy was almost frightened at the easiness of it all. She had hardly
-taken any trouble to bring it about, and here she was with the key to
-the Queen’s prison, and her tea-tray in her hands. For she had little
-doubt now that it was the Queen who was shut up in the top story. Mrs.
-Emma had no idea who she was, but she said she had been ill, and Peggy
-knew that the Queen had been ill.
-
-Just as she was going out with the tea-tray, Mrs. Emma said, “Don’t
-stay very long, because there are the other trays to take up. But you
-might just talk to her a little. She is a nice lady, and it is lonely
-for her up there, all by herself.”
-
-This made it all the easier for Peggy, and she started upstairs,
-thinking how luckily it had all turned out.
-
-It took her quite a long time to reach the top story. There were four
-flights of stairs to each story, and each flight had ten steps. Four
-times ten times thirteen are five hundred and twenty all the world
-over, and if you ever try going up five hundred and twenty stairs with
-a rather heavy tea-tray in your hands you will find that it is no light
-matter. However, Peggy got to the top at last, with one or two rests
-on the way--But wait a minute. She did not have to go up the last two
-flights of stairs, which would have led to the roof, so that takes
-twenty off the total, and makes exactly five hundred steps, which is
-almost as serious as five hundred and twenty.
-
-She put the tray on the floor outside while she unlocked the door. Then
-she knocked at it, and a voice inside said, “Come in.”
-
-She opened the door a little, took up the tea-tray from the floor, and
-then pushed the door open with her elbow and went in.
-
-The room was much like the one downstairs, and was quite as comfortably
-furnished, but was without the pot-plants which made theirs so bright
-and gay. So that it did look rather bare, and not altogether unlike a
-prison, in spite of the large window, which showed a magnificent view
-of the country. But perhaps what gave it the air of being a prison was
-not that, but the sad figure of the lady doll that was sitting in a
-chair by the window.
-
-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 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.
-
-[Illustration: She looked very royal]
-
-She wore a dress of rich brocade embroidered with seed pearls, rather
-like those that you see in pictures of Queen Elizabeth. It was quite
-possible that she might have been born about the same time as Queen
-Elizabeth, which would have made her very interesting, if she had had a
-good memory, and could have talked about all the changes she had seen.
-But dolls’ memories are short, and Peggy did not find out how old the
-Queen really was, and, indeed, it would not have been good manners to
-ask.
-
-When Peggy came in with the tea-tray, the Queen looked surprised, and
-said, in a sad but gentle voice, “Who are you? Have you come to take me
-home? Why am I kept locked up here?”
-
-Peggy put the tray down on the table, and said, “I am Peggy, your
-Majesty. Wooden brought me to Toyland. You said that she might.”
-
-“Why do you call me your Majesty?” asked the Queen. “They said that
-if anybody called me that, or I told anybody who I was, I should be
-locked up in a dungeon where I could not see the light.”
-
-Peggy felt desperately sorry for her. She had called her “Your Majesty”
-quite naturally, for she was very royal, both in appearance and manner,
-although she was only a doll. It seemed quite dreadful that she should
-be locked up there, and be threatened with still worse imprisonment,
-and for no fault of her own at all.
-
-“I know that you are the Queen,” Peggy said, “and I hope that you will
-soon be back in your beautiful palace again. They are making plans
-outside to rescue you.”
-
-“I can’t understand it,” said the poor Queen, passing her hand wearily
-over her brow. “I have always been as nice as I could to everybody. And
-yet they told me that the people hate me, because I am Wax, and don’t
-want me to be their Queen any longer.”
-
-“That isn’t true,” said Peggy. “That wicked Selim has told everybody
-that you are dead, and that you said that he was to be King after you.”
-
-“Oh, I never said that,” said the Queen indignantly. “How can he have
-said such a thing? I never said anything like it.”
-
-“That is what he has given out,” said Peggy. “It was Rose who made it
-up. She is as wicked as he is.”
-
-The Queen thought for a little time, looking out of the window at the
-beautiful view of her own kingdom. 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. Why, he has
-actually sent her to prison, because she said she didn’t want to marry
-him.”
-
-The Queen looked out of the window and did not speak for some time.
-Then she said, “I was kind to Selim. When he was brought to me after
-he had been wrecked, and had lost everything that he had, I gave him
-apartments in my own royal palace, and money every month from my
-treasury.”
-
-“He is bad and wicked,” said Peggy. “And Rose is bad, too. She used to
-be mine once, and I never liked her. Now I know why.”
-
-“I didn’t like her either,” said the Queen. “She wanted to be my
-lady-in-waiting. She said that I ought to have one Composition at
-least, and not all Waxes round me. But I said no. Perhaps I would have
-a Wood, so as to please the Woods. 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. “Why, what would you think of us over there?”
-she asked, “if you could not trust us?”
-
-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 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 am sure when the people know you are alive,” she said, “they will
-very soon take you back to your palace. And they will be most awfully
-glad to have you reigning over them again.”
-
-“Well, you must tell them,” said the Queen. “I can wait here a little
-longer in patience, now that I know things are to be put right. And I
-am very pleased to see you here, my dear; but I wish you had come at a
-happier time.”
-
-Peggy had never before conversed with a Queen, or indeed with any
-royal person, though she had once seen her own King and Queen driving
-through London; but she knew somehow that she was being dismissed from
-the presence. She kissed the Doll-Queen’s hand, which she had read
-somewhere was the proper way to behave, and went out of the room,
-leaving Queen Rosebud sitting by the window.
-
-As she went down the five hundred steps, she thought it was rather
-extraordinary that the Queen had not said anything about the way in
-which she was to be rescued. She had seemed to take it for granted
-that when her people knew what had happened, everything would come
-right for her. She could leave the details to them.
-
-This seemed to Peggy rather royal, too, and also that she had not
-grumbled at all about her imprisonment. Though she was only a doll,
-Peggy had gained a great respect for Queen Rosebud.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-XI
-
-THE RELEASE OF PEGGY AND WOODEN
-
-
-Peggy went down to the kitchen. She had time as she went down the five
-hundred stairs, to make up her mind as to whether she should tell Mr.
-and Mrs. Emma that the Wax lady on the top floor was the Queen. She
-decided not to do so just yet, but to wait a little longer and see what
-happened. They might be very indignant at hearing what Selim and Rose
-had done, but on the other hand they might be frightened that they
-would be punished for having let Peggy see such an important prisoner;
-and in that case they would probably not let her see her again. And
-Peggy wanted to see Queen Rosebud again.
-
-When Peggy went into the kitchen Mrs. Emma said, “You have been a long
-time away, but I know it takes a long time to go up and down those
-stairs. How did you find the lady? I hope she liked the tea I sent her.
-I gave her some bread and honey instead of bread and butter.”
-
-Peggy thought this rather remarkable, as she remembered the nursery
-rhyme about the Queen being in her parlour eating bread and honey.
-She wondered whether Mrs. Emma had any suspicion of the prisoner being
-the Queen.
-
-Before she could reply Mrs. Emma went on, “I was just saying to my
-husband that she is very like what Queen Rosebud was, except for
-her crown. Queen Rosebud had no sisters, but I shouldn’t be at all
-surprised if she didn’t turn out to be a sort of cousin. If you think
-that is likely, I shall ask her to write her name in my birthday book.”
-
-[Illustration: Before she could reply Mrs. Emma went on]
-
-So she seemed to have no suspicion of the truth; but that seemed to be
-only because the Queen was not wearing her crown.
-
-“It would be nice to have her name in your book,” said Peggy. “Shall I
-take up the other tray now?”
-
-“Yes, dear,” said Mrs. Emma. “And then will you please bring the keys
-down? You have been very kind helping us, but of course we must not
-forget that you are a prisoner.”
-
-Peggy smiled to herself as she went upstairs again. If she took the
-keys down, their room would not be locked, and she would hardly be a
-prisoner. But she did not say anything, as she thought that if the door
-was left unlocked she might take Wooden or Lady Grace, or both of them,
-up to see the Queen.
-
-The dolls were interested in what she told them, but they were now
-quite used to the idea of Queen Rosebud being alive, and showed less
-excitement at her news than Peggy had expected. While she had been
-away, they seemed to have been talking about the failure of the plan
-concocted by Teddy and Colonel Jim, and to have agreed that Teddy had
-not behaved well in telling Colonel Jim that Mr. Emma would say, “With
-pleasure,” when he asked him if he could go up to the top story. For
-Mr. Emma had said quite the opposite.
-
-“I always knew Teddy was flighty,” said Wooden, “but I did not think
-that he would go so far as to tell a story.”
-
-“So many people seem to be telling them now,” said Lady Grace sadly.
-“It is very dreadful.”
-
-“But Teddy didn’t tell a story,” said Peggy. “He only thought that Mr.
-Emma would say that, and told Colonel Jim so.”
-
-Wooden’s aunt, who was already very busy with her tea, slapped her
-knee, and said, with a mouth full of bread and butter, “There now!
-Didn’t I say the very same thing? I was the only one as stuck up for
-Teddy. I said he wouldn’t tell a lie, because I knowed he wouldn’t.”
-
-“You didn’t say what Peggy says he told Colonel Jim,” said Wooden’s
-mother. “Are you sure he said that, dear?”
-
-“Yes,” said Peggy stoutly. “That is what he must have said.”
-
-“Well, I am sure I am very glad to hear it,” said Wooden, with a sigh
-of relief. “I know _you_ wouldn’t tell a story, dear, and if you say
-that is what Teddy said, of course he said it. I am _very_ glad he
-didn’t tell a story, as I shouldn’t like to think ill of him. I suppose
-you couldn’t tell us what Rose really said, could you? I have never
-liked her, but you did exchange her for me over there, and I have
-always felt sorry for her, because the exchange was such a good thing
-for me. I should like not to think badly of her, if I could.”
-
-“Rose has told nothing but stories,” said Peggy decisively. “She is
-really wicked, and when Queen Rosebud comes to the throne again I hope
-she will do something to her. I am very glad I did exchange her for
-you, dear Wooden, especially now I know what she is really like.”
-
-“Perhaps if she had stayed with you she might not have been so wicked,”
-said Wooden; and Peggy thought this was a great compliment from a doll,
-because in some ways they are better than human beings. Of course
-they have not so many temptations to be naughty, but I am not sure
-that they don’t resist the temptations that they do have better than
-a good many humans. 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. However, I
-am far from excusing his abominable behaviour at this particular time,
-and think that Peggy was quite right in hoping that he would come to be
-soundly punished for it.
-
-When they had nearly finished their tea, footsteps and voices were
-heard coming up the stairs, and to their surprise the Lord Chancellor
-came into the room, followed by Mr. Emma.
-
-The Lord Chancellor looked annoyed, and Mr. Emma looked frightened.
-Peggy guessed at once that this was because the Lord Chancellor had
-found out about Mr. Emma giving her his keys.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-She was right. As they came into the room, the Lord Chancellor said, “I
-dare say the young lady did want to see your baby. Nobody knows better
-than I do, from long experience of the law, that young ladies like to
-see babies, and you have nothing to teach me about that. But you had
-no right whatever to lend her your keys, and allow her to go in and out
-of this room as she pleases.”
-
-When he had said this he changed his expression of face completely, and
-smiled at Peggy and the four dolls. “Well, ladies,” he said, “I am glad
-to see you all looking so well, and I expect you are glad to see me
-looking well. I should say now that none of you have been in the least
-inconvenienced by your visit to this handsome building.”
-
-He said this as if he were inviting them to agree with him, and added,
-“Why, for part of the time you haven’t even had the door locked, which
-must have taken away the idea of a prison from your minds altogether.”
-
-Peggy thought this was rather cool, considering they had just heard
-him scolding Mr. Emma for letting them have the door unlocked. While
-the Lord Chancellor had been speaking, Mr. Emma had been making signs
-to her in a pathetic imploring sort of way, pointing up to the ceiling
-and at her and himself and the Lord Chancellor and the tea-tray on the
-table, and making words at her with his mouth, none of which she could
-understand. But suddenly she understood by his signs what he wanted to
-convey to her. He was begging her not to tell the Lord Chancellor that
-she had carried the tray up to the top story. So she nodded her head
-and put her finger on her mouth to assure him that she would keep his
-secret, for she did not want to get him into further trouble. He seemed
-a little soothed by this, but still very dejected, as he stood with his
-head on one side behind the Lord Chancellor.
-
-“If I had not made it a rule of life never to take tea twice on the
-same day,” said the Lord Chancellor, “I should feel inclined to ask you
-for a cup. I assure you that this is better tea than I drank at my own
-house half an hour ago. Really, I feel inclined to wish that I could be
-sent to the House of Cards myself, for a short time. I doubt if there
-is a more comfortable place in the whole of Dolltown. Now, confess,
-ladies. Haven’t you found it so?”
-
-“We have nothing to complain of in our treatment,” said Wooden, in a
-polite and simple but yet dignified way. “But nobody likes to be in
-prison, and I would rather go without my tea altogether than have it
-and be shut up.”
-
-The Lord Chancellor seemed delighted with this speech. “Now, it is a
-most extraordinary thing,” he said, “that you should express those
-sentiments. I was half afraid, when I came in, that you would be
-so delighted with your present situation that you would not want to
-exchange it for another. In fact, I thought you might even refuse to do
-so. I am very glad indeed that I was mistaken. For I have come to tell
-you that his most gracious Majesty, moved by one or two things that
-I have said to him, has instructed me to release you and Peggy. Now,
-don’t tell me--_please_ don’t tell me--that you would rather stay where
-you are.”
-
-“No, I shall not,” said Wooden. “I am very glad to be let out of
-prison. I ought never to have been sent here. None of us ought. Are my
-mother and aunt and Lady Grace still to be kept here?”
-
-“If she and Peggy go, _I_ go,” said Wooden’s aunt. “That’s flat.”
-
-“You will go by-and-by,” said the Lord Chancellor in a soothing voice.
-“Leave it to me, and I will arrange it all. But I’m afraid you three
-others will have to stay here a little longer. Lady Grace is Wax, you
-see, and the order for releasing Waxes has not yet been given. But it
-will be. You needn’t have the slightest doubt about that. Just have
-patience for a little; that’s all.”
-
-“Well, I ain’t Wax,” said Wooden’s aunt. “I’m Wood, and proud of it.
-What’s the matter with me being let out?”
-
-“Well,” said the Lord Chancellor, “the fact is that the King is still
-rather annoyed with you for thinking of such a thing as him marrying
-you.”
-
-“I don’t think of it no more,” said Wooden’s aunt. “I don’t want to
-marry the old heathen image. You tell him that, Mr. Lawyer, with
-Wooden’s aunt’s comps.”
-
-“Certainly, I will,” said the Lord Chancellor, with a polite bow. “It
-may make all the difference; there’s no telling.”
-
-“Am I to stay in prison?” asked Wooden’s mother. “If so, I think it is
-very unfair. I’ve done nothing.”
-
-“I hinted as much to his Majesty,” said the Lord Chancellor, “but
-he said two out at a time was enough. So I shouldn’t worry about it
-if I were you. You’ll be let out all in good time, and you are so
-comfortable here that it hardly makes any difference whether it’s
-sooner or later.”
-
-“You keep on saying that like a Poll-parrot,” said Wooden’s aunt. “I’ve
-no patience with you. You go back and tell your master that if I ain’t
-let out of this in an hour’s time I’ll yell the place down. So there
-now!”
-
-“I will be sure to convey your message, madam,” said the Lord
-Chancellor, as politely as before. “Now, I think we might make a start,
-eh?” He turned towards Emma, and his face became severe once more. “As
-for you, sir,” he said, “I shall have you dismissed from your post. You
-have given your keys to a prisoner. That is the most serious offence
-you could have committed.”
-
-Poor Mr. Emma threw himself on his knees and held up his hands in
-supplication. “Oh, don’t dismiss me, your Honour,” he cried, “I’ve got
-a wife and a dear little baby, and you wouldn’t want them to starve,
-now would you? You’ve got a kind face; and a kind heart goes with it--I
-know it do. Don’t turn me off; please don’t.”
-
-The Lord Chancellor’s face became softer. “It is quite true that I have
-a kind face,” he said. “Many people have remarked the same thing before
-now, and some of them have even gone so far as to say that for my age
-it is a handsome face. Of course that was only said in compliment, I
-know; I don’t wish to make too much of it; but it does show that there
-is something in my face that strikes people, and I don’t wonder that it
-has struck you. Well, now, about dismissing you from your post--if I
-_could_ find a way out of it----!”
-
-He looked at Peggy, as if he expected her to help him, but for the
-moment she couldn’t think of anything.
-
-“Of course you have committed a serious fault,” he said to Mr. Emma,
-who had risen from his knees and was waiting to hear what was to be
-done to him, with a mournful expression on his face. “Prisoners are
-entrusted to you, and you are right in treating them as well as you
-can. But you have treated this young lady as if she weren’t a prisoner
-at all.”
-
-“But I am not a prisoner,” said Peggy. “You have said yourself that I
-am not.”
-
-The Lord Chancellor’s face lightened. “Now, why didn’t I think of
-that?” he said. “It makes all the difference. Mr. Emma, you have
-committed no fault whatever. In fact, by carrying out his Majesty’s
-wishes at the earliest possible moment, you have shown yourself a
-zealous servant of the Crown, and I shall have much pleasure in
-recommending you for a rise in wages.”
-
-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 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. They know
-that the bad time will end, and are content to wait till it does. Peggy
-managed to whisper to Lady Grace that she would do all she could to
-set things right and get the Queen out of prison. Then, of course, she
-would come out, too, and be restored to her post as lady-in-waiting.
-Wooden’s aunt was still eating and drinking in great enjoyment, and
-Wooden’s mother, after kissing them farewell, said that she should have
-a little nap, and when she woke up perhaps she would be let out.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-XII
-
-PEGGY STAYS IN A REAL DOLLS’ HOUSE
-
-
-Peggy had only stayed a very short time in prison, and had been so much
-interested in all that had happened there that she had hardly been able
-to think of herself in prison at all, but she was none the less pleased
-to be in the open street and free to go anywhere. They were going first
-of all to Wooden’s house, which was in the chief residential quarter of
-Dolltown, near the royal palace.
-
-The news of the imprisonment of a human child, and of four dolls, two
-at least of whom were highly respected, must have spread; for as they
-walked along everybody seemed to recognize them, and they were followed
-by an ever increasing crowd of dolls, who seemed to be greatly excited
-by their reappearance. The Lord Chancellor was in a high state of
-delight at the attention they were receiving. If he had a fault, it
-was a slight but excusable vanity. By his own labours he had raised
-himself to his present proud position, and thought it only natural that
-everybody who saw him should be extremely interested in him. He was
-generally accompanied by his secretary when he walked about the streets
-of Dolltown, so that if he happened to go unrecognized the secretary
-could tell the people who he was. But this time he had left him behind,
-to write out the notes he had taken in the Hall of Audience, and walked
-alone with Peggy and Wooden.
-
-He certainly received a great deal of attention, and was at first very
-pleased with it, as I have said. But by-and-by he became a good deal
-less pleased.
-
-For the crowd was not so good-tempered as it had been when they had
-all walked to prison together. Most of the dolls that composed it made
-a lot of fuss over Peggy and Wooden, whom they were pleased to see
-let out of prison, but they did not seem at all pleased to see the
-Lord Chancellor, and he had to listen to some unpleasant remarks about
-himself for his share in what had happened.
-
-These remarks caused him a good deal of pain, and, when he understood
-that he was not sharing in the popularity that Peggy and Wooden
-enjoyed, he began to explain to everybody who would listen to him that
-he had been against sending anybody to prison from the first, and that
-it was entirely owing to him that Peggy and Wooden had been let out.
-But nobody did listen to him very carefully, and one rather rude Dutch
-doll actually said to him, “Oh, dry up, you silly old fool, and don’t
-talk so much.” This distressed him very much. He had never in his life
-been called a silly old fool before, and the phrase rankled. He did not
-try to excuse himself any more, but kept on repeating “silly old fool”
-under his breath, so as to see if it was really as bad as it sounded.
-
-Wooden’s house was situated in a handsome terrace, which had a gate and
-a little wooden lodge at each end of it, to keep the houses private.
-This was a good thing, for the crowd had to stay outside the gates.
-It was nice to have them so enthusiastic, but they might have made
-themselves a nuisance if they had swarmed about the house itself, and
-looked in at the windows, and dirtied the front door steps.
-
-Wooden had told Peggy what a nice house she had, and was pleased to be
-able to show it to her. It was a handsome, rather old-fashioned, wooden
-dolls’ house of three stories and six rooms, with a staircase running
-up the middle. It was nicely furnished, too, with beautifully-made
-dolls’ furniture and ornaments. Any little girl would have been
-overjoyed at having such a dolls’ house given to her to play with. To
-Peggy it was even more delightful than if she had had it as a toy,
-because it was of a size that made it possible for her to use it as a
-real house. Instead of putting her hand inside the rooms with great
-care, so as not to disturb the arrangements, she could go into all the
-rooms herself and use the things in them.
-
-[Illustration: It was a handsome house of three stories]
-
-I know that it is not customary in stories to talk about the rooms and
-furniture of a house before your characters have entered it; but in
-this case it is all right, because the front of the house stood open,
-and Peggy saw nearly everything inside it before they went in.
-
-The rooms were a good deal larger than those in most dolls’ houses. I
-mean not only larger because the house had grown up, so to speak, but
-because they would hold more dolls and more furniture. In a dolls’
-house it is sometimes awkward to have a doll or a piece of furniture
-that takes up nearly the whole of a room, and even in good ones it does
-not often happen that the rooms are big enough to accommodate many
-dolls, or more than a few pieces of furniture. But there was quite a
-lot of furniture in the rooms of Wooden’s house, and although they were
-all square, and of the same size, which gave them a certain lack of
-variety, they would comfortably hold quite a large number of dolls.
-
-On the ground floor were a kitchen and a dining-room, on the first
-floor a drawing-room and the best bedroom, and on the top floor a
-servants’ room and a spare room. Wooden pointed them out as they walked
-up the terrace, and said that as long as Peggy stayed with her she
-should give her the best bedroom, because it had the best furniture in
-it, and use the spare room for herself.
-
-It was just like Wooden to offer to do this, but Peggy said no, she
-wouldn’t hear of it. She could not see the furniture of the spare room
-from where they were, as it was too high up, but she was sure it was
-good enough for her.
-
-It may seem a little odd that Wooden should have spoken as if they were
-going to stay in Toyland, if not for ever, at least for some time.
-For Peggy had understood that the dolls who were still played with
-by children only went to Toyland when it was night--“over there,” as
-they would have said. But it did not seem odd to her, and in fact she
-never thought about it. Once in Toyland, the dolls who inhabited that
-pleasant country behaved as if they always lived there. It seemed to
-come from the air of the place; and that explains why Peggy never once
-thought of going home again as long as she was there, any more than
-Wooden or any of the other dolls did.
-
-The weather was fine and warm, which would have made it nice to have
-the front of the house open, although a little wanting in privacy. But
-Wooden said, “I should like you to go in through the front door, dear.
-It is a beautiful door, and it seems a pity not to use it. So I think I
-will have the front of the house shut.”
-
-Two wooden servant dolls, a cook and a housemaid, dressed one in a
-blue, the other in a black frock, with snowy white caps and aprons,
-had been standing in front of the kitchen looking out for them. Wooden
-told them to shut the front of the house, and they came out and did so,
-pushing it back quite easily. For they were good servants and devoted
-to their mistress, and kept the hinges well oiled.
-
-When the front of the house was shut it looked very handsome indeed.
-The door that Wooden was so proud of was inside a fine porch, and had
-a brass knocker on it. All the windows had little panes of glass, kept
-beautifully clean, and white curtains looped up inside them. And each
-of them had a neat iron railing in front of it to hold flowers. It was
-like a real house, and yet it was like a dolls’ house, too, which made
-it all the more fascinating.
-
-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. She felt frightfully pleased; and it really was
-nice, and not a bit like a real house, although everything in it was of
-an ordinary real size.
-
-The Lord Chancellor had come in with them. He had told Wooden that he
-had had a lot of running about and should like to rest a little. But,
-of course, what he really wanted was to get away from the crowd, and go
-home later on when it should have dispersed. But Wooden said that it
-was an honour to entertain him in her own house, which pleased him, and
-by the time they had got inside he had recovered some of his spirits,
-and seemed ready to be as talkative as ever.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Wooden led the way up to the drawing-room, which had a carpet of a
-very large pattern and a wall paper with enormous roses on it. The
-furniture was beautifully made, but Peggy felt that she was really
-sitting on a dolls’ sofa and not on an ordinary one, although it was
-comfortable, and of an ordinary size. Nothing was quite the same. The
-mirrors had tin frames, the books on the tables were evidently toy
-books, with thick leaves and bindings that did not keep quite flat;
-and there were some packs of cards and some dominoes on another table
-looking exactly like those very tiny ones which you can buy in shops,
-but are so small that you do not want to play with them more than once.
-
-They had hardly sat down, Peggy and Wooden on the sofa and the Lord
-Chancellor on a large chair, before the doll housemaid opened the door
-and announced a visitor, by the name of Mrs. Winifred.
-
-Mrs. Winifred was a mature-looking Dutch doll. Most of the wooden dolls
-in Toyland were of Dutch extraction, even Wooden herself, just like
-many of the old families of New York, but they were no more Dutch than
-the New Yorkers are. She came forward and kissed Wooden, and said she
-was very glad she had come out of prison, and she felt that she must
-come round at once and tell her so.
-
-Mrs. Winifred had hardly been accommodated with a seat before Mrs.
-Hilda was announced, and when Mrs. Hilda had said the same as Mrs.
-Winifred, Captain and Mrs. Louisa were announced. Captain Louisa was
-an officer in a regiment of wooden soldiers, and wore his uniform. His
-wife and Mrs. Hilda were wooden dolls like Mrs. Winifred. These were
-followed by Mr. and Mrs. Joyce, Mr. and Mrs. Ida, Mrs. Mollie, Mrs.
-Jane, and one or two more, all of the best wooden families of Dolltown,
-and it was evidently a source of great pride to Wooden that they
-should show such a nice feeling towards her.
-
-She introduced them all to Peggy, and those who did not know him to the
-Lord Chancellor. There were so many of them that it was like a sort of
-party. The dolls sat rather stiffly in their chairs, and there were
-other little points about them, such as their knees showing rather
-prominently through their skirts and trousers, which made it seem like
-a dolls’ party, and as if they were all playing at something. This
-pleased Peggy. She felt as if she had set them all down herself on
-their chairs and on the sofas, exactly where she wanted them to be, as
-she did sometimes with her smaller dolls in her dolls’ house at home,
-and pretended that they were talking politely to each other.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-XIII
-
-THE DOLLS TALK IT ALL OVER
-
-
-The late imprisonment of Peggy and Wooden, and especially of Wooden,
-naturally formed the chief subject of conversation.
-
-“I must say,” said Mrs. Winifred, “that I was surprised to hear that
-_you_ had been sent to prison, Mrs. Wooden. We had all heard that such
-a _very_ different lot had been prepared for you.”
-
-“Yes,” said Mrs. Hilda. “What we heard was that you were to be made
-Queen and live in the palace.”
-
-“And we were very _glad_ to hear it,” said Mrs. Joyce, a thin,
-rather vinegary-looking doll, whom Peggy did not very much take
-to. “We knew that if _you_ were made Queen there would be no more
-high-and-mightiness at the palace, and you wouldn’t give yourself airs
-with _us_.”
-
-“It would be the beginning of a new era,” said Mr. Joyce, who was a
-members of the Dolls’ Parliament. “The Woodens would be no longer
-oppressed by the Waxes, and peace and contentment would reign, where
-before there had been strife and inequality.”
-
-“I’m not sure,” said the Lord Chancellor, “that I quite agree with that
-observation. 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 other dolls seemed to be rather taken aback by this plainness of
-speech, and the Lord Chancellor said, “Tut, tut! You mustn’t say things
-like that, my dear lady. It isn’t respectful to the Crown.”
-
-“But it’s what a good many of us are feeling,” said Mrs. Winifred. “At
-first it was very nice to feel we were considered as good as the Waxes.
-In this company there’s no harm in saying that Waxes do give themselves
-airs, and it isn’t nice to feel you are considered common, when you
-know you are nothing of the sort, but quite the opposite.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-“But _all_ Waxes don’t give themselves airs,” said Wooden, speaking for
-the first time. “There’s Lady Grace, now. Both of us live with this
-dear little girl when we’re over there, and we are real friends, and
-there’s never a word awry between us. And it’s the same here.”
-
-“I’m sure,” said Mrs. Ida, a young-looking doll who was dressed more
-fashionably than the rest, “that I have always got on as well as
-possible with the Waxes. In fact, most of my friends were Wax before
-they were all sent to prison.”
-
-“I should think you must feel a bit lonely, then,” said Mrs. Jane.
-“I’ve always associated with Woods myself, and prefer their company.”
-
-“The best company in Toyland,” said Mrs. Winifred, “is to be found
-amongst the higher classes of Woods. Still, I’m against this sending to
-prison of all Waxes, whether they give themselves airs or not.”
-
-“It isn’t so much the shutting up of Waxes that I object to,” said Mrs.
-Louisa. “It’s the shutting up of Woods. How did it come about, Wooden,
-that instead of marrying the King you were sent to prison?”
-
-Captain Louisa cleared his throat behind his hand. “Manners, my dear,
-manners!” he whispered to his wife.
-
-“We don’t want to go into all that,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Perhaps
-a slight mistake was made; but it has now been put right, chiefly
-owing to representations made to his Majesty by myself.”
-
-“It hasn’t been put right, and we do want to talk about it,” said Mrs.
-Mollie. “There are two Wooden dolls still locked up in the House of
-Cards, to say nothing of a Wax one. What were they locked up for, and
-when are they going to be let out?”
-
-She addressed her question directly to the Lord Chancellor, and there
-seemed to be a general opinion amongst the other dolls that it was
-right to ask it, and that it wanted an answer.
-
-The Lord Chancellor gave one. He gave it at great length, but there was
-not much in it. It seemed that all they had to do was to trust to him,
-and everything would come right in the end.
-
-“That doesn’t satisfy _me_,” said Mrs. Mollie, when he had quite
-finished. “And it isn’t only Woods either that have been sent to
-prison, and are being kept there for nothing at all. What about this
-human child? What was _she_ sent to prison for? I’m against sending
-human children to prison when they are allowed to come over and visit
-us. It’s likely to make bad feeling over there.”
-
-There were murmurs of approval at this, and all the dolls looked
-sympathetically at Peggy, who felt rather shy.
-
-“You are quite right, Mrs. Mollie,” said Captain Louisa. “And I may
-tell you in strict confidence that the army feels with you about it.
-It is the best army to be found anywhere. Leads and Woods alike are
-devoted to their duty, and quite ready for a war, if a war is forced on
-us. But we don’t want a war with the people over there. We should win,
-of course, in the long run, but it would leave bad blood behind it, and
-while it was going on our women and children wouldn’t be safe.”
-
-“It’s a prospect I don’t like at all,” said Mrs. Winifred. “I have
-received nothing but kindness from Humans, myself, and I believe the
-same may be said by most of us here. I say that Peggy ought not to have
-been locked up, and I hope she will remember that I said that when she
-goes back. Mrs. Winifred, 4 Prospect Place, Dolltown, are my name and
-address, and over there I may be found at any time at Top Drawer, Day
-Nursery Chest, 43 Hamilton Square, London, S.W.”
-
-All the other dolls hastened to give Peggy their names and addresses,
-except Mr. Joyce, who said, “My peace-loving sentiments are well
-known, and nobody over there is likely to make any mistake about them.
-I agree with the opinion of this assembly to this extent: I believe
-that a Wood King is the best kind of King we could have for Toyland,
-but I’m not at all sure that King Selim is the right doll in the right
-place, or that this reign is likely to be an improvement on the last.
-Wax or no Wax, Queen Rosebud would never have made the mistakes in
-foreign policy that have already been made in this reign. If we are not
-very careful, this young lady, and others who may come over to visit
-us, will carry back a report that may bring serious trouble. King Selim
-ought to be told that.”
-
-“For my part, I’ve no patience with King Selim,” said Mrs. Mollie. “I
-heartily wish Queen Rosebud wasn’t dead.”
-
-“But Queen Rosebud _isn’t_ dead,” said Wooden. “She is locked up in the
-House of Cards. Peggy took her tea up to her this very afternoon.”
-
-She spoke in a tone of surprise, as if everybody ought to know that
-Queen Rosebud was alive. Peggy had been wondering whether it would be
-a good thing to tell the dolls what she had discovered, and now that
-Wooden had let it out, she was rather glad. She didn’t much like
-keeping such a secret to herself, and, of course, a doll is hardly
-capable of keeping any secret, and Wooden had only not spoken before
-because she had got used to the idea of Queen Rosebud being alive, and
-had not thought much about it since.
-
-“Oh, my dear lady!” said the Lord Chancellor, before anybody could
-speak. “You mustn’t say a thing like that, you know. King Selim has
-said that Queen Rosebud is dead and of course she must be dead.”
-
-“But she isn’t,” 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. “But Rose
-would be a disgrace to _any_ class. She ought to be locked up herself.”
-
-“And I think you ought to see to it, Lord Norval,” said Mrs. Jane.
-“According to Peggy, she has told a deliberate falsehood, and that is
-punishable by law, as I’ve always understood.”
-
-They seemed to be in danger of forgetting all about Queen Rosebud in
-their disgust for Rose. But this brought them back to the subject.
-
-“I quite agree with you,” said the Lord Chancellor. “It is a most
-disgraceful affair altogether. 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!” said the Lord Chancellor, much
-shocked. “I know you are human, and to be excused on that account, but
-if one of _us_ had said that, it would be punishable, you know. Selim
-is a King. He wears a crown. We have all seen it.”
-
-“He is only a chess king,” said Peggy. “I meant that he isn’t King of
-Toyland. He can’t be, if Queen Rosebud is still alive.”
-
-“That’s one way of looking at it, certainly,” said the Lord Chancellor,
-in a puzzled kind of way. “I shall have to think about it very
-carefully when I go home. He _says_ he’s King of Toyland. I shall get
-at it better when I’ve slept over it.”
-
-“But aren’t you going to do anything now?” asked Peggy. “There’s Queen
-Rosebud still locked up in the House of Cards. _I_ think Captain Louisa
-ought to take his soldiers at once, and let her out.”
-
-All the dolls had sat with puzzled faces, looking at Peggy and the Lord
-Chancellor. They had all been ready to talk a great deal, but when it
-came to doing something they seemed quite at a loss.
-
-Captain Louisa started when his name was mentioned. “If it was my duty,
-I should do it,” he said. “I should do it very well--nobody better.”
-
-“Well, I think it is your duty,” said Peggy. “Don’t you, Wooden?”
-
-“Well, dear,” said Wooden, “if we all did our duty as well as Captain
-Louisa, we might be very proud of ourselves.”
-
-Captain Louisa looked proudly at Peggy. “You see what she thinks of
-me,” he said. “And it isn’t only me either. My men would follow me
-anywhere.”
-
-Mrs. Winifred rose from her seat. “I’m afraid I must say good-bye, dear
-Mrs. Wooden,” she said. “I am so glad you have been let out of prison.
-And I’m so glad that Queen Rosebud isn’t dead. Somehow, I could never
-feel that she was.”
-
-All the dolls rose one after the other to say good-bye. They all
-said they were glad that Queen Rosebud was alive, and some of them
-said that she ought not to stay in prison a moment longer. But none
-of them seemed interested in how she was to be got out, or in what
-should happen afterwards, except that Mrs. Mollie said she hoped Rose
-would get her deserts, and Mrs. Ida said that they saw now what came
-of Compositions giving themselves airs. However much they seemed to
-be different from one another in their way of talking and looking
-at things, they all seemed alike in having no idea of acting for
-themselves. They were very nice, but Peggy thought that if she had been
-the Queen in prison she would hardly have felt so confident as Queen
-Rosebud had been of her doll subjects getting her out again.
-
-[Illustration: All the dolls rose to say good-bye]
-
-However, the Lord Chancellor, who stayed behind, did seem to think
-that _something_ ought to be done, though he seemed disinclined to
-do it himself. “When the people get to know of this,” he said, “I’m
-afraid there will be trouble. The question is, how to act so as to save
-trouble.”
-
-“_I_ should think the question was how to get poor Queen Rosebud out of
-prison as soon as possible,” said Peggy.
-
-“Well, certainly there is that side of it,” he said. “The only thing
-is that if she comes out of prison and goes back to the palace, there
-will be two of them--a King and a Queen--and that is something that it
-is very difficult to know how to deal with, without a great deal of
-careful thought. 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.”
-
-“That is a very eloquent speech,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Very
-eloquent indeed. I wish I could make one like it. But you see the
-trouble is that the King can do no wrong; so of course you can’t punish
-him.”
-
-“But he _has_ done wrong,” said Peggy. “And he _isn’t_ the King. You
-keep on talking about him as if Queen Rosebud wasn’t alive. _She_ is
-the Queen. Selim is only a usurper.”
-
-“I’m beginning to see it,” said the Lord Chancellor. “It’s a very
-subtle point, but I’m beginning to see it, or at least some of it.”
-
-Whether he would have seen all of it in time cannot be known, for just
-at that moment the door was opened by the housemaid doll, and in came
-Colonel Jim and Teddy.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-XIV
-
-THE ESCAPE
-
-
-The moment Teddy came into the room, Peggy felt that the time for
-action had come. And she had never felt more pleased with him than when
-he addressed himself straight to the Lord Chancellor, and said, “Now,
-then, old man, you come along with us to the House of Cards. We’re
-going to get the Queen out of prison, and we want you with us.”
-
-“I’m sure I’m very glad that you propose to adopt that course,” said
-the Lord Chancellor, speaking quickly and nervously. “It is exactly
-what I should have recommended myself. But why do you want me with you?
-I should have thought--”
-
-“Never mind what you would have thought,” said Teddy. “We want you with
-us because, now the people have found out that old Selim’s a rascal,
-and the Queen isn’t dead, they’ve got their dander up. They’ll have
-some questions to ask, and you can answer them. Colonel Jim and me will
-be too busy.”
-
-This did not seem to suit the Lord Chancellor at all. He began to
-protest vigorously that he had had no more to do with the fraud that
-Selim had practised than anybody else. But Teddy cut him short. “If you
-won’t come of your own accord,” he said, “Colonel Jim has a couple of
-troopers outside who will make you. You’d like to come, too, Peggy and
-Wooden. We’ve brought gees for everybody. Come along quick. We don’t
-want to waste any time.”
-
-He led the way downstairs, and the others followed him, Colonel Jim
-bringing up the rear, and keeping an eye on the Lord Chancellor to see
-that he did not escape.
-
-Waiting outside the house were several horses. There was Colonel Jim’s
-black charger, and those of his two troopers. These were of lead. There
-were also some composition horses, and a couple of shaggy ponies, made
-of wood and covered with hair, and a beautiful cream-coloured one, with
-a bridle and saddle-cloth sewn with gold embroidery. They were all toy
-horses and ponies, but they looked splendidly alive, and Peggy was
-quite delighted to see that the two shaggy ponies had side-saddles, for
-she knew at once that one must be meant for her and one for Wooden. She
-loved riding, and thought it would be great fun to ride through the
-streets of Dolltown on a toy pony.
-
-Wooden was not used to riding, although Peggy had sometimes put her on
-her rocking-horse at home, so she was not altogether without practice.
-But Teddy assured her that he had chosen her a very quiet pony, and
-she was so nice, in the way that she always did what people wanted
-her to, that she made no trouble about it, and got on very well when
-she was once helped into the saddle. Peggy felt quite at home on her
-pony, and patted its nice shaggy neck. She would have liked to have
-a gallop on it, but that would not be possible in the streets of the
-town. Colonel Jim and his troopers mounted their chargers, the Lord
-Chancellor got on to one of the composition horses, and Teddy leapt
-on to another straight from the ground, without using the stirrup. A
-royal servant-doll, dressed in scarlet and gold, led the beautiful
-cream-coloured pony, which was evidently meant for Queen Rosebud. It
-was a good idea to have a sort of little procession on horseback to
-take her from her prison to her royal palace again, and no doubt Teddy
-had thought of it, for he seemed to be the only one who really did
-things, while the other dolls only talked about them.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-What Teddy said about the inhabitants of Dolltown being excited over
-what had happened was quite true. The crowd outside the gates of the
-terrace was larger than ever, and when Peggy and the dolls appeared
-amongst them on horseback there was quite a commotion. They cheered
-them all except the Lord Chancellor, and they were so angry with him
-that they would probably have pulled him off his horse if he had not
-been riding between the two troopers, who protected him. They seemed
-to have taken the affair much more seriously than the dolls who had
-come to visit Wooden, but then a crowd always is more excited about
-things than a few people, because they work each other up. Very likely,
-if this crowd of dolls had had to do something of their own accord,
-instead of shouting at those who were doing it, they would not have
-been very good at it. And if they _had_ pulled the Lord Chancellor off
-his horse, it is doubtful if they would have known what to do next.
-
-The poor Lord Chancellor was terribly upset at the way the crowd hissed
-and booed at him. Peggy heard him explaining to the troopers who rode
-on either side of him that nobody was more surprised than he was, or
-more glad either, that Queen Rosebud was alive. But they took no notice
-of him, and the crowd went on booing and hissing all the same.
-
-When they arrived at the market-place, there was a square of lead life
-guardsmen all round the door of the House of Cards, to keep the crowd
-off. The market-place was packed full of dolls, shouting and singing,
-and looking up to the top story, where they had heard that the Queen
-was imprisoned. Peggy could see the open window at which she had sat;
-but she did not appear at it.
-
-What seemed more remarkable still was that there was nobody on the
-balcony of the first floor, either. It might have been thought that
-Wooden’s aunt, at least, would have been there, watching what was going
-on. But there was nobody to be seen.
-
-[Illustration: There was nobody on the balcony of the first floor
-either]
-
-They rode into the empty space kept by the soldiers. Teddy whispered
-something to Colonel Jim, who got off his charger and went up the
-steps and knocked at the door. As he waited for a minute before it
-was opened, all the dolls on that side of the market-place were quite
-silent.
-
-The door was opened by Mr. Emma. Peggy could not hear what passed
-between him and Colonel Jim, but presently Colonel Jim turned sharp
-round and came down the steps again. “The Queen’s gone,” he said. “So
-are the other prisoners. Selim and Rose came and fetched them half an
-hour ago.”
-
-Here was a piece of news! Mr. Emma was summoned, and made to tell
-exactly what had happened. The Lord Chancellor asked most of the
-questions, for he was out of reach of the crowd and had somewhat
-recovered from his fright. Besides, he was used to asking questions,
-and liked doing it.
-
-It seemed that Selim had come to the prison in a closed carriage,
-accompanied by Rose; and another empty carriage had come with them.
-He had seemed to Mr. Emma to be in a very nervous state, but he had
-not seen much of him, because he had sat in the carriage all the time,
-while Rose had gone in to the House of Cards, and fetched the Queen
-down. Mr. Emma had not known it was the Queen until this moment, for
-he had kept himself shut up in the House of Cards, with Mrs. Emma and
-the baby, and had not tried to find out what the crowd outside was so
-excited about.
-
-The Lord Chancellor asked him what the Queen had said when she had come
-downstairs.
-
-“She didn’t say nothing, your Honour,” said Mr. Emma. “She looked kind
-of proud-like, and held her head high. If she’d had her crown on I
-should have knowed it was the Queen by the way she behaved.”
-
-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!” This had offended Mr. Emma, for he had left the police force some
-time before.
-
-Rose had got into the first carriage, with the Queen and Selim, and the
-other three had got into the second carriage. Then they had all driven
-away.
-
-That was Mr. Emma’s story, and about all that could be got out of
-him. The two carriages had driven off in the direction of the palace,
-and Rose must have told Wooden’s aunt that that was where they were
-going to. The carriages were not the gilt and glass coaches that were
-generally used from the palace, but ordinary landaus. They had not
-stood before the House of Cards very long, and nobody had taken much
-notice of them. A few dolls had seen the Queen come out and get into
-the carriage, but they had not known who she was.
-
-Well, what was to be done now? It seemed plain that Selim had found
-out somehow that the people were beginning to find out all about his
-wickedness, and had kidnapped the Queen. Why he had also taken off
-Lady Grace, and Wooden’s mother and aunt, was not quite so plain, but
-perhaps it was because he thought they knew too much, and he wanted to
-get them out of the way.
-
-“What we had better do,” said the Lord Chancellor, “is to go back to
-the palace and interview King Selim. I’m all for prompt action in these
-matters, and I propose we start at once.”
-
-“Oh, you silly old thing!” said Teddy. “As if he had gone to the
-palace! You ought to know better than that, at your age.”
-
-“But Wooden’s aunt said they were going to the palace,” said the Lord
-Chancellor. “You wouldn’t accuse her of telling a lie, I suppose!”
-
-“Rose told her so,” said Wooden. “You can’t believe _anything_ that
-_she_ says. Aunt would like to think she was going to the palace, and
-Rose must have told her that to quiet her.”
-
-It was rather clever of Wooden to think of this, for dolls are apt to
-believe everything they are told. But when a doll has once made herself
-disbelieved, as Rose had done, there is an end of their trusting her.
-
-“There is a good deal in what you say,” said the Lord Chancellor. “But
-if they have not gone to the palace, where _have_ they gone? It might
-be as well to go there and see if anybody knows.”
-
-They might perhaps have done this, for, although Selim would not have
-been likely to tell anybody where he meant to go, still, they might
-have picked up some sort of a clue. But just as they were discussing
-it, our old friend Mr. Noah pushed his way through the soldiers who
-were guarding the square. He was, of course, a royal servant, and wore
-a medal to show it, so they let him through. He brought the important
-information that the two carriages had been seen driving fast through
-the town on the road to the sea.
-
-Directly Teddy heard this, he gave a whoop, and said, “Let’s after
-them, then, as fast as we can go. Come on, all!” He dug his heels into
-his horse’s sides, and galloped off. The soldiers parted to let him
-through, and the crowd scattered away from him on all sides, as he
-galloped through the streets and was lost to sight.
-
-Now this was all very well. Teddy was anxious to catch up the
-fugitives, but if he did catch them up he couldn’t very well do
-anything all by himself. Besides, he seemed to be about the only one
-who had any ideas in his head--or, at least, ideas that were worth
-anything--and if he went off all by himself, the others were likely to
-make a muddle of things. It was his “flightiness” coming out, but he
-had done so well already that he might be forgiven for it.
-
-However, his going off like that was not so bad as it might have been.
-If it had been left to the Lord Chancellor to say what was to be done
-next, it would have taken a long time to do anything, and then very
-likely what would have been done would have been wrong. And Colonel
-Jim, though brave as a lion, and handsome, too, was not intellectual.
-But Mr. Noah seemed to have a few ideas in his head, and some spirit to
-carry them out. Of course he was not exactly a doll, though he lived
-in Dolltown, and he had Oriental blood in his veins, or whatever fluid
-dolls do have, and this made him rather more clever than might have
-been expected from his wooden expression. He was angry, too, at having
-had orders given him about his Ark by Selim, and wanted to get at him
-and tell him what he thought of him.
-
-Anyhow, as the Lord Chancellor was talking and talking, Mr. Noah cut
-him short. “What are you wasting all this time for?” he asked. “What
-we’ve got to do is to go after them as quick as we can, and take the
-soldiers with us. Give me a horse, and let’s be off.”
-
-There was a horse to spare, and Mr. Noah got on to it. He looked rather
-funny in his long yellow robe, and being a sort of sailor he was not
-used to horses. But he managed to stick on all right, and as the horse
-was fortunately a quiet one, he soon got used to the unusual motion. He
-said to the others, “Now, you come after me!” and without waiting any
-longer he trotted off.
-
-The others all followed him. Colonel Jim gave some orders to his men,
-and they formed themselves into fours and fell behind. It was quite a
-gay cavalcade that went trotting through the streets of Dolltown, and
-this time the crowd cheered them to the echo, and forgot to hiss and
-boo at the Lord Chancellor.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-XV
-
-THE PURSUIT
-
-
-They trotted along through the streets of the town, and soon got clear
-of the crowd. But the news of what had happened had spread all over
-Dolltown by this time, and there were many dolls at the windows and on
-the pavements to see them pass. They did not know yet that Selim had
-kidnapped Queen Rosebud, but they knew that she was alive, and that he
-was a usurper. When they saw all the soldiers they knew that something
-stirring was going to happen, and by the way they shouted and waved
-their hands it seemed that Selim had very few friends in Dolltown, and
-had better look out for himself if he ever came back there.
-
-At the end of the town, where the country began, there was a gate,
-and a sentry box beside it, where a wooden sentry was keeping guard.
-They stopped to question him. He remembered the two carriages driving
-through the gate, and had wondered who they belonged to. It was not his
-duty to challenge them, as he was there chiefly for ornament; but when
-Teddy had galloped up, he had asked him, more out of curiosity than
-anything else, why he was going so fast. Teddy had said, “Open the gate
-and I’ll tell you.” So he had opened the gate, and the moment Teddy had
-got through it he had galloped off again, shouting out to the sentry,
-“I’m going fast because my horse is.” Of course this was true, but it
-had made the sentry angry; and he had been still more annoyed when
-Teddy had jumped himself round on his horse, just as if he had been a
-rider in a circus, and ridden away backwards, making long noses at him.
-The sentry said that this was disrespectful to a servant of the Crown,
-and asked the Lord Chancellor to send Teddy to prison for it. But they
-had no time to waste over his grievances, and set off again.
-
-They trotted through the country roads, and Peggy enjoyed the ride very
-much. She felt quite safe, with all the soldiers riding behind them,
-but thought it was hardly necessary to have brought so many of them, as
-Mr. Noah and Teddy, to say nothing of Colonel Jim and his two special
-troopers, would have been enough to take Selim prisoner when they
-caught up with him. But it was a good thing that they had brought the
-soldiers, as will presently appear.
-
-By-and-by they came to an inn, which was a farm as well, and looked
-very peaceful and comfortable, with its neat toy barns and outhouses
-among the trees and fields, and the toy animals feeding all about them.
-They stopped for a minute or two to ask questions of the innkeeper,
-who was a wooden doll of a rather stolid appearance. When the Lord
-Chancellor began to ask him questions he went and fetched his wife, and
-she was more intelligent, and gave her answers well.
-
-[Illustration: He went and fetched his wife]
-
-She said that the two carriages had stopped at the inn, and a lady in
-the first one had put her head out and asked for a glass of water. The
-blinds of the carriage were drawn down, but when the innkeeper’s wife
-had brought the glass of water she had seen the lady who asked for it
-give it to another lady inside the carriage. She thought that this
-second lady had tried to say something to her, but the first lady had
-put her hand over her mouth and stopped her, and then somebody else in
-a corner of the carriage--she thought it was a man by the size of his
-hand--had passed the glass out to her, with a piece of money, and the
-window had been pushed up at once and the carriages had driven off.
-
-She was rather confused about it all, as it had passed so quickly; but
-it seemed plain that Queen Rosebud had thought of this way of making
-it known that she was being carried off. She must have said that she
-didn’t feel very well, and would like a glass of water at the next
-house they stopped at, meaning to tell whoever brought it who she was.
-But Rose had prevented her. This was one more thing against Rose.
-
-That was not all the innkeeper’s wife told them. As the carriage drove
-off, a wooden lady had put her head out of the second one and called
-out, “Here we go round the mulberry bush!” The innkeeper’s wife had
-thought afterwards that perhaps these were some lunatics--for there
-are a few lunatics amongst dolls--being taken out for an airing. But,
-of course, it had only been Wooden’s aunt acting in her usual silly
-fashion.
-
-But the odd thing was that the innkeeper’s wife had seen nothing of
-Teddy. She said she must have seen him if he had passed along the road,
-as she had been in her kitchen, which was in front of the house, all
-the time. So as they went on they had something to wonder about, as to
-what had become of Teddy. Wooden thought he had missed the way, but
-this seemed impossible, as the road ran straight towards the sea. The
-Lord Chancellor thought that he might have tumbled off his horse, but
-this seemed more unlikely still, as he was clever enough to jump about
-on it and ride backwards. What Peggy thought she kept to herself. It
-was that Teddy had some clever plan in his head, which they would hear
-about all in good time, and had never meant to catch up the carriages
-all by himself. For of course he could easily have done so if he had
-liked, as he could go much faster than they could.
-
-They went up the road over the hills, which you remember that the river
-had come through in a gorge, and when they came to the top of it they
-could see the sea a few miles away. The road ran straight down to it.
-They could see several specks on the road at a good distance off, but
-there was nothing that looked like the two carriages.
-
-This was a disappointment, as they had quite expected to catch sight of
-the fugitives from the top of the hill, and to come up with them before
-they could reach the sea. If they had already got there, it seemed as
-if they must have escaped them after all.
-
-But it seemed impossible that the carriages should have got so far
-ahead. They had not been more than half an hour behind them at the inn,
-and even if they had not gained on them since, they must have seen them
-on the road in front, if they had been there. So they must have left
-the straight road, and the question was what to do next.
-
-As they were talking it over, Peggy thought she heard a cry in the
-wood on their right. She listened with all her ears, and then thought
-she heard another. She told Wooden, and all of them listened.
-
-Yes, there was no doubt about it. The noise was some distance off,
-and could not be heard very plainly; but it kept on, and seemed to be
-somebody calling for help. They got off their horse and went into the
-wood, in the direction from which the call seemed to be coming. As they
-got farther in among the trees it became louder. It was like a woman
-calling “Help! Help!” every second or two, but in a strangled voice, as
-if there were something in the way.
-
-Wooden called out “Coming! Coming!” and they ran on as fast they could.
-
-They came to a little clearing in the wood, and there, sitting on the
-ground with her back against a great fir-tree, was Wooden’s unfortunate
-aunt. She had a handkerchief tied over her mouth, and a rope went round
-her body and tied her tight to the tree. Her hands were behind her, and
-seemed to be tied too, so that she could not free herself. Altogether,
-she was in a very sorry plight.
-
-But she did not seem to have altogether lost her spirits, for when she
-saw them coming towards her she kicked her legs up and gave a little
-sort of crow, which sounded rather pathetic, coming through her
-handkerchief.
-
-Wooden untied the handkerchief, murmuring sounds of distress and
-sympathy all the time, while Colonel Jim busied himself with the rope,
-and when he found he couldn’t untie it cut it with his sword. In a
-very short time, Wooden’s aunt was standing up free, shaking the pine
-needles off her skirts.
-
-“I thought somebody would come if I yelled long enough,” she said, in
-quite a cheerful voice, which did her credit, as it showed she had a
-great deal of pluck, in spite of the numerous faults of her nature.
-
-“But how did you come to be here, dear?” asked Wooden. “And what has
-become of mother?”
-
-“Oh, yer mother’s all right,” said Wooden’s aunt. “She’s with the
-quality. I don’t like their ways of going on, so I asked them to kindly
-drop me anywhere that was convenient.”
-
-“But why did they tie you up like this, dear?” asked Wooden.
-
-“Oh, they thought we was playing Blind Man’s Bluff,” said her aunt.
-
-It was all very well for her to take it in this light-hearted spirit,
-and Peggy rather admired her for it. But she must have had a very rough
-time, for her dress was all torn, and her wrists were scarred where
-the rope had bound them. As she spoke she was rubbing them, to restore
-the circulation, and she looked white, and as if she might faint at any
-moment.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Fortunately, there was a little pool of water quite near, and Colonel
-Jim, who showed himself kind and useful in this emergency, filled his
-helmet with water and gave it to her to drink, as she sat on the ground
-again with Wooden kneeling by her side and holding her.
-
-“Ah, that’s better,” she said, smacking her lips, when she had had a
-good drink. “I’ve been looking at that pond and wishing I could get at
-it. Drat that Selim! I wish I could get at _him_! _I_’d mark him.”
-
-She said these last sentences in her usual vigorous way, which showed
-that she was recovering; and when she had rested a little longer, they
-got her story out of her.
-
-“They’d said we was going to be took to the palace,” she said, “and at
-first I didn’t think nothing of going such a long way round. None of
-us didn’t. But by-and-by Lady Grace says, ‘I wonder who’s in the first
-carriage,’ she says. ‘Oh, I’ll soon find that out,’ I says, and I pokes
-my head out of window and hollers out to the driver, ‘Hi, Mister! Who
-have you got in front there?’”
-
-“Was that before or after you had passed the inn where they got some
-water?” asked the Lord Chancellor.
-
-“Never you mind whether it was before or after,” said Wooden’s aunt.
-“I’m telling this story, and I’m going to tell it in my own way.”
-
-This was not very polite of her, but she had been through a great deal,
-and her nerves were in an irritable state. The Lord Chancellor asked no
-more questions, and she finished her story to the end.
-
-She said the coachman told her that it was the King who was in the
-first carriage, and advised her not to put her head out of window again
-as he had orders to hit anybody who did so with his whip.
-
-This seemed such an extraordinary order for him to have received
-that the three dolls in the carriage began to suspect that there was
-something wrong, especially as they had now been driving for a long
-time, and when Wooden’s aunt had put her head out of window she had
-seen that they were getting near the hills, which she recognized. It
-was not exactly observant of them not to have suspected something
-before, but, as you know by now, dolls are apt to take everything that
-happens as a matter of course.
-
-Well, by the time the carriages had reached the top of the hill, the
-three dolls had come to the conclusion that they were being run away
-with. Wooden’s aunt said she wasn’t going to stand that, and was going
-to ask Selim what he meant by it. She said she would jump out of the
-carriage as it was going, and run forward to the first carriage. The
-others said that the coachman would hit her with his whip, but she said
-she would run the risk of his missing her.
-
-Well, as the carriages came to the top of the hill, she opened the
-carriage door quickly and jumped out, and ran forward to the first
-carriage. The driver shouted at her, and gave her a great cut with his
-whip, which unfortunately did not miss her, but hit her in the face,
-where there was still an ugly-looking mark. But she hardly felt it at
-the time, and ran forward to the first carriage, shouting out, “Hi, you
-there, Selim! Come out and show your ugly face!”
-
-Oh, there was no doubt about the pluck of Wooden’s aunt, in spite of
-the numerous faults of her character.
-
-The rest was soon told. Selim had been furious with her, and he and
-Rose had dragged her into the wood and tied her to the tree, and then
-they had gone off. But before they had left her, Rose had stood in
-front of her and laughed her scornful laugh, and said, “That’s for
-calling me Sawdust. Perhaps you’ll be sorry now for crossing the path
-of Rose, who never forgets and never forgives.”
-
-This was one more thing against Rose.
-
-The Lord Chancellor asked Wooden’s aunt if she had any idea where
-the carriages were going, and told her they could not see them on the
-straight road to Dollport. This was the name of the little town by the
-sea, where the dolls landed from “over there.”
-
-“Well, silly,” said Wooden’s aunt, “if they ain’t on that road, of
-course they’re on the other one. It don’t take a pair of specs to see
-that.”
-
-The Lord Chancellor, slightly annoyed at being addressed in this
-fashion, said stiffly, “I should have thought of that if I had been
-given time. We have delayed long enough. Let us at once take the road
-to Dollfort.” Now, Dollfort was the place in which the wooden soldiers
-of Toyland were trained. If Selim had gone there, it looked as if he
-expected the wooden soldiers to be on his side.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-XVI
-
-COLONEL JIM ATTEMPTS A RESCUE
-
-
-The road to Dollfort turned to the right at the top of the hill, and
-ran for some way through the wood. When it got to the bottom of the
-hill there was a stretch of open country for about a mile; then there
-was another thick wood on another hill.
-
-There was no sign of the carriages on the straight bit of road, but the
-pursuers had been some time freeing Wooden’s aunt and listening to her
-story, and could hardly have expected to catch them up yet. Wooden’s
-aunt was riding between Peggy and Wooden. She had nearly recovered
-from her disagreeable experience, and was inclined to like being on
-horseback. She said the motion reminded her of being in a small boat on
-a choppy sea.
-
-When they had got about halfway between the two woods, Colonel Jim
-halted them with a sharp word of command. “Women and children behind!!”
-he said, and then ordered his men in front.
-
-It was a good thing that this was done, for as they approached the
-second wood two armed wooden soldiers sprang out of it and levelled
-their rifles at them. They did not fire them, but it would have given
-Peggy and the dolls a nasty fright if they had been riding in front.
-
-The wooden sentries challenged Colonel Jim, riding at the head of his
-little troop, with a “Halt!” and a “Who goes there?” He said “Friend!”
-but they did not say “Pass Friend!” as is the usual custom. They told
-him that the King had recently gone through to Dollfort, and had told
-them that they were to let nobody pass until they received further
-orders from the fort.
-
-Now Colonel Jim engaged in the duties of his profession was quite a
-different person from the amiable but rather slow-witted person we have
-hitherto seen. He didn’t tell the sentries that Selim wasn’t the King
-at all, or engage in any argument with them. He said, “I’m an officer
-of the Royal Body Guard, so your orders can’t apply to me.” Then he
-gave them the password for the day, which, as you remember, was the
-word “pot-plants.”
-
-Now, you must also remember that, although Selim had thought he might
-be followed in his flight, which was the reason why he had given orders
-to the sentries to let no one pass the wood, he could not have known
-that he would be immediately followed by a troop of Household cavalry,
-which is, of course, the special protection of a King or Queen. So he
-had naturally not warned the sentries of this, and as Colonel Jim spoke
-with authority, they were inclined to obey him.
-
-“Well, I suppose it’s all right for you and your men,” said one of the
-sentries, “but what about these here civs?” He meant civilians.
-
-The Lord Chancellor now showed considerable resource. The sentries had
-lowered their rifles, which, strictly speaking, they ought not yet to
-have done, so he pushed his way to the front, and said in an important
-voice, “I am the highest official of this country; this gentleman here
-is the Royal Head Bargeman; this lady is the one the King has asked to
-marry him, and this is her aunt; and this little girl is a human being,
-and therefore doesn’t come under your orders at all.”
-
-“Oh, well, I suppose it’s all right,” said the sentry in a grumbling
-voice. “You can pass through, all of you, and if me and my mate thinks
-it isn’t all right afterwards, why we can shoot after you.”
-
-“Have you got your rifles in order?” asked Colonel Jim in a sharp
-voice. “Let’s have a look at them.”
-
-Because he was an officer, and had spoken in a voice of command, they
-obediently handed him their rifles to look at.
-
-“Thank you,” said Colonel Jim, and handed the rifles to one of his
-men. “Now, you take these two and bring them along with us,” he said
-to another one. The surprised sentries found themselves prisoners, and
-made to walk by the side of the horses, which now proceeded at a foot’s
-pace up through the wood.
-
-So far, all had gone well.
-
-They kept a sharp look-out going through the wood, but saw no more
-soldiers. When they came to the edge of the wood they could see
-Dollfort across the open downs about a mile away.
-
-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.
-
-[Illustration: Dollfort was a very fine toy fort]
-
-The pursuing party remained in the shelter of the wood, where they
-could not be seen from the fort, even with a telescope, but they
-could see the fort themselves quite plainly, and the country that lay
-between. This was all open grass-land, and woolly sheep were feeding on
-it. There were no houses between the wood and the fort.
-
-Colonel Jim at once announced that he was going to take his soldiers
-to the fort and summon Selim to surrender. The Lord Chancellor thought
-this was a dangerous proceeding, but Colonel Jim refused to listen to
-him. “I’m in military command here,” he said, “and that is what I am
-going to do.” No doubt he was in a hurry, not only because of the Queen
-being shut up there, in the power of Selim, but because his dear Lady
-Grace was also shut up there. But he did not say this. He left Mr.
-Noah in charge, and set off with his gallant little band. They watched
-them ride down the hill, and trot across the open road over the downs,
-and very fine they looked on their splendid black chargers, with the
-sun glittering on their helmets and cuirasses, and their white plumes
-waving in the breeze.
-
-The two captured wooden soldiers had had their hands tied, but when
-Mr. Noah told them all about Selim’s wickedness, and about the Queen
-being still alive, they expressed such horror that he allowed them to
-be untied. They said that if the soldiers in the fort knew what had
-happened none of them would be on Selim’s side. They had only been
-prepared to obey him as King because he was of wood, but they were
-loyal to Queen Rosebud, and would be glad to have her reigning over
-them again. They were none of them pleased at the shutting up of all
-the Waxes, who had done them no harm, and rumours had come through
-to Dollfort that not only Waxes but some Woods also had been sent to
-prison, and this had pleased them still less. When the sentries were
-told that Wooden and her aunt had been two of the dolls in question,
-they were very interested, and said that their comrades would never
-fight for Selim, if it came to fighting. Whether this was true or not,
-you will soon see.
-
-They watched the little troop of soldiers get smaller and smaller,
-and at last disappear among the houses outside the fort. Then they
-waited for a long time, while the sheep fed peacefully on the downs in
-the evening sunlight, and no other signs of life could be seen at all
-except the smoke rising from the houses round the fort.
-
-They had finished talking, and had been sitting silent for about five
-minutes, when Wooden’s aunt, whose ears were very sharp, said suddenly,
-“Hark! What’s that?”
-
-Nobody else had heard anything, but almost immediately Mr. Noah said,
-“There are guns firing.” And then Peggy distinctly heard some faint
-pops coming from the direction of the fort.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-This was serious, because the life guardsmen had no rifles, but only
-their swords, and if they were being fired upon by the wooden soldiers
-it would be difficult for them to defend themselves.
-
-“Look!” cried Peggy in great excitement.
-
-Just where the houses began, a mile away, there was a flash of sun
-on bright metal, and no sooner had she spoken than they could all see
-that it was on the helmets and breastplates of the soldiers. Then they
-saw the life guardsmen galloping towards them, and directly they had
-got clear of the houses, they saw the scarlet and white of the wooden
-soldiers following them, and heard their guns shooting. But none of the
-horse-soldiers seemed to be hit, and on they came, galloping along the
-road, and on the grass on either side of it. The foot-soldiers came
-running after them, but of course they could not go nearly so fast, and
-presently Colonel Jim and his men galloped up the road into the wood.
-
-By this time the wooden soldiers were about a quarter of the way
-between the fort and the wood. There seemed to be an enormous number of
-them. They had left off firing their rifles, but were coming on at a
-good pace. In not so very long they would reach the wood, and it really
-seemed as if they must capture not only Colonel Jim and his troop, but
-Peggy and the Woodens and all the rest of them. Peggy _was_ a little
-frightened then, for the red and white was coming towards them like a
-great wave, and all the soldiers had rifles, which they would certainly
-use if any resistance were offered to them.
-
-Colonel Jim cast one hurried glance round him. “If we had axes,” he
-said, “we could make a barricade, and keep them at bay until we could
-send for reinforcements. As it is, I’m afraid we must clear out.”
-
-“What, and leave my sister-in-law shut up there!” exclaimed Wooden’s
-aunt. “Never! If nobody else stays, I shall. I’ve got a sharp pair of
-nails, and I can give them a few scratches.”
-
-Now, this was plucky of Wooden’s aunt, and loyal too. She had only
-mentioned Wooden’s mother, but no doubt she had had the Queen in her
-mind as well. But she had left out of account the military situation,
-not knowing much about that sort of thing, and her opinion could not be
-allowed to stand against that of Colonel Jim, who was quite as brave as
-she was, but knew when there was a chance of fighting successfully and
-when it was better to retreat.
-
-“We shall have to go,” he said decidedly. “If they take us prisoners we
-can’t do any more good, but if we get back to Dolltown we can bring out
-reinforcements and take the fort. To horse, all of you!”
-
-The wooden soldiers were now about halfway across the stretch of open
-country. They were not running so fast now, as they must have got
-rather winded with their first effort, but more and more of them were
-coming out of the fort, and it was quite plain that the little band in
-the wood would have no possible chance against them.
-
-They untied the horses and ponies, and were just preparing to mount,
-when Wooden’s aunt said, “Hark! I heard a shout.”
-
-She turned towards the interior of the wood, and they all listened.
-Yes, there was somebody shouting, and they heard the noise of a horse
-galloping furiously, besides. In a moment there came into sight, among
-the trees--who do you think? None other than Peggy’s faithful old Teddy.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-XVII
-
-THE BATTLE
-
-
-Teddy galloped up to them and threw himself off his horse. One glance
-at the advancing wave of wooden soldiers showed him what the position
-was. There was no time to explain what he had been doing. Every moment
-was of value. “There’s cavalry and infantry coming up,” he said to
-Colonel Jim. “We can make a stand here. Better send one of your men
-back to hurry up the guns.”
-
-But there was no necessity to do this, for as Teddy was speaking they
-could hear the noise of horses trotting along through the wood, and
-almost immediately a lot of lead soldiers made their appearance, and
-came rapidly towards them. They were Lancers, on bright bay horses, and
-very smart they looked with the little flags fluttering at the tops of
-their lances.
-
-The Colonel of the regiment rode at the head of them. He came up to
-Colonel Jim, and saluted. “Just in time, eh, sir?” he said. Colonel Jim
-saluted, too, and said, “Are your men ready for a charge, sir? If so,
-we can keep them off till the guns come up.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The Colonel of the Lancer regiment threw one glance at the approaching
-wooden soldiers. There were thousands and thousands of them, and only
-a few of his men could come up at a time, by the narrow road through
-the wood. But odds did not daunt him, and he at once gave the order to
-charge.
-
-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.
-
-It had all happened so quickly that Peggy had not had time to be
-frightened yet. But the noise of the horses galloping and the men
-shouting got louder and louder, and the wooden soldiers had now got so
-near that their shouts could be heard too, as they stood to receive the
-shock of the cavalry. She suddenly shrieked, and clung to Wooden. “Oh,
-they’re not going to kill each other, are they?” she cried. “Do let’s
-go away!”
-
-Wooden soothed her. “Of course they’re not going to kill each other,
-dear,” she said. “Soldiers don’t do that in Toyland. They only knock
-each other down; and whichever side knocks most down wins.”
-
-This relieved Peggy’s fears a little, and in any case she was in the
-thick of it now, and had to see it through. She was really a plucky
-little girl, and by the time the cavalry got to the bottom of the hill
-she had partly recovered from her fright, and did not shut her eyes.
-
-The cavalry rode gallantly at the thick mass of soldiers, with their
-lances levelled, and whenever they hit a wooden soldier, down he went.
-The wooden soldiers fired their rifles at them as they came down the
-hill, and knocked over a few. But the bullets, which were small peas,
-of a kind grown specially for rifle ammunition, were not big enough
-to do much damage against men and horses coming so fast. It was only
-when several bullets hit the same soldier, or his horse, that they were
-knocked over. But the foot-soldiers left off firing and began to use
-their bayonets when the cavalry got amongst them, and then they did
-knock over a large number of men and horses, though not nearly so many
-as the Lancers knocked over of them.
-
-It was most fascinating to watch. The Lancers went on and on through
-the masses of infantry, and wherever they went, down fell heaps of
-wooden soldiers. And when they were knocked down they lay quite still
-on the ground, and took no further interest in the proceedings. But the
-farther in the Lancers went the less they became, as men and horses
-were bowled over in their turn. It was just as if they were being
-swallowed up in the great mass of red and white, and there were so many
-of the wooden soldiers that it soon became plain that in a short time
-the Lancers would all disappear.
-
-Peggy watched the Colonel, who was always in front, fight his way
-steadily on, dealing lightning blows to right and left of him. But at
-last he went down, and the red coats were almost as thick as before,
-and still more were always coming up from the fort.
-
-It was then that Colonel Jim rallied his little troop for a last
-gallant charge. Teddy had galloped back through the wood, while the
-Lancers were charging, to hurry up the guns. He now came tearing back,
-and said to Colonel Jim in a hurried voice, “The guns will be here in
-a couple of minutes. If you can keep them back till then we shall have
-them beaten.”
-
-“I’ll try,” said Colonel Jim, looking at his little troop, which seemed
-almost nothing at all compared to the masses of soldiers advancing on
-them; and then he gave the word to charge.
-
-It was a desperate effort. The shock of the Lancers’ charge had now
-spent itself. The wooden soldiers, who had been kept back by it for a
-time which was short measured by minutes, but of inestimable value to
-the defenders of the wood, were now forming at the foot of the hill.
-If they succeeded in getting to the top of it, the little party in
-the wood would be surrounded and taken prisoners. Could Colonel Jim’s
-handful of men save them?
-
-The troopers were given instructions to form themselves into a line at
-the edge of the wood, and then to charge down the hill all together.
-They rode out of the shelter of the trees, and formed their line with
-as much coolness as if they were on parade. The foot-soldiers began
-firing again, and the bullets pattered on their cuirasses like hail,
-but had no effect upon these heroes, except to sting them up when they
-caught them in their faces, and to make their horses restive. Peggy
-could hear the bullets whistling and pattering amongst the leaves of
-the trees over her head, but she and the dolls had been withdrawn a
-little into the wood. Owing to the angle at which the wooden soldiers
-fired, there was no danger for them as long as the firing was from the
-bottom of the hill.
-
-It took the life-guardsmen a very short time to form into line, and,
-as the wooden soldiers had halted to fire at them, the time was not
-wasted. The moment they were in line, Colonel Jim, who was in the
-middle, slightly in advance of the rest, gave the word to charge.
-
-Down swept the splendid little band, in an irresistible charge. It
-was no good firing at them any longer, and the wooden soldiers stood
-with bayonets fixed to receive the shock. Wooden’s aunt, who had been
-getting more and more excited at what was happening, ran forward to the
-edge of the wood to watch, and Peggy and the others went with her.
-
-The sudden leaving off of the firing made a lull, in which the noise of
-the horses’ hoofs could be heard thundering down the hill. When they
-reached the bottom, the shock of the encounter was just like hammer
-blows, as wood met metal.
-
-The front line of wooden soldiers seemed to waver a little as the
-horsemen approached them. And no wonder! The wooden soldiers were brave
-enough, and they did not yet know that they were fighting in a bad
-cause, so there was nothing to make them cowards. But the first line
-of them, at least, must have known that they would all go down before
-the irresistible charge, and it spoke well for them that they stood and
-waited for it, instead of running away.
-
-It was not only the front line that went down under the weight, but the
-second and third. It really looked for a moment as if that single line
-of heavy cavalry would push the opposing host back all by itself. And,
-so far, not a single man or horse of them had fallen.
-
-But the impetus of the furious charge was bound to spend itself. A
-life-guardsman went down, and then another. But still they struggled
-on, Colonel Jim in front of them fighting desperately, as the Colonel
-of the Lancers had done. It was no longer a line of steel destroying
-everything in front of it as it swept on, but a few scattered horsemen,
-fighting gloriously against overwhelming odds.
-
-But still they did advance, and for every horse and rider that went
-down a score or more of foot soldiers bit the dust.
-
-“They’ll do it! They’ll do it!” yelled Wooden’s aunt, dancing about in
-a state of tremendous excitement.
-
-Teddy, sitting on his horse, was no less excited. “They’re giving way!”
-he cried. And Peggy distinctly saw a quiver run through the mass of
-wooden soldiers, like wind passing over a field of corn.
-
-At this very moment there was a roar and a rumble from the wood behind,
-and the artillery came galloping up, just in the nick of time. 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. It was quickly loaded with gunpowder and an
-enormous pea. She stopped her ears as it was fired, but the noise was
-not so bad as if it had been a real gun. She distinctly saw the great
-pea fall in the middle of the fleeing army, and then go bowling along,
-knocking over lots of soldiers before its force had spent itself.
-
-[Illustration: The big guns got to work]
-
-Orders soon came, however, for the artillery to cease firing. More
-regiments of cavalry were coming up through the wood. As they arrived
-they were sent down to pursue the wooden soldiers, and also to ride
-round them, and cut them off from the fort. There was no necessity to
-knock down any more of them. If they were surrounded they would be
-obliged to surrender, and this would come to the same thing. The guns
-would be wanted to reduce the fort, and, until further supplies of
-ammunition came up, they did not want to waste it.
-
-It was a pretty sight to see the cavalry galloping over the downs,
-outflanking the flying red coats, and presently getting between them
-and the fort. But a good many wooden soldiers who had only got a little
-way out when the rout began had already succeeded in making their way
-back. There would be plenty to defend the fort, if Selim should decide
-to try to hold it.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-XVIII
-
-THE SIEGE
-
-
-The great contest that would be known in the history of Toyland as the
-Battle of the Downs had been fought and won. But Queen Rosebud was not
-yet set free, and Selim was not yet captured. There was still stern
-work to be done. Dollfort must be taken at all costs, and as it was one
-of the strongest forts in the country that would be no light matter.
-
-The affair, however, was set in hand at once. The artillery limbered
-up and galloped down the hill and trotted across the downs, making a
-fine show. There were about twenty guns--quite enough to make a breach
-in the walls. But when they had done so, infantry would be required
-to pour in through the breach and complete the work that the guns had
-begun. The cavalry had already done their share, and would not be of
-much use for this task For in the valiant army of Toyland it was not
-customary to use horse-soldiers apart from their horses.
-
-But Teddy, who seemed to have thought of everything, had asked for
-infantry to be sent from Dolltown, as well as cavalry and artillery,
-and almost as soon as the guns had thundered off down the hill the
-first detachment of foot-soldiers came up through the wood.
-
-If they had had to march from Dolltown they could not have been there
-in time; but all the available conveyances had been used to bring
-them up. 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. “So will the soldiers
-at Dollfort be, when they know the truth.”
-
-There was certainly no lack of eagerness shown by this fine regiment,
-as it marched down the hill with its flag at its head. Peggy was
-interested to see Captain Louisa marching with one of the companies. He
-had said that his men would follow him anywhere, and she was glad to
-see that he was prepared to fight on the side of the right.
-
-When the first regiment had marched off, Teddy came up to them and
-said, “I think we might go now. You’d like to see the guns knock the
-fort down, wouldn’t you?”
-
-Peggy said she should like it very much. She had always liked playing
-with her boy cousin with his soldiers, and this was just like one of
-the battles and sieges that they had arranged, only on an enormous,
-glorious scale. Since she had seen that there was no horrible
-bloodshed, but only fair and square knocking down, from which none of
-the soldiers would be much the worse afterwards, she had ceased to feel
-any alarm at the fighting, and was quite ready to see some more of it.
-
-They rode across the downs towards Dollfort, and now Teddy had time to
-tell them how he had so luckily been able to bring up the troops, and
-spoil Selim’s little game.
-
-He had been galloping along the road after the two carriages and must
-have nearly caught them up, when he had met Japhet, Mr. Noah’s third
-son. He had been just about to pass him with a wave of the paw, when
-Japhet had stopped him, and told him some most important news.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Now Japhet was a mild-mannered, studious young man, whose great hobby
-was the collection of wildflowers, which he pressed in a book. Whenever
-he was off duty on the royal Ark, he used to wander about the country
-picking flowers. Sometimes he went alone, and sometimes with a friend,
-who shared the same tastes. This friend was also in the royal service.
-In fact, he was none other than the driver of the carriage in which
-Selim had run away with Queen Rosebud. Japhet had made arrangements to
-meet him that very evening on the road between Dolltown and Dollfort,
-and have a good long ramble with him.
-
-It was fortunate that it was just on this road that Japhet had arranged
-to meet his friend. Of course, if he had not come, Japhet would have
-known that it was because he was on duty; but he would not have known
-where he was going.
-
-As the carriage passed, Japhet waved to his friend, and asked him where
-he was going. His friend said “Dollfort.” They both spoke under their
-breaths, making great movement with their mouths, and the driver also
-made a movement with his head towards the carriage behind him, and said
-in the same way, “I’ve got the old man with me.” This was how these two
-talked to each other about Selim, and was not meant for disrespect, as
-they would not have done it in public.
-
-Teddy said, “Are you sure he said Dollfort and not Dollport?”
-
-Japhet said he was quite sure, because he had jerked his thumb to the
-right, where Dollfort was. If he had meant Dollport, he would have
-pointed straight ahead.
-
-Then Teddy had seen it all. Selim was not going to try to escape by
-sea, with Queen Rosebud, but was going to rouse the wooden soldiers
-of Dollfort, and perhaps try to get the kingdom back with their help.
-So Teddy turned sharp round, and rode back to Dolltown--but not along
-the road by which he had come--leaving Japhet standing there in
-considerable surprise.
-
-When he had told his story, the Lord Chancellor asked him why he had
-not come back and told them what he had found out. He was annoyed about
-it. “If it had not been for our own extreme cleverness,” he said, “we
-might have gone off on a false scent to Dollport, and not known where
-they had gone to at all.”
-
-Teddy grinned up at him rather impudently. “You wouldn’t have been much
-loss,” he said. “I knew it would take you about a month to start, if
-you started at all; and I wanted to take the short cut to the barracks.
-There was no time to be lost.”
-
-“It’s as well you did,” said Mr. Noah. “The troops only came up just
-in the nick of time. Five minutes more, and the enemy would have been
-entrenched in the wood.”
-
-As they rode across the downs, they passed heaps of soldiers lying on
-the ground, most of which were wooden soldiers of the attacking party;
-but some were men and horses of the Lifeguards and the Lancers. None of
-them were much damaged, but they hated lying there and doing nothing,
-and implored to be picked up.
-
-But they were told that there wasn’t time for that. The ambulance corps
-would be sent out as soon as possible, and they must wait for that.
-The only soldier they did pick up was the Colonel of Lancers, who rode
-along with them, very glad for his horse to be on its feet again. He
-was proud of the charge that his regiment had made, but would not take
-any credit for his own share of it. He said that he had only done his
-duty as a soldier should.
-
-When they arrived at the houses in front of the fort, the guns had
-already got to work. The cavalry had gone into the streets, and told
-all the inhabitants to come away, as in five minutes their houses were
-going to be knocked down. It was necessary to destroy them, in order to
-have a clear range at the walls of the fort, and as our little party
-came up the dolls’ houses of the town were toppling down in dozens as
-the guns fired at them. All the poor dolls who had been told to leave
-them were gathered in a body on a low hill to the right, watching
-the destruction of their homes, and it was sad to hear the wails and
-lamentations that arose from them; for they had not had time to bring
-anything away. Perhaps their possessions were not worth very much, but
-still, a home is a home to those who live in it. Be it ever so humble,
-there is no place like it, as the song says, and it was not nice for
-these poor people to see their homes knocked down by great peas as big
-as wardrobes. However, the houses would all be put up again as soon as
-the siege was over, and the poor dolls would not be any the worse off.
-
-[Illustration: All the poor dolls were gathered in a body]
-
-The hill on which the refugees were crowded was out of the line of
-fire, and our party went there to watch what was going on.
-
-It was not quite such an easy matter to reduce the fort as it first
-appeared. For one thing, the walls had been built to resist such
-attacks, and would be more difficult to demolish than the houses
-outside them. And for another thing, the artillery did not have it all
-its own way. There were, of course, guns in the fort itself, and they
-were already doing great damage to the attacking forces. The shooting
-was not quite so good as it might have been, and the artillery-men in
-the field were very clever in moving their guns about quickly, so that
-whenever they had fired they would move away to a new position, and
-the guns in the fort always had to be finding new ranges.
-
-Still, one field-gun after another was put out of action, and now there
-were only about half of them left to do the work.
-
-The situation was as follows. The houses in the way had all been
-knocked down, leaving the battlements of the fort open to attack, but
-it had cost half the artillery to do it. Would the other half be enough
-to make a breach in the walls, through which the infantry could pour
-in and do their work, before they were put out of action, too? And
-supposing they did, would enough infantry arrive in time to do the
-pouring in? It was touch and go, as all the episodes of this great
-battle had been.
-
-As for the infantry, the wooden regiment in which Captain Louisa served
-had already come up, and was resting under cover waiting till the time
-came for it to make its attack. And across the downs were marching more
-regiments, all of lead soldiers. Yes, the infantry would be ready, if
-the guns could do their work in time.
-
-The artillery now changed its tactics. The time had gone by for moving
-about and firing guns singly. They would never make a hole in those
-stout walls, unless all of them fired at one place together. This then
-was what they had to do. It was costly, because when once the guns of
-the fort had found the range, they could knock them all out pretty
-quickly. But it was the only way.
-
-The Colonel of Lancers explained all this very politely to Peggy, and
-she watched with breathless interest this exceedingly important phase
-of the battle.
-
-There was silence from the field artillery while the guns were all
-being trained on to one place in the walls. But the guns from the fort
-redoubled their efforts. One of them had the good luck to find the
-range immediately. The moment the field-guns had galloped up to the
-position that had been decided on, a great bullet came bounding along
-and knocked one of the batteries down. Then the others found the range.
-The field-guns were pointed and loaded wonderfully quickly, but before
-any of them could actually fire, five of them had been knocked out.
-Just as the order to fire was given, two more were knocked out. So the
-great blow was only delivered by three guns.
-
-They might just have done it if the balls had all hit exactly the same
-spot in the walls. Two of them hit it exactly, but the third went a
-little wild. Peggy distinctly heard them hit the wall. There was a
-little fall of masonry and a cloud of dust. When this cleared away,
-she looked eagerly for a hole in the wall. But no hole was there. Those
-frowning battlements stood as whole and nearly as strong as before.
-
-Immediately afterwards the remaining field-guns were put out of action
-by the guns of the fort. The artillery attack had failed, and a
-tremendous cheer arose from the soldiers who were crowding the walls of
-the fort watching the Homeric contest.
-
-But their cheering soon died away, for this was not the end of it. What
-followed happened so quickly that Peggy could not afterwards remember
-exactly how it did happen. But almost before she could draw breath the
-wooden regiment which had come up first was charging towards the fort
-with lusty shouts. Shots from the guns in the fort mowed them down in
-long lanes, but still they charged on. They swarmed over the ruins of
-the houses, and reached the very walls of the fort; and when they got
-there they began swarming up the walls themselves, just like flies.
-
-It was a most gallant assault. They were under shelter from the guns
-of the fort, but the soldiers on the battlements could reach them,
-and made great havoc in their ranks. They climbed up on each other’s
-shoulders, but directly one of them reached the top he was knocked
-down, and then the next one was knocked down, and sometimes a whole
-line of men was toppled over.
-
-But there were always more to take the place of those who fell. A
-regiment of lead soldiers came dashing up to help them, and then
-another and then another still. The advantage of numbers was on the
-attacking side now, but the advantage of position was very much with
-the soldiers of the fort, and it seemed impossible that anybody should
-ever succeed in climbing over the top of the wall.
-
-But a lot of sharpshooters were told off to aim at the soldiers who
-were manning the walls, and they did their work very cleverly, picking
-them off one by one. The guns of the fort were trained on them, and
-they went down in large numbers, but they imitated the tactics of the
-artillery, and never fired twice from the same spot; and gradually they
-made an impression. There came a moment when the soldiers on the top of
-the wall did not seem quite so thick as before. And when that moment
-came there was a great shout from the regiments below, and from the
-onlookers. For at last a soldier attacking the wall scrambled on to the
-top of it.
-
-They saw him stand for a second laying about him at the defenders, and
-then he went down. But not before two or three more had climbed over.
-
-After that it was quickly finished. More and more soldiers reached
-the top, until presently the defence almost ceased, and the defendant
-forces were driven away from the top of the walls altogether.
-
-Another shout went up when the great gate in front of the fort was seen
-slowly to roll open. And then the gallant soldiers ceased climbing up
-over the wall, and poured in through the gate, to finish the work that
-had been so splendidly begun.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-XIX
-
-SELIM IS CAPTURED
-
-
-The final reduction of Dollfort would have taken longer than it
-actually did if the citadel at the top of it had not been closed for
-spring cleaning. Selim and Rose would certainly have taken refuge
-there, and would have been defended by those that remained of the
-wooden soldiers. The citadel was very strong, and it might not have
-been possible to take it by assault at all. They might have had to
-starve it into surrender, and that would have taken a long time.
-
-However, by a lucky chance, the commander of the fort, who was rather
-fussy, had said the day before that he couldn’t have the place
-looking like a pig-sty, and it was to be thoroughly cleaned out and
-white-washed. This was being done when Selim drove into the fort, and
-the fighting had followed so soon that there had been no opportunity of
-putting the citadel into any sort of shape to resist attack.
-
-Soon after the fort was taken, Peggy and the others were allowed to
-ride into it through the gateway that had been opened by the attacking
-party. As they came into the first narrow street of the fort a wooden
-officer was standing by the gate. It was none other than Captain
-Louisa, who saluted his old friends, and said he was very glad to see
-them there.
-
-Another officer who was standing with him, patted him on the back, and
-said, “You haven’t told them that it was you who was first over the
-wall.”
-
-“That was nothing,” said Captain Louisa modestly. “I was only doing my
-duty as a soldier should.”
-
-They congratulated him heartily on his gallant feat of arms. He had
-said nothing about it himself, but it was plain that he was pleased
-at having it known to them. Peggy had thought it rather boastful of
-him when he had said in Wooden’s drawing-room that nobody would do his
-duty as a soldier better than he should, but it had turned out to be
-quite true. Wooden said how pleased his wife would be to hear what he
-had done, and his friend said that he would be made a Major for it, or
-perhaps even a Colonel.
-
-They got off their horses at the entrance to the fort, for the streets
-were too narrow and steep to let them ride any more.
-
-Dollfort was an old-fashioned though a very powerful fort. There were
-houses and shops in the narrow streets, and as they went up through
-them they saw the soldiers taking refreshment in the inns, which were
-rather foreign-looking, and made Peggy think of the places she had seen
-in France.
-
-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. All the
-defenders of the fort who had fallen had been picked up again, and, to
-judge by the merry noise they were making, were none the worse for the
-experience.
-
-Captain Louisa and his friend walked up through the streets with them,
-and Peggy was interested to learn that the friend, whose name was
-Lieutenant Napoleon, belonged to a regiment which had defended the
-fort. He was very indignant at what he had heard about Selim. “Still,
-it was a good thing we didn’t know what a rascal he was,” he said, “or
-we shouldn’t have had this glorious scrap.”
-
-That was the spirit of all the soldiers who had been fighting. They
-often had sham battles, but this had been a real one, and they had
-thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the knocking down of the houses
-outside the fort. They would not have been allowed to knock them down
-in a sham fight.
-
-The exciting and interesting thing now was to find Selim and Rose, and
-get to know where they had hidden the Queen and Lady Grace and Wooden’s
-mother.
-
-Lieutenant Napoleon told them that the two carriages had come driving
-quickly into the fort, and the King had put his head out of the window
-of the first and told the sentries to close the gates, and to send the
-Commander of the fort to him at once at the Busby Arms, which was the
-chief inn in the place. Then they had driven into the courtyard of the
-inn, and the gates of that had been closed too.
-
-[Illustration: The chief inn of the place]
-
-The commander of the fort was General Wellington-Vera. He was an
-uncle of Lieutenant Napoleon’s, and had taken his wife’s name upon
-marriage, as is the custom in Toyland. General Wellington-Vera was a
-brave and capable officer, and had hurried at once to the King, as
-of course he thought him, to take his orders. These were that the
-fort was to be stoutly defended to the last man and the last ounce of
-powder, against a cowardly and treacherous attack that would shortly
-be made upon the King’s life by the lead soldiers of Dolltown, who
-had revolted. That was what Selim had told him, and of course he had
-believed it.
-
-Orders had quickly been given out that every man should be found at his
-post. Then General Wellington-Vera had made up his mind that he would
-not wait to be attacked, but would himself attack first; and Selim had
-approved of this. The result had been as we have already seen, and we
-need not go over the same ground again.
-
-Lieutenant Napoleon was his uncle’s aide-de-camp, and had been by his
-side during the greater part of the battle and the siege. He was now
-free for a time, because the General, who was an old man, had been
-somewhat exhausted by his exertions, and had gone home to lie down.
-He said that his uncle had told him nothing about any ladies being
-with Selim. He had talked to him in a room alone. In fact, Lieutenant
-Napoleon was surprised to hear that there were any ladies there at all,
-and still more surprised to hear that one of them was Queen Rosebud.
-He had known by this time that she was alive, and that Selim was a
-usurper, but not that he had tried to run away with her.
-
-“We ought to find them at once,” he said. “I am in command here as long
-as uncle is lying down, and I shall be pleased to put myself at your
-disposal.”
-
-They went first of all to the Busby Arms. The gate of the courtyard was
-still shut, and Lieutenant Napoleon banged on it with the hilt of his
-sword, and called out that if it was not opened at once he would give
-orders for it to be blown up with gunpowder.
-
-“You had all better take shelter,” he said, as he was waiting for a
-reply. “They might try sniping at us. I don’t mind for myself, but I
-shouldn’t like to see any of you hit.”
-
-So they went behind a wall, all except Colonel Jim and the Colonel of
-Lancers and Captain Louisa, who, being soldiers, scorned to shelter
-themselves, and waited with Lieutenant Napoleon.
-
-But there was no occasion for alarm. The gate was soon opened by the
-innkeeper, who had been terrified by the bombardment of the fort,
-especially as one of the cannon balls had fallen into the garden behind
-the inn and broken a cucumber frame.
-
-The innkeeper was as shocked as all the rest when he heard how wicked
-Selim had really been, and very surprised at being told that one of the
-ladies who had come in the carriage with him was Queen Rosebud.
-
-“She must have been the one they said was ill,” he said. “Her head was
-all covered up when they brought her in. They asked for a cup of tea
-for her, so I went down into the kitchen myself, because, you see, the
-girl what----”
-
-“Never mind about all that,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Where are they
-now? Take us to them at once.”
-
-But alas! the innkeeper could only tell them that they had gone.
-
-“The King,” he said--“well, I suppose I mustn’t call him that now--but
-Selim, he went out with the General when the firing began, and soon
-after he’d gone the ladies must have slipped off. That’s how I think
-it must have happened. Anyhow, when I went up to tell them about my
-cucumber frame they’d gone, and I haven’t set eyes on them since.”
-
-They did not waste much more time at the inn. They set out to make
-a thorough search of the houses in the fort, under the direction of
-Lieutenant Napoleon, who now showed himself very zealous on the scent.
-
-There were not, after all, a great many hiding places. It was only in
-the lower streets of the fort that there were shops and houses. Above
-that there were only barracks and defence works, and the citadel at
-the top of all.
-
-None of the soldiers whom Lieutenant Napoleon questioned had seen
-anything of Selim since the taking of the fort. Up to that time he had
-been with General Wellington-Vera, overlooking the defence, and many of
-them had seen him. Of the Queen, and the other lady dolls, nobody had
-seen anything, from first to last.
-
-“The only thing left is to search the citadel,” said Lieutenant
-Napoleon. “I don’t suppose they are there, but I don’t see where else
-they can be.”
-
-So they set out, and climbed the steep streets up to the top of the
-fort.
-
-As they went up, they met a lot of female dolls coming down with pails
-and mops and brooms. These were the char-dolls who had been cleaning up
-the citadel, and it speaks well for their sense of duty that they had
-not left off their work during the bombardment. But they were all wives
-of soldiers, and had been trained to do their duty, whate’er befell.
-
-Peggy was interested in these dolls, who were chattering away at a
-great rate, and anxious to know what had been happening while they were
-busy. But, being wives of soldiers, they were too well disciplined to
-ask questions of the officers, and nobody took much notice of them
-except Peggy.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-They were mostly dressed in print gowns, but some of them wore big
-cloaks, because the evening was beginning to get a trifle chilly. Peggy
-noticed in the crowd of them two who had the hoods of their cloaks
-right over their heads. One of them was very tall, but was bent, as if
-she had rheumatism. She had the arm of the other one, who was carrying
-a pail, and they were talking with their heads close together, but not
-speaking to anybody else.
-
-They had just passed, rather quickly, when an idea suddenly sprang into
-Peggy’s mind. She clutched at Wooden’s arm, and said, “Look at those
-two! I believe they are disguised.”
-
-It was the remembrance of Colonel Jim’s cloak when he had got in to
-them in the House of Cards that had made the idea come into her head.
-And perhaps the same connection of ideas made Colonel Jim himself
-sharper than he generally was; for the moment Peggy had spoken he
-called out to the char-dolls to stop.
-
-Most of them, being well disciplined, stopped at once, at the word
-of command, but the two in cloaks went on, as if they had not heard,
-slightly quickening their pace, but not running.
-
-That was enough for Teddy. He sprang after them. “Here, you two!” he
-said. “Let’s have a look at your faces. I’m sure you’ve no reason to be
-ashamed of them.”
-
-They began to run. But Teddy ran after them, and put his foot in front
-of the tall one, who tripped and fell sprawling in the road. Teddy tore
-off the cloak, and disclosed, not an inoffensive char-doll like the
-rest, but the gross form and sinister features of the rascally Selim.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-XX
-
-THE LAST
-
-
-There lay the villain who had worked such mischief among the simple and
-generous inhabitants of Toyland, and, above all, to their noble Queen,
-who had loaded him with benefits. He lay on the muddy road, blinking
-and scowling at his captors, well knowing that his game was up and his
-doom would soon fall. He was a sorry spectacle, in his discovery and
-disgrace. It was checkmate for him finally, and no further move was
-left to him.
-
-As for the chief partner in his crimes, who had tried to escape with
-him--the renegade Composition doll Rose, who had so completely failed
-to obey the natural instincts of upright dollhood--it was easy enough
-to recognize her in the other cloaked figure, when once Selim’s
-disguise had been torn from him. It was Wooden’s aunt who sprang
-forward and snatched the cloak away from Rose. “So here you are, my
-beauty!” she exclaimed exultantly. “Got you at last! And if you try to
-get away I’ll scratch your eyes out.”
-
-But Rose made no effort to get away. She did not cower before them, as
-the wretched Selim did. He made no effort even to rise from the ground
-until Lieutenant Napoleon called up two soldiers to seize him and hold
-him fast. But Rose drew herself up to her full height, and flashed
-scorn upon her captors from her dark eyes. There was something grand
-in her, in spite of the wickedness of her behaviour, but it was not
-the sort of grandeur that it does anybody any good to admire. The only
-thing that can be said about her is that with such a bold character
-it is a pity that she had not used her powers to do right instead of
-wrong. Then they might have led her to great heights. As it was, they
-had brought her down to ruin.
-
-They questioned her as to what had been done with the Queen and the
-other dolls who had been carried off; but she would answer them
-nothing. Her contemptuous look seemed to say, “You may do what you like
-with me, and I shall only go on despising you. But you will get nothing
-out of me, so it is waste of time to try.”
-
-The wretched Selim, however, was more amenable to pressure. “If you
-will let me free to go away,” he whined, “I will tell you everything.”
-
-“Give him a twist of the arm,” said Lieutenant Napoleon, “and see if
-that will make him tell us. He isn’t going to be let free.”
-
-One of the soldiers screwed Selim’s arm, not very hard, because it
-wasn’t necessary. Directly he felt the slightest pain, Selim gave way
-at once. “Oh, don’t hurt me!” he cried out--the wretched, cowardly
-creature! “They are in the citadel--quite safe and comfortable. I might
-have executed them all, but I haven’t touched a hair of their heads.”
-
-“Bring the prisoners along with us,” said Lieutenant Napoleon. “We will
-go up to the citadel at once.”
-
-They mounted to the top of the fort. The citadel was a great barrack
-of a place, with one fine hall, and a regular hive of smaller rooms,
-besides the fortified works. 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.
-
-He had locked the door, and thrown away the key out the window, as he
-was obliged to confess, but it did not take long to break it open.
-Colonel Jim, who was the biggest and strongest of them all, and who
-was very anxious to rescue Lady Grace as quickly as possible, put his
-shoulder to the door and gave one mighty push, and it flew open.
-
-The room was very small. It had a narrow, barred window, and the only
-furniture in it was a low bed and a wooden chair. It was, in fact, a
-prison cell, used for locking up soldiers who had committed offences.
-And this was the place in which Selim had locked up the unfortunate
-Queen, and the other two dolls, without any food or even water.
-Supposing he had escaped, as he had hoped to do! They would have stayed
-there all night, and could only have been released if they had managed
-to attract the attention of the char-dolls who would come to the
-citadel the next morning.
-
-Colonel Jim was not very quick at understanding things, as we have
-seen, but he understood this directly his eyes took in what was inside
-the door he had burst open. He turned round and gave Selim a violent
-buffet on the side of his face, which made the miserable creature cower
-away and cry out. He had still to be punished for his crimes, but this
-first instalment of his punishment made everybody feel better.
-
-Queen Rosebud was sitting on the chair with her hands on her lap,
-the picture of stately patience; Lady Grace and Wooden’s mother were
-sitting on the bed, and it was evident that Lady Grace had been crying.
-
-The Queen rose slowly from her chair. “I wish to be taken away from
-this place,” she said.
-
-She was very royal, even under the dreadful circumstances in which she
-found herself, and after all she had gone through. The Lord Chancellor
-advanced towards her and bowed very low. “If your Majesty will deign to
-lead your loyal subjects to the great hall,” he said, “justice can be
-done at once on these malefactors, and in the meantime preparations can
-be made for your Majesty’s convenience for the night. It will be too
-late to go back to your Majesty’s Capital until tomorrow.”
-
-The Queen simply said, “Come, Lady Grace,” and walked out of the
-cell. The wretched Selim tried to draw her attention to himself with
-a whining prayer for mercy, as she passed him. But she took not the
-smallest notice. She did, however, make a slight inclination of the
-head towards Peggy, as she passed her; and Peggy felt proud and
-honoured, just as if it had been a real Queen who had taken notice of
-her. But it cannot be too often repeated that Queen Rosebud was _like_
-a real Queen, in all her ways and in all her deeds.
-
-They went into the great hall, and a seat was brought for the Queen at
-the top of it. All the rest of them stood. Selim, between two soldiers,
-and Rose, between two others, were brought up before her.
-
-The Lord Chancellor cleared his throat, as if it lay with him to open
-the proceedings, but he was a very different Lord Chancellor before
-Queen Rosebud from what he had been in the Hall of Audience before
-the usurping Selim. When the Queen held up her hand he stopped his
-preparations for speech at once, and listened respectfully to what she
-had to say.
-
-She spoke slowly, in a low musical voice, and every word she said could
-be heard plainly by everybody in the great hall.
-
-“King Selim is to be taken at once to the coast,” she said, “and put
-into a boat, with oars and a sail, and enough food for several days. He
-is to row or sail away from my kingdom, and never to come back here. If
-he does so, he is to be executed. Take him away.”
-
-That was all, and she waited for her commands to be carried out before
-speaking again. She had given the miserable creature his title. He was
-a King, though not King of Toyland. He had been cast on the shores of
-her island destitute and solitary, and had been right royally treated.
-And he had repaid her as we have seen. But she made no accusation
-against him. He was simply to be sent away.
-
-The wretched being was led off by the two soldiers who had guarded him.
-He went without a word. He knew that his life had been most mercifully
-spared, for he could row or sail to land in a few hours, or be picked
-up by a ship. Let us hope that he felt some compunction for his many
-crimes. He passed out of the hall between the two guards, the great
-door clanged after him, and he was seen no more.
-
-The Queen’s face changed as she turned towards Rose. Selim was a
-foreigner, and in getting rid of him she had done all that she needed
-to do. But Rose was her own subject, and must be dealt with in a
-different fashion.
-
-“As for you,” she said, “you must stand your trial according to the
-laws of the land. If you choose to stand it now, with me for your
-judge, you may do so. Say whatever you please in your own defence, and
-I will listen to you. If not, I wash my hands of you, and you will be
-sent to prison to await your trial by jury.”
-
-It was an extraordinary act of clemency for the Queen to deal with
-Rose’s case herself, and no doubt Rose knew that she would get more
-merciful treatment than if her crimes were left to the judgment of a
-jury of dolls, who could not help being furious with her for what she
-had done.
-
-But all she said, in a voice of scorn, was, “Oh, try me now, and finish
-it. I have done what I have done, and I wish I had succeeded. As I’ve
-failed, do what you like with me.”
-
-The Queen looked at her with her calm, steady gaze, and Rose’s eyes
-dropped before it. “I am more sorry for you than you are for yourself,”
-the Queen said. “I know that you have been led away by spite and
-jealousy, and those are feelings that cause great unhappiness to
-whoever possesses them. It is your misfortune that you have those bad
-qualities, but it is in your power to conquer them. It is my hope that
-you will succeed in doing so. Go! You are free.”
-
-The guards on either side of Rose fell away from her. She stood staring
-at the Queen with wide eyes, as if she could hardly believe what had
-been said to her. Then she realized that she was free, to go where she
-liked, and that she was not to be punished at all. She covered her face
-with her hands and burst into tears, and then hurried away out of the
-hall. Her proud and rebellious spirit would not have quailed before any
-punishment that might have been meted out to her, but the punishment
-would have left her no better than she had been before. But the free
-pardon, which she could never have expected, had broken her down. It
-was to be hoped that she would really repent of her bad ways now, and
-be a better doll than she had ever been before.
-
-When Rose had left the hall, the Queen’s face lightened. “All that is
-left for me now,” she said, “is to thank such of my subjects as have
-been so active and successful in setting me free from the plots that
-have surrounded me. And first of all, I must thank the dear little
-girl who is not my subject, but has come here on a visit to find us in
-trouble that is now at an end. She must come again. That is the only
-way in which I can reward her.”
-
-She smiled graciously and sweetly at Peggy, who felt extraordinarily
-pleased.
-
-Then she turned to Wooden. “You have always had my respect and
-liking,” she said, “and I had intended to have appointed you today to
-a post of honour about my person. I do so now, under the title of
-Lady-in-Waiting in Ordinary, and Extra Bed-doll of the Royal Chamber.
-Your duties will bring you into constant relationship with me, and I
-look forward with pleasure to making you my friend.”
-
-[Illustration]
-
-It was most graciously said, and Wooden was so overcome with pride and
-pleasure that she could only stammer out her thanks, and promise to
-perform her duties as well as ever she could.
-
-The Queen then called for a sword. Colonel Jim handed her his, and to
-his great surprise she knighted him with it, and then conferred the
-same honour upon Teddy, who was even more surprised, as he was the
-first bear in Toyland who had ever received it.
-
-[Illustration: She conferred the same honour upon Teddy]
-
-When she had done this, she rose from her seat, and intimated that she
-wished to retire for the night, but before doing so she said a few
-gracious words to all who were in the hall. She said with a smile to
-Colonel Jim that she hoped soon to know him under the title of Sir Jim
-Lady-Grace, which was a happy way of saying that she would forward a
-marriage between him and her favourite lady-in-waiting. And she told
-Teddy, who was so overcome with the honour that had been conferred on
-him that his customary flightiness had departed for the moment, that
-she thought he ought to get married too, and she should always be
-pleased to welcome to her Court Sir Teddy and Lady Bear-Wooden’s-Aunt.
-
-It may readily be guessed into what a flutter this suggestion put
-Wooden’s aunt. While the Queen was talking to her, and hearing about
-her having been tied up to the tree by Selim and Rose, she was quiet
-and respectful. But directly the Queen’s back was turned, and Teddy
-came up to her with a grin to see whether she liked the idea of
-marrying him, she cut a caper, and Teddy cut another, so that Wooden’s
-mother had to remind them both that they would belong for the future to
-the Upper Ten Thousand, and must learn to behave themselves.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The shades of evening were beginning to close in as the Queen left the
-hall, and suddenly Peggy began to feel as if she had had a very long
-day, and would like to go to sleep in her own little bed at home, if
-only she could get there. She began to wonder if it would be necessary
-to go over again all the long journey between Toyland and her home, and
-turned to ask Wooden how they were to get back.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-But as she turned, the hall and all the dolls in it seemed to be fading
-away, and as she opened her mouth to speak----
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-She awoke, to find herself lying in her own little white bed, with dear
-Wooden in her arms, and Teddy with his impudent face lying on the
-pillow, pointing one paw towards the open window, into which the happy
-morning sun was shining.
-
-[Illustration: FINIS]
-
-
-
-
-Transcriber’s Note:
-
-Minor errors and omissions in punctuation and spelling have been fixed,
-otherwise the text has been left in original condition, except for the
-below
-
-Page 126: “to use pass-word” changed to “to use the pass-word”
-
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-
-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Peggy in Toyland</p>
-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Archibald Marshall</p>
-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: Helen M. Barton</p>
-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 14, 2022 [eBook #68749]</p>
-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>
-  <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Charlene Taylor, Amber Black and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</p>
-<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEGGY IN TOYLAND ***</div>
-
-<div class="center">
-<a href="images/cover.jpg">
-<img src="images/cover.jpg" class="w50" alt="" /></a>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="title-page bbox">
-<h1>PEGGY IN TOYLAND</h1>
-
-<p class="center p4">BY</p>
-<p class="center mb25">ARCHIBALD MARSHALL</p>
-
-<p class="center small mt0">Author of “Exton Manor,”<br />
-“Sir Harry,” etc.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><i>ILLUSTRATED BY<br />
-HELEN M. BARTON</i></p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="title">
-<img src="images/title.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<p class="center p2 b2">NEW YORK<br />
-DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY<br />
-1920</p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<p class="center small b2">
-<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1920,</span><br />
-<span class="smcap">By DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, Inc.</span>
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<p class="center">
-TO</p>
-<p class="center">KATHLEEN ANN</p>
-
-<p class="smaller center b2 mt0">I DEDICATE THIS STORY<br />
-WHICH WAS BEGUN FOR HER MOTHER<br />
-KATHLEEN NOEL</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<table class="autotable">
-<tr>
-<td class="tdc small">CHAPTER</td><td></td><td class="tdr small">PAGE</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">I</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Introduces Peggy and Some of Her Friends</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#I">1</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">II</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Peggy’s Surprising Adventure Begins</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#II">16</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">III</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Royal Ark and the Bad Behaviour of Wooden’s Aunt</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#III">31</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">IV</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Momentous News is Brought by a Dutch Doll</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#IV">46</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">V</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Arrival at the Royal Palace of Dolltown</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#V">59</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">VI</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">King Selim Holds an Audience</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#VI">74</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">VII</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">They All go to Prison</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#VII">90</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">VIII</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Peggy Bathes a Baby and has a Surprise</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#VIII">107</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">IX</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">They Discuss a Plan of Escape</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#IX">124</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">X</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Peggy Talks to a Royal Prisoner</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#X">137</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">XI</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Release of Peggy and Wooden</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#XI">151</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">XII</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Peggy Stays in a Real Dolls’ House</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#XII">165</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">XIII</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Dolls Talk It all Over</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#XIII">176</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">XIV</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Escape</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#XIV">190</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">XV</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Pursuit</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#XV">203</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">XVI</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Colonel Jim Attempts a Rescue</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#XVI">216</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">XVII</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Battle</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#XVII">227</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">XVIII</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Siege</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#XVIII">238</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">XIX</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Selim is Captured</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#XIX">252</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdr">XX</td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Last</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#XX">264</a></td>
-</tr>
-</table>
-
-<hr class="r65" />
-
-<p class="center p2 b2">
-PEGGY IN TOYLAND
-</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<p class="center vbig"><b>PEGGY IN TOYLAND</b></p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="center" id="I">I
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">INTRODUCES PEGGY AND SOME OF HER FRIENDS</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">Peggy was just eight years old. She had very long rather straight hair,
-blue eyes, a dear little pudgy nose, and a small mouth. She lived with
-her father and mother in a nice house in the country with a big garden
-round it. It was about five miles from the sea, and she was sometimes
-taken there in the motor-car, to paddle and to play on the sands.</p>
-
-<p>The place she used to go to had only one house near it. This was a
-large bungalow belonging to some friends of Peggy’s father and mother.
-It was built right on the beach, but there was a little lawn beside it,
-and on the edge of the lawn were two wooden figures that had been once
-figure-heads of ships. They were both ladies, and it was difficult to
-tell whether they were old or young, because one of them had had her
-nose broken off, and the other had lost every bit of paint<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span> off her
-face. But there was something agreeable in the appearance of both of
-them, and Peggy used to think she would have liked to know them when
-they were leading a more active life, perched up in the very front of
-the ships to which they belonged, and travelling over the sea to all
-sorts of strange places. But they still looked over the sea, which was
-better than being broken up and burnt, with the rest of the ships; and
-of course they always looked in one direction, straight across the
-water to the big Island on the other side of it.</p>
-
-<p>Peggy had never been to the Island, and when she was playing on the
-sands she would sometimes look at it, and wonder what it was like
-there. She could see a little town and a little church, and a few
-houses scattered about among the hills; and she wondered what sort of
-people lived in them.</p>
-
-<p>Well, when she was eight years old she found out, and she also got to
-know a good deal more about the two wooden ladies of the bungalow. What
-she found out was so remarkable that it is doubtful if any little girl
-has ever seen anything like it before, and I am going to tell you the
-story of it.</p>
-
-<p>But before I begin I must say this: that if Peggy had not had a kind
-heart she would never have found out<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span> anything. I do not mean to say
-that she was never naughty; but she was never naughty in that most
-horrid of all ways, by being cruel or unkind. She had several pets—two
-rabbits and four guinea-pigs, a bantam cock and hen, two white pigeons,
-and a kitten, which she liked best of them all. If she had once been
-cruel to any of these pets, just to see what they would do, it is quite
-certain that she would never have been taken to the Island. And if she
-had made fun of old people or poor people, she would never have gone
-either, because that is an extremely unkind and horrid thing to do.
-But Peggy had never done any of these things, because she was a really
-kind little girl, and if something horrid inside her whispered: “Now,
-just be a little bit cruel,” she was almost as much ashamed of it as if
-she had really been cruel, and she never listened to the whisper for a
-moment. So when she was eight years old she was taken to the Island in
-the extraordinary way I am going to tell you about.</p>
-
-<p>Peggy had a good number of toys, and amongst them two dolls, which will
-now engage our attention.</p>
-
-<p>The elder of the two was a wooden doll, which she had had for some
-time, and the story of this doll is rather interesting.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img01">
-<img src="images/img01.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">When Peggy was five years old she had a doll given<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span> her called Rose.
-Rose was well-dressed, in clothes that would come on and off; and
-rather a nice hat came with her. But somehow Peggy could not get
-to like her much. She took her about everywhere for quite a week,
-undressed her every night and dressed her again every morning, and
-sometimes gave her a bath,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span> but not with water in it, because her body
-was stuffed, although her head was composition. She also took her out
-in the new pram that had been given to her at the same time, and put up
-the hood if it was sunny. In fact she did everything that a nice little
-girl could to make Rose feel that she had come to a kind and loving
-home.</p>
-
-<p>But at the end of a week she didn’t feel that Rose really loved her.
-Most little girls know dolls like that. You may do all you can for
-them, and they don’t seem to appreciate it at all. Well, Rose was one
-of those dolls.</p>
-
-<p>One morning Peggy went out with her nurse, and took Rose with her
-in the pram. They went down through the village, and along the road
-on the other side, and presently they came to a cottage where a lot
-of children lived. Their mother was not very kind to them, and so
-they were not very kind to each other, but were always fighting and
-squabbling.</p>
-
-<p>One of these children was a girl a year older than Peggy, called Mabel,
-and just as Peggy and her nurse came up to the cottage they saw Mabel
-banging the head of an old wooden doll on the hard road.</p>
-
-<p>Now children and dolls are sometimes naughty, and must be corrected,
-but their heads should never be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> banged against anything hard. There
-are plenty of ways of correcting them without doing that, and every
-nice mother knows it. Peggy knew it as well as anybody, although she
-was a year younger than Mabel;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span> so directly she saw what was being done
-she cried out to her nurse how cruel it was.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img02">
-<img src="images/img02.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">Mabel stopped beating the wooden doll’s head against the road, and
-stared at Peggy, and at Rose, who was sitting in the pram; and she must
-have fallen in love with Rose at first sight, because her face became
-quite different when she looked at her.</p>
-
-<p>While Mabel was looking at Rose, Peggy was looking at the wooden doll;
-and the more she looked the more her heart went out to her. She was
-not what you would call a beautiful doll, and perhaps never had been.
-One of her legs had been amputated at the knee, one of her arms at the
-shoulder, and the other at the elbow. Her face was round and open; so
-were her eyes. Her nose was gone. The less said about her hair the
-better; she would never need another shampoo. She was dressed in a
-loose frock of spotted red flannel, tied round the waist with an old
-piece of black hair-ribbon.</p>
-
-<p>Such was this doll, who was destined to play so large a part in Peggy’s
-life, as she first saw her; and it may seem odd to some people that she
-should instantly have loved her. Perhaps being such a kind little girl,
-and feeling so dreadfully sorry to see the doll so badly treated, had
-something to do with it; but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span> it could not have been only that. No,
-there was something about this wooden doll which made Peggy love her at
-once, and when you have read this story, perhaps you will be able to
-understand what it was.</p>
-
-<p>Peggy told Mabel that she ought not to knock her doll’s head on the
-road, and Mabel pointed at Rose, and said: “If I had a doll like that,
-I wouldn’t want to knock ’er ’ead on the road.”</p>
-
-<p>It was then that the idea first came to Peggy that she would much
-rather have the wooden doll than Rose; and she asked her nurse if she
-might give Rose to Mabel, and ask Mabel to give her the wooden doll
-instead.</p>
-
-<p>Nurse said: “The idea of such a thing!” and told Peggy to come on. Of
-course she was right not to let Peggy exchange dolls there and then,
-because she didn’t know whether Peggy’s mother would like it. But
-where she was wrong was when she said, “Fancy wanting to exchange a
-beautiful doll like Rose for an ugly old wooden thing like that!” She
-didn’t understand that what she called beauty had nothing to do with it
-at all. You don’t love a person for their looks, but just because you
-can’t help loving them. And Peggy was quite right to love the wooden
-doll more than Rose, as afterwards turned out.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span></p>
-
-<p>Fortunately, Peggy’s mother understood these things better than the
-nurse. The end of it was that Peggy was allowed to give Rose to Mabel,
-with all her clothes except the hat, which had come on the same
-birthday as she had, but had not belonged especially to her. And Mabel
-gave Peggy the wooden doll, but without its red flannel dress, which
-Peggy’s mother thought might contain germs.</p>
-
-<p>Now that the wooden doll belonged to Peggy she had to give her a name.
-She called her Daffodil, because the daffodils were out in the garden
-when she came. But the name never stuck to her. She was always called
-Wooden in the family circle; and presently it was forgotten that she
-had ever had any other name.</p>
-
-<p>The first thing that happened to her was that she underwent an
-operation for restoring the limbs that were lost. It was a serious
-operation, and she was under chloroform for about a week. The
-chauffeur, whose name was Herbert, performed the operation, and when
-it was over Wooden had two arms and two legs just like everybody else.
-One of the legs sometimes came off at the knee, and both arms at the
-elbows. But Herbert, accustomed to making quick repairs, was always
-ready to perform other minor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> operations, and Wooden was seldom without
-her full number of limbs for long together.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden went through the usual illnesses, and was carefully nursed by
-Peggy. Perhaps she suffered rather more than most dolls, but Peggy’s
-father was a doctor, and there was always help at hand if anything
-serious happened. And of course Peggy knew more about cases, and
-nursing, than other little girls whose fathers were not doctors. Wooden
-had whooping-cough, croup, mumps, scarlet-fever, chicken-pox, measles,
-German-measles, swollen glands, general debility, bronchitis, typhoid,
-and lung trouble, all in the ordinary way. For some little time she
-was a spinal case, and had to be kept on her back. But she was always
-good and uncomplaining through her ailments, and Peggy loved her more
-because she was a trifle delicate than if she had always been in robust
-health.</p>
-
-<p>In fact, the longer Peggy had Wooden the more she loved her. She played
-with her more than with her other dolls, and Wooden was always the one
-she took to bed with her. Peggy had a large Teddy bear, which she also
-loved and took to bed with her. But there could be no jealousy between
-Wooden and Teddy, because they were so different. If Peggy sometimes
-dressed Teddy up in a jacket and skirt belonging to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> Wooden, it was
-always treated as a joke. As a rule he went about with nothing on but
-his own thick fur.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img03">
-<img src="images/img03.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">Peggy had a large Teddy bear</p>
-
-<p class="p2">Wooden had all the clothes of Peggy’s dolls’ wardrobe to wear, if they
-fitted her, and was better dressed than most dolls. And as everybody
-liked her when they once came to know her, she had plenty of things
-given her as time went on. When Miss Clay came to the house for a week
-or two to sew, she would generally make something for Wooden out of
-the material left over. Once she made her a purple velvet jacket, and
-once a tailor-made skirt. As for nightgowns, and petticoats, and things
-like that, trimmed with lace, and sometimes with pink and blue ribbon,
-Wooden was so well supplied that Peggy’s father said her laundry bill
-was becoming quite a serious item. So it will be seen that Wooden was
-very much better off than when she had belonged to Mabel, and had only
-had one red flannel dress.</p>
-
-<p>We now come to the other doll of Peggy’s, of whom mention has been made.</p>
-
-<p>Her name was Lady Grace. She came on Peggy’s eighth birthday, and was
-really a beautiful doll, as everybody who saw her bore witness. She had
-been born in France, although she herself was English, and the clothes
-that came with her were finer than any of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> Wooden’s. Her face was wax,
-and she had beautiful hair. Her eyes opened and shut, and she had the
-sweetest little hands and feet, with pink toes and fingertips.</p>
-
-<p>Peggy loved her at once. This was not altogether because of her beauty,
-for Rose had been beautiful—though not so beautiful as Lady Grace—and
-Peggy had never been able to love Rose at all. There was something
-about Lady Grace which made Peggy feel that she must look after her and
-pet her. And she never felt, as she had felt with Rose, that all her
-petting was of no use. Lady Grace might not say much, but she showed
-that she was grateful to Peggy for all the care she took of her by
-being always sweet and good; though she was, as I have said, rather
-helpless.</p>
-
-<p>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.</p>
-
-<p>But, just at first, it must be confessed that Wooden had rather less
-attention; and if she had not been so sensible she might have felt
-jealous. I don’t think she did, or she would have told Peggy so
-afterwards. She<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> probably knew exactly how things were, and that, when
-Lady Grace had been made to feel quite at home, her turn would come
-again.</p>
-
-<p>Well, one night when Peggy went to bed, she took Lady Grace and Teddy
-with her, and left Wooden on the top of a chest of drawers with all her
-clothes on. And then Wooden might have felt a little sad, because it
-was the first time that such a thing had ever happened to her; and she
-might have begun to wonder whether, after all, Peggy loved her quite as
-much as she had done before.</p>
-
-<p>But fortunately for this story, which might not otherwise have been
-written, as you will presently see, soon after Peggy had been tucked
-up and left to go to sleep, she remembered that she had not undressed
-Wooden. So she called her nurse, who was in the next room with the door
-a little open, and asked her to give Wooden to her.</p>
-
-<p>The nurse would not let her have two dolls in bed with her. Teddy
-didn’t matter because he was so soft. So Peggy asked her to put
-Lady Grace in the dolls’ cot, and give her Wooden instead. She felt
-dreadfully sorry that she had forgotten about Wooden, and wanted to
-make it up to her. Lady Grace would have to get used to sleeping in the
-cot some time or other,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> and Peggy thought she might just as well begin
-now.</p>
-
-<p>So Peggy went to sleep hugging Wooden in her arms; and Teddy lay on his
-back on the pillow on the other side of her, with one paw stuck up in
-the air and the rest of him under the bedclothes.</p>
-
-<p>By-and-by the nurse came in to look at her, and then went to bed in the
-next room. Then her father and mother came in and kissed her, but she
-did not wake up. Then the house became quiet and dark, and everybody in
-it was fast asleep.</p>
-
-<p>And then things began to happen.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img04">
-<img src="images/img04.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="II">II
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">PEGGY’S SURPRISING ADVENTURE BEGINS</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">Peggy was awakened by the noise of a motor outside. It sometimes
-happened that her father had to go out at night, and she heard the car
-start off. But she generally went to sleep again as soon as ever the
-noise had died away.</p>
-
-<p>But this time the car, instead of standing throbbing for a few minutes
-before the door, and then starting off down the drive and leaving
-everything as quiet and still as before, seemed to be coming nearer and
-nearer. In fact, it seemed as if it was being driven right into the
-room, and made such a noise that Peggy opened her eyes. And when she
-did open them, she opened them very wide indeed, for the car <em>was</em>
-in the room, standing right at the foot of the bed. And who should be
-driving it but Teddy, whom she had last seen lying on the pillow by her
-side?</p>
-
-<p>And that was not nearly all, for everything was changing all
-around her. The apple-blossoms on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> wall-paper had become real
-apple-blossoms, and were dancing in a bright spring breeze; the ceiling
-had melted away into blue sky; and suddenly the little birds that had
-been sitting in a long row on the bough which ran round the top of the
-paper flew up all together and filled the air with their singing.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img05">
-<img src="images/img05.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">The apple-blossoms on the wall-paper had become real
-apple-blossoms</p>
-
-<p class="p2">Peggy sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. When she looked again there
-was Wooden standing by the side of the bed, smiling at her.</p>
-
-<p>“Get up, dear,” said Wooden in the kind and gentle voice that Peggy had
-known she would speak in if she ever spoke at all. “I am going to take
-you to Toyland.”</p>
-
-<p>Teddy spoke at the same moment. He waved a paw in the air and said,
-“What ho! What larks!” and sounded his motor-horn.</p>
-
-<p>Now the moment that Wooden and Teddy spoke, Peggy left off being
-surprised altogether. Everything seemed quite natural, and she jumped
-up full of pleasure at the idea of an adventure.</p>
-
-<p>The moment her feet had touched the floor, lo and behold! she was fully
-dressed, in a clean blue over-all, with her outdoor shoes and her big
-straw hat trimmed with daisies. Her face and hands were washed, her
-nails scrubbed, and her teeth cleaned; and her long<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> hair, which was
-always plaited for the night, was brushed and tied up with her blue
-ribbon.</p>
-
-<p>“Come along, dear,” said Wooden, taking her hand. “We must start at
-once. Are you quite ready, Lady Grace?”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes,” said a soft, musical voice. Peggy looked towards the
-dressing-table, and there was Lady Grace pinning on her hat. She came
-and kissed Peggy. “I am sure you will like Toyland, dear,” she said,
-“and it is a great honour to be taken there.”</p>
-
-<p>Both Wooden and Lady Grace seemed to be grown up all of a sudden, and
-ready to take care of Peggy, instead of her taking care of them. Lady
-Grace had on the beautiful French clothes in which she had come, and
-Wooden was dressed in her purple velvet jacket and her grey tailor-made
-skirt. She wore the straw hat that had come at the same time as Rose,
-and looked very nice altogether, but a little different, because her
-nose was now perfect, and her face and eyes and hair had got all their
-colour back. She had a wonderfully kind and simple expression of face,
-and Peggy felt that it would be quite safe to go anywhere with her.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img06">
-<img src="images/img06.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">Teddy was also life-size. Peggy had always known that he was of a very
-cheerful nature, for his face<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> had always seemed to be laughing at some
-joke. But he seemed to be rather forward in his manners, for as Lady
-Grace kissed Peggy he said with a sort of crow,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> “What ho, girls! You
-jump up and sit alongside me, my lady, and we’ll have a nice little
-chat as we go along.”</p>
-
-<p>“Be careful, Teddy,” said Wooden in a warning voice.</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, I’ll be careful all right,” said Teddy encouragingly. “Oh, what
-larks we’re going to have!”</p>
-
-<p>Lady Grace got up in front of the car, and Peggy and Wooden behind. It
-was not Peggy’s father’s car, but a toy one which had been given to
-her. But it was now big enough to hold all four of them comfortably.</p>
-
-<p>Teddy sounded his horn and gave a whoop of joy, and the car drove
-straight out of the bedroom into the garden, though how it got there
-from her nursery on the first floor Peggy could never remember.</p>
-
-<p>Now, although it had been winter when Peggy went to bed, and the
-thermometer on the pergola outside had registered two degrees of frost,
-it had suddenly become the most delicious spring and summer weather
-combined. When Peggy saw the garden she clapped her hands with delight.
-Never was seen such a blaze of colour. Everything was out at once—all
-the trees, and all the shrubs, and all the flowers. The house was
-smothered in roses and honeysuckle and clematis. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span> daffodils were
-dancing in the grass. The rhododendrons and azaleas flamed against
-the green of the darker shrubs. Every flower in the long border was
-in full bloom, from the scarlet anemones of the early spring to the
-yellow sunflowers and Michaelmas daisies of the late autumn; and so
-were the lilacs, white and purple, the guelder roses, the syringas,
-the may-trees and laburnums, the pink almond, and the Pyrus Malus
-Floribunda, which was Peggy’s favourite tree, though she never quite
-got its name right. There were thousands of blooms in the rose garden;
-the climbing roses trained over the pergola were as gay as gay could
-be; and even the newly-planted nut-walk had grown twelve feet in a few
-hours, and made a shady green tunnel through which you could see the
-park beyond.</p>
-
-<p>But there was not much time to take in all the wonders of the garden,
-for Teddy whirled them through it in no time, out into the road and
-down to the village. The car seemed to be going faster than Peggy’s
-father’s big new one, but it travelled so easily and so smoothly that
-Peggy, who was a little nervous of motors going very fast, said, “What
-a nice drive we’re having!” As they passed the clock over the Abbey
-gateway the hands were pointing to twelve o’clock, and Peggy, who
-could of course tell the time, knew somehow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> that it was really twelve
-o’clock at night, and not twelve o’clock in the daytime, although the
-sun was shining with all its might. And as they turned and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> drove up
-the village street all the windows had their blinds down, and there
-were no people about.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img07">
-<img src="images/img07.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">“Where are we going?” Peggy asked.</p>
-
-<p>“We are going to Toyland,” said Wooden. “We all go there every night
-when people are asleep, and it is a lovely place; I am sure you will
-like it, dear. And I must tell you that it is very seldom we are
-allowed to take little girls there. When you were so kind to me, and
-rescued me from Mabel, I told the Queen about it, and asked if I could
-bring you. And she said that if you went on being kind to me for three
-years and a week I might bring you; but if you once grew tired of me
-and neglected me, the three years and a week would have to begin all
-over again. You can’t think how I have been looking forward to it,
-dear. Yesterday I was able to tell the Queen that you had never once
-neglected me, and Lady Grace said the same. She is one of the Queen’s
-ladies-in-waiting, and she thinks a deal of her. So the Queen said, ‘I
-shall be very glad to see such a nice little girl. Bring her tomorrow.’”</p>
-
-<p>When Wooden told her this Peggy remembered that she had not been
-<em>quite</em> so attentive to Wooden since Lady Grace had come, and
-wondered what would have happened if she had left her to sleep on the
-chest of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span> drawers with all her clothes on that very night. It would
-have been too awful if she had had to begin the three years and a week
-all over again, after so nearly getting through it once.</p>
-
-<p>But Wooden did not refer to that at all, and Peggy felt grateful to
-her, and took hold of her hand and squeezed it. And Wooden squeezed
-Peggy’s hand in return, and smiled at her and said again, “Toyland is a
-wonderful place. I am sure you will like it.”</p>
-
-<p>When they had passed through the village Teddy took the road towards
-the sea. He drove very well, and talked all the time to Lady Grace,
-sometimes leaning towards her and saying something in his gruff, hearty
-voice, and sometimes throwing his head back and laughing loudly.
-Lady Grace seemed to be receiving his attentions kindly, but Wooden
-looked a little anxious, and leant forward sometimes and joined in the
-conversation.</p>
-
-<p>“Lady Grace is engaged to Colonel Jim of the Lifeguards,” she explained
-to Peggy. “The Queen takes a great interest in the young couple, and I
-promised her that I would give an eye to Lady Grace. The Queen trusts
-me, you know, dear.”</p>
-
-<p>“Shall I see the Queen?” asked Peggy. “What is she like?”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span></p>
-
-<p>“She is not very well,” said Wooden sadly. “I don’t know whether you
-will be able to see her, but I hope so.”</p>
-
-<p>“What is the matter with her?” asked Peggy.</p>
-
-<p>“Well they told me last night at the Palace that they were afraid she
-had a mump.”</p>
-
-<p>“What is that?”</p>
-
-<p>“Why, you know all about that, don’t you? You have had mumps
-yourself—several of them. If a doll has more than one it is generally
-fatal. But I quite hope that the Queen has not got any; and if she is
-better I am sure she would like to see you. You asked what she was
-like. Well, she is wax, of course, and she is about a hundred years
-old, or perhaps a thousand, or a million, but quite as beautiful as
-ever. She was one of the first wax dolls ever born, and they made her
-Queen because they admired her so.”</p>
-
-<p>“Is there an elective monarchy in Toyland?” asked Peggy, who had got on
-quite a long way in history.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden did not seem to understand the question fully, but she answered
-in her soothing voice, “No, dear, all the animals are tame; you need
-not be afraid of any of them.”</p>
-
-<p>They drove on towards the sea, and when they got<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span> within sight of it
-Peggy cried out, and clapped her hands with pleasure.</p>
-
-<p>For the sea was full of boats crowded with dolls all going to the
-Island. It was the prettiest sight. There were hundreds of toy yachts
-with their white sails, steam-boats and motor-boats and clockwork boats
-and rowing boats, and even boats made of paper, and walnut shells. 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.</p>
-
-<p>“Why, they are all going over to the Island!” said Peggy. “Are we going
-there, too?”</p>
-
-<p>“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.”</p>
-
-<p>“Like Australia,” suggested Peggy.</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, dear,” said Wooden. “I like it very much.”</p>
-
-<p>“But if you go to Toyland every night, and it is day there, you never
-have any real night at all,” said Peggy.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span></p>
-
-<p>“No, dear,” said Wooden reflectively. “I suppose not.”</p>
-
-<p>When they reached the shore Teddy turned to the right. “Are we going to
-the Bungalow?” asked Peggy.</p>
-
-<p>“That is where we shall set sail for Toyland,” said Wooden. “And, you
-know, I have two relations there.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy could not think what she meant for the moment. Then she
-remembered the two wooden figure-heads, and asked Wooden if they were
-her relations. Wooden said they were. One was her mother and one was
-her aunt. “I’m sure you will like mother, dear,” she said. “Aunt has
-wonderful high spirits, and doesn’t always behave as she ought, through
-picking up sailors’ ways. But she says herself she never did no harm to
-nobody, so we must overlook it.”</p>
-
-<p>It was well that Wooden had given Peggy this warning about her aunt, or
-Peggy might have been rather surprised at her behaviour when the car
-drew up before the grass-plot by the Bungalow. The two figure-heads,
-now full length and moving about freely, were waiting for them, and
-when she saw them coming Wooden’s aunt gave a loud screech and rushed
-forward<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span> to meet them, but caught her foot on a root of gorse and fell
-full length in front of the car.</p>
-
-<p>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
-<em>are</em> a one!”</p>
-
-<p>In the meantime Wooden had introduced Peggy to her mother, who was as
-fresh as paint could make her, but had a weather-beaten look, too, and
-a husky voice, owing to her having taken so many sea voyages that the
-fog had got into her throat. She said that she was very pleased to see
-Peggy, because she had heard a lot about her, and when they got on to
-the boat they must have a nice long talk.</p>
-
-<p>“Aunt seems in very good spirits today, mother,” said Wooden, looking
-at her doubtfully as she was being danced about the grass by Teddy.
-Wooden’s aunt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> was really being rather common, and Wooden would not
-like Peggy to think that her relations were common.</p>
-
-<p>Just at that moment Wooden’s aunt sat down on the grass in the rather
-vulgar way already described, and Wooden’s mother said to her sharply,
-“Now, Polly, do adone now, and remember what company you’re in. Get up,
-and come and be introduced to the little lady.”</p>
-
-<p>So Wooden’s aunt came and shook hands with Peggy, and gave her a
-smacking kiss, which tasted of salt. “Dear little precious! Bless her!”
-she said in quite a kind voice, which made Peggy like her a little
-better. “Lawks, Maria! <em>She</em> ain’t one to mind a body having a bit
-o’ fun.”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img09">
-<img src="images/img09.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="III">III
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">THE ROYAL ARK AND THE BAD BEHAVIOUR OF WOODEN’S AUNT</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">Lying tied to one of the groins, which seemed to have widened out into
-a sort of pier, was a rakish-looking clockwork steamer, with a red hull
-and a broad white line above it, all very smart and clean.</p>
-
-<p>“Why, it’s my very own steamer,” cried Peggy, “just as it was when it
-was new, only much bigger.”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, dear,” said Wooden. “We use it every night to take us across to
-Toyland. You didn’t know that. You will see all your other toys when we
-get across, and some of them are coming with us.”</p>
-
-<p>“Is the man who shoots pennies into my money-box coming?” asked Peggy.</p>
-
-<p>“Yes,” replied Wooden. “He is the Queen’s head game-keeper. He shot the
-three china hares that stand on the nursery mantelpiece. He shot them
-with the sixpences you got out of the Christmas pudding.”</p>
-
-<p>The steamer and the pier beside it were now crowded with doll sailors
-and doll passengers preparing to take<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> the journey across the water
-to Toyland, and the road along the beach in both directions was full
-of dolls hurrying to the various starting-places. Every row of piles
-along the shore had turned into a pier, and scores of boats were moored
-alongside them, in which dolls were embarking.</p>
-
-<p>But still they came, from north, east, and west. Many of them were in
-motor-cars, others were packed into wooden carts, the babies were being
-wheeled in prams, and many were walking. Some way off Peggy saw a troop
-of lead soldiers riding down to the shore on black horses, and they
-looked very fine with the sun shining on their helmets and breastplates.</p>
-
-<p>Lady Grace shaded her eyes and looked at them, too, and Wooden said to
-her, “Lady Grace, I believe that is Colonel Jim’s regiment.”</p>
-
-<p>Teddy turned round and grinned at them, and said, “What ho, girls!”</p>
-
-<p>Wooden said sharply, “Now behave, Teddy, and don’t let’s have any
-byplay.”</p>
-
-<p>They all embarked in the toy steamer, and Peggy was pleased to find
-her own sailor doll acting as captain of it. Very well he did it, too,
-standing on the bridge and shouting his orders down a tube, while the
-steamer was loosed from the quay and started off<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> at a splendid pace,
-making a hundred knots an hour across the blue calm water.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img10">
-<img src="images/img10.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">It was a delightful voyage, pleasanter even than the motor drive had
-been. The sun was shining so brightly, and every one seemed so pleased
-to be going to Toyland. They could hear the dolls laughing and singing
-from the other boats, which were all round<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> them. On one of them was
-a toy piano with five notes, on which a gentleman doll with long hair
-was playing a tune so difficult that you would never have thought it
-possible if you had not heard him.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s mother and aunt went forward and stood in the bows of the boat
-as she drove across the sea. They sniffed the salt breeze with rapture,
-and their brightly-coloured faces glistened in the sunshine. “This,”
-said Wooden’s mother, “is Life!” And Wooden’s aunt enjoyed it so much
-that until they came to the other side she said nothing vulgar or
-common.</p>
-
-<p>But the moment the steamer began to move, although the water was as
-smooth as it could possibly be, Teddy became as green as pea soup and
-rushed downstairs to the cabin.</p>
-
-<p>“He’s always like that, poor fellow,” said Wooden. “I suppose it comes
-from being a bear. He will be all right when we get to the other side.”</p>
-
-<p>Very soon the voyage was over, and the toy steamer came alongside a
-quay carpeted with red felt. There were many other landing stages
-all along the shore, at which other boats were landing their doll
-passengers; but the steamer was the only one which came alongside this
-special quay. It was decorated with flowers and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> flags, and round it
-stood a row of wooden soldiers, with shiny black bearskins, red coats,
-and spotless white trousers. They lined three sides of the square, and
-looked very smart, all of exactly the same height, and all standing at
-attention.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden seemed to be rather embarrassed as the steamer made fast
-alongside this gaily decorated quay. “This is the royal quay,” she said
-to Peggy. “Only the Queen uses it. There must be some mistake.” And she
-asked the captain why they were landing there.</p>
-
-<p>“Orders, ma’am, orders,” said the captain briefly, touching his cap.</p>
-
-<p>“I expect,” said Lady Grace, “that it is to do honour to our little
-visitor.” She put her hand on Peggy’s shoulder and smiled at her.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s honest face beamed with pleasure. “Now, I do call that kind of
-Her Majesty,” she said, “very kind indeed.”</p>
-
-<p>The wooden soldiers all presented arms as Peggy stepped off the steamer
-between Lady Grace and Wooden, while Wooden’s mother and aunt followed
-them, and Teddy came up from below no longer looking green, but quite
-cheerful again and grinning all over. One of the soldiers let off
-his gun by mistake.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> He had only lately joined the regiment, and did
-not quite understand the words of command. The captain of the wooden
-soldiers boxed his ears soundly, and nobody took any further notice
-of the episode, which, however, had far-reaching effects, as will
-presently appear.</p>
-
-<p>Directly the party had landed, a band struck up and led the way along
-a broad carpeted passage, which was also lined on one side by wooden
-soldiers. On the other side was the water, for the royal quay was at
-the mouth of a broad river, and a little farther on was another quay
-towards which they were going. And here Peggy saw an extraordinary and
-pleasing sight.</p>
-
-<p>There was a large, gaily decorated Noah’s Ark lying at the second quay.
-At each end of the house on the Ark was a big platform. The one in
-front was shaded by a gaily striped awning. There was also a carpet on
-it, and big pots of flowers, and comfortable chairs and little tables.
-On the platform at the back stood <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah in a long yellow robe, and
-<abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah in a blue robe. <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah had taken off his black shiny hat,
-and was bowing low, as Wooden and her party approached the Ark.</p>
-
-<p>But the most curious thing of all was the long line<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span> of animals that
-were standing two and two along the towing-path by the river. They were
-all in charge of the rest of <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah’s family, and were harnessed
-to the Ark, which they were evidently going to pull. There were two
-elephants and two camels, giraffes, zebras, cows, hyenas, leopards, and
-a lot more, all much the same size; and at the head of the procession
-were two antelopes. Hovering round the Ark were a great number of
-birds—wild geese, and rooks and parrots and peacocks and canaries and
-budgeree-gars and others, all flying in pairs.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img11">
-<img src="images/img11.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">On the platform at the back stood <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah</p>
-
-<p class="p2">“The Queen’s own Ark,” said Lady Grace. “It must have been sent down
-for somebody. I wonder who.”</p>
-
-<p>“Do you think it could be for a specialist?” Peggy asked. “They do send
-for them, you know, if anybody is ill.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, I do hope her mump isn’t worse,” said Wooden.</p>
-
-<p>“I expect it’s sent down for me,” said Wooden’s aunt, with her vulgar
-laugh. “She knowed I was coming all right.”</p>
-
-<p>“Now, Polly, behave,” said Wooden’s mother. “<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah are
-looking at us.”</p>
-
-<p><abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah advanced to the side of the Ark and bowed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span> to Wooden. “I have
-been ordered to bring the Ark down for you and your party,” he said. “I
-hope we shall have a nice trip up the river.”</p>
-
-<p>Wooden turned to Peggy with a pleased smile on her face. “Now that is
-an honour,” she said. “I am so pleased, dear. It is a most lovely ark
-inside.”</p>
-
-<p>Then she asked <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah how the Queen was, and he shook his head and
-was just going to tell her how the Queen was when Wooden’s aunt gave a
-wild whoop, and picking up her skirts ran along the quay, kicking her
-feet out in front of her, and shouting, “Come on, girls! Here’s larks!”</p>
-
-<p>And I am sorry to say that Teddy joined her, and they danced up the
-quay together and rushed down the bridge from the bank to the ark,
-jostling each other and quite spoiling everything by their behaviour.</p>
-
-<p>“Oh dear, oh dear!” said Wooden’s mother in a vexed voice, “Really,
-Polly does carry on something awful.”</p>
-
-<p>But <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah only laughed and said, “I like a little fun sometimes.”</p>
-
-<p>Then he led the way to the platform in the front of the ark, and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr>
-Noah walked by Peggy and said to her, “I like your face very much. I am
-sure we shall be friends.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span></p>
-
-<p>The captain of the wooden soldiers now gave some words of command, and
-all his troops fell into their places ready to march alongside the
-ark. <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah blew a whistle, and his sons made themselves very busy
-unfastening ropes, pushing the ark out into the river, and getting
-ready to start the animals. <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah blew his whistle again when the
-ark was clear of the shore, and with a great deal of shouting and
-cheering, the procession of animals started off, and pulled the ark at
-a good pace up the river.</p>
-
-<p>It was a very pleasant journey. The air was warm and the sky was
-blue. All the different animals that were pulling the ark were very
-interesting to look at, and the birds that flew in couples overhead
-were very pretty, too, and sang most melodiously.</p>
-
-<p>They had not travelled very far before a smart servant doll in cap and
-apron came out of the house in the ark, and said, “Would you like to
-take a little light refreshment?”</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s aunt instantly jumped up from her chair and said, “I’m always
-ready for my grub.” Then she pushed in front of all the others and
-rushed into the house in the most vulgar and objectionable manner. And
-again, I am sorry to say, Teddy followed her.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img12">
-<img src="images/img12.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">Wooden blushed with annoyance at the behaviour of her relative, and
-Wooden’s mother said in an angry voice, “It is really too much. But
-please don’t think because she is my daughter’s aunt that she is
-my sister. Quite the reverse. I wouldn’t own her. My poor brother
-married much beneath him. He was a wooden Scotchman of irreproachable
-character, outside<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span> a tobacconist’s shop, and a perfect gentleman in
-every way.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy smoothed the wounded feelings of Wooden and her mother, and said
-it didn’t matter. “I think I had better say a word to Teddy,” she said.
-“He is not behaving nicely.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, she leads him on,” said Wooden’s mother, who was still very much
-annoyed.</p>
-
-<p>“Teddy has always been flighty, for a bear,” said Wooden. “I haven’t
-liked to say anything, dear, but I think it would be a good thing if
-you were to speak to him. He would pay attention to you.”</p>
-
-<p>When they got inside the house of the ark they found a most beautifully
-furnished apartment, with big windows on either side, through which the
-scenery on the banks of the river could be observed as they went along.</p>
-
-<p>On the table was spread a most sumptuous repast. There was a dish of
-chicken, consisting entirely of wishing-bones; there was a pudding made
-of one gigantic chocolate cream; there were little baby bananas growing
-on a live tree in the middle of the table; there were sandwiches of
-toast and butter and watercress and blackberry jam and potted prawns,
-all mixed up together in the most ingenious manner, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span> very seductive
-to the palate; there was a birthday cake and a wedding cake; there was
-a jelly that tasted of violets and another that tasted of carnations;
-there were delicious drinks, from the sweet and comforting chocolate
-of the cold north to the iced sherbet of the burning south; there were
-dozens of crackers, and every one of them contained a beautiful toy,
-a motto, a cap of coloured paper decorated with gold and silver, and
-a small but valuable piece of jewellery. In short, there was every
-delicacy of the season, and all in the utmost profusion.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s aunt was already deep in the repast when they got inside. She
-was purple in the face, and beginning to breathe heavily.</p>
-
-<p>“Such greed I never saw,” said Wooden’s mother, eyeing her severely.
-“She has not even washed her hands.”</p>
-
-<p>Teddy, however, was nowhere to be seen, and the servant-doll said that
-he had gone out by another door into <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah’s cabin. <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah had
-invited him to have a steak and onions with him. Peggy was rather glad
-not to have to rebuke him before company, for she was fond of Teddy.
-She thought that if he were kept away from Wooden’s aunt he would
-probably behave all right.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span></p>
-
-<p>The servant-doll had led them into a nice airy bedroom, which opened
-out of the main saloon, and Peggy washed her hands, and then put on a
-very pretty pinafore made of lace and chiffon, which the servant-doll
-gave her. When they were all ready they went into the saloon and sat
-down at the table, and much enjoyed their repast, while the ark was
-drawn rapidly along the winding river.</p>
-
-<p>Unfortunately their enjoyment was marred by the continued bad behaviour
-of Wooden’s aunt, who went on as if she had really never been in
-respectable company before. When she could eat no more—and that was
-not for a long time—Wooden’s mother gave her a dose of Gregory powder,
-which she always carried about with her for such emergencies, or she
-would probably have died. As it was she felt very ill, and said so in a
-thoroughly vulgar manner.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden was most distressed at her behaviour, but she was so
-kind-hearted that she could not help making excuses for her.
-“Greediness and vulgarity and vanity are her only failings, poor
-thing,” she said. “Otherwise she has a very charming character. We all
-have our little weaknesses, and we must not think too much of them.”</p>
-
-<p>“I’m ashamed of her,” said Wooden’s mother.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span> “And I shall tell her so
-to her face directly she regains consciousness.”</p>
-
-<p>For Wooden’s aunt was now stretched on one of the luxurious sofas of
-the saloon in a state of complete collapse.</p>
-
-<p>“Let us leave her there,” said Lady Grace. “She will be better when we
-arrive at Dolltown.”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img13">
-<img src="images/img13.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="IV">IV
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">MOMENTOUS NEWS IS BROUGHT BY A DUTCH DOLL</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">They left Wooden’s aunt in the saloon and went on deck again, and
-seated themselves in the comfortable chairs under the awning, from
-which they could observe the scenery. This was very beautiful.</p>
-
-<p>They were now going through a mountain gorge. The river was narrow
-here, but deep. The mountains came steeply down into the water, and
-on one side of the river was a road cut in the rock, along which all
-the animals were walking two by two, pulling the ark at a smart pace.
-Perched up on the mountains here and there were pretty wooden Swiss
-chalets, large and small; and numberless clean wooden cows, with bells
-round their necks, were browsing in the mountain pastures, which were
-gay with flowers. The wooden peasants who were looking after them
-showed great interest in the progress of the ark. They came running
-down the steep paths to see who was on board, and shouted and waved
-their hats in their excitement.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img14">
-<img src="images/img14.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">On the mountains here and there were pretty wooden Swiss chalets</p>
-
-<p class="p2">By-and-by they had passed through the mountains,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> and had come to a
-perfectly flat country, planted with wooden poplars of a vivid green.
-Here and there were farms—dear little wooden houses with doll-farmers
-living in them, and taking care of more wooden animals, cows and
-horses, and sheep and pigs. After a time they came to a small town
-consisting of streets of dolls’ houses, with a church built of toy
-bricks.</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, I would like to go into one of those dear little houses,” said
-Peggy. “Can’t we stop here, Wooden?”</p>
-
-<p>“We shall see much better dolls’ houses than those when we get to
-Dolltown,” said Wooden. “I have got a very nice dolls’ house myself,
-bigger than any of those. I shall take you there, dear, and you will
-occupy the spare room. And I will show you the Queen’s Palace, which is
-finer than any of them.”</p>
-
-<p>At this moment <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah came forward, and stood by them smiling, as if
-she would like a little conversation.</p>
-
-<p>“Won’t you sit down, <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah?” said Lady Grace politely; and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr>
-Noah thanked her and sat down.</p>
-
-<p><abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah was a large smiling woman who liked to make friends. She
-smiled at Lady Grace, and Wooden, and Wooden’s mother, and Peggy, and
-then said suddenly, “I thought you’d like to know how it all was.”</p>
-
-<p>Of course they would like to know how it all was,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> though they didn’t
-quite know what she meant. So they smiled back at her, and then she
-began.</p>
-
-<p>“Of course he is wood,” she said, “begging your pardon, Lady Grace, and
-I ought to like him on that account. But the truth is that I don’t, and
-can’t.”</p>
-
-<p>There was a little pause, and then Wooden’s mother said, nodding her
-head wisely, “Ah, I know who you mean, and I don’t much like him
-either. I suppose because he’s a foreigner.”</p>
-
-<p>Wooden shook her head, but said nothing. Lady Grace said, “I hate him;
-but then I’m wax, you see.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy wondered who they were talking about, but just as she was going
-to ask Wooden, <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah looked at her, and said, “Why, bless me! the
-little lady must be thinking that we’re talking in riddles.”</p>
-
-<p>And then she told the following story:—</p>
-
-<p>Some time before, a ship had been wrecked on the coast of Toyland, and
-all its passengers drowned except King Selim. He had been brought to
-Dolltown, and, because he was a king, Queen Rosebud had given him a set
-of rooms in her palace, where he had lived very comfortably ever since.</p>
-
-<p>“What was he King of?” asked Peggy.</p>
-
-<p><abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah hesitated. “I really don’t know, dear,” she said. “Do you
-know, Wooden?”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span></p>
-
-<p>“No,” said Wooden. “I never thought of asking.”</p>
-
-<p>It seemed that nobody else had ever thought of asking either. They knew
-he must be a king because he said he was. Besides, he wore a crown.
-Everybody was very sorry for him, because his Queen had been drowned
-when the ship had been wrecked, but when some time had passed and he
-had got over that, he had become rather interfering, and he was not so
-much liked now as he had been, especially by the Waxes. For although
-all the dolls in Toyland generally lived happily together, still
-there was always apt to be a little feeling between the Waxes and the
-Woodens. The Waxes thought the Woodens were rather common, and the
-Woodens thought the Waxes were rather stuck up.</p>
-
-<p>“Of course, speaking for myself,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah, “I’ve never had no
-quarrel with a Wax in my life, and, if I may say so, have as many
-friends among the Waxes as I have among the Woodens.”</p>
-
-<p>She looked at Lady Grace, who said, “The Queen has always disliked
-having anything said against the Woodens, and has often told me that if
-she had not been born Wax she would have liked to be born Wood.”</p>
-
-<p>There were murmurs of approbation at this speech, and Wooden’s mother
-said, “Wax is as wax does, I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> always say. If all was as polite as the
-Queen, there wouldn’t be no trouble at all. But you haven’t told us
-about the Queen’s health yet, <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah, “it’s my belief that the Queen is dead.”</p>
-
-<p>“Dear, dear!” said Wooden’s mother. “And such a nice lady as she was,
-too.”</p>
-
-<p>“What makes you think that, <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah?” asked Lady Grace. “Surely I
-should have heard of it if it had been true.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well, perhaps you would, Lady Grace,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah. “Anyhow, she
-is alarmingly ill, and has appointed King Selim regent, to act in her
-place until she gets better. And if she dies, King Selim is to reign in
-her place. You see, the Queen having no children, naturally the only
-other royal person in Toyland has to reign instead of her.”</p>
-
-<p>“Is that the law in Toyland?” asked Peggy.</p>
-
-<p><abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah looked at her affectionately. “Bless your pretty face, what
-questions you do ask, dear,” she said. “I don’t know nothing about the
-law, but it’s what King Selim says, and of course he knows, or else he
-wouldn’t say it.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, no,” said Wooden decisively. “Some people don’t like him, but he
-isn’t as bad as that. Was it him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> that ordered the royal barge to meet
-us, <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah?”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, it was,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah. “Now I must be getting back to my old
-man. He says there ain’t no flavour in his pipe unless I fill it for
-him.”</p>
-
-<p>“I hope the Queen isn’t really dead,” said Wooden, when <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah had
-left them. “That would indeed be a sad pity. Look, dear, you can see
-Dolltown now. It won’t be long before we are there now.”</p>
-
-<p>The ark had turned a bend in the river, and Peggy could see across the
-flat plains a large town with an enormous tower standing in the middle
-of it.</p>
-
-<p>“That is the House of Cards,” said Wooden, in answer to her question.
-“It stands in the middle of the market-place, and is thirteen stories
-high.”</p>
-
-<p>“What is it used for?” asked Peggy.</p>
-
-<p>“It is used for going to the top of, dear,” replied Wooden. “You get a
-magnificent view of the surrounding country, and when you have looked
-at it you come down again.”</p>
-
-<p>It was not long before they reached the outskirts of Dolltown. On
-either side of the river were rows of houses in which the poorer
-dolls, mostly wooden and rag, lived. The weather was warm, and many of
-the fronts of the houses stood wide open, showing the inside<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> of the
-four rooms into which each of them was divided. There were generally
-a kitchen and a dining-room on the ground floor, and a drawing-room
-and a bedroom above. None of these houses had staircases, and it was
-puzzling to think how the dolls could get into the upstairs rooms.
-Wooden explained, when Peggy asked her, that the dolls either climbed
-in through the windows, or, if the house-front was open, put a kitchen
-chair on the kitchen table, and scrambled up somehow. Those who were
-not strong enough to do so had to spend the night sitting on chairs in
-the kitchen or dining-room.</p>
-
-<p>“Isn’t that rather uncomfortable for them?” asked Peggy.</p>
-
-<p>“Well, dear, perhaps it is rather,” said Wooden. “But, you see, we’re
-not so particular as you are, so we don’t feel it so much.”</p>
-
-<p>“But didn’t you say there wasn’t any night in Toyland?” asked Peggy.</p>
-
-<p>“Perhaps, I did, dear. I say so many things in the course of time that
-I can’t possibly remember all of them. But there is one thing I should
-never do, and that is tell a lie.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy looked at her quickly, fearing that she might be offended,
-but her face still wore its amiable sweet-tempered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> expression, and
-when Peggy gave her a kiss, just in <em>case</em> she might have said
-something to hurt her, she kissed her back, and called her a precious
-lamb.</p>
-
-<p>Some of the dolls’ houses that they were passing were quite well
-furnished. 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.</p>
-
-<p>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. In fact one party of Dutch dolls became so excited
-as the ark passed that they all fell into the river, and had to be
-rescued by <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah’s youngest son, who was attending to the elephants.
-All were got safely to land, except the father of the Dutch doll
-family, who swam out and clung to the ark, and was dragged on board by
-<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah himself.</p>
-
-<p>Just at the moment when this was happening Wooden’s aunt came out of
-the saloon, and seemed highly delighted at the scene. She bent down
-and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> slapped her knees with both her hands, and then threw her head
-back and roared with laughter.</p>
-
-<p>“Lawks! I wouldn’t have missed that for anything,” she said, when the
-Dutch doll had been led below. “Well, I’ve had a nice little nap,
-girls, and now I’ve come to cheer you all up a bit.”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img15">
-<img src="images/img15.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">“Then behave yourself, do, Polly,” said Wooden’s mother severely, “and
-don’t let’s have any more of your carryings on.”</p>
-
-<p>When the Dutch doll was quite dry he insisted upon being led into the
-presence of “the company.” <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah had lent him his second-best yellow
-robe, in which he looked rather funny, as it was too long for him. He<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span>
-came up the steps from the saloon, and, tripping over the skirt of the
-robe, fell flat at the feet of Wooden’s aunt, who roared with laughter
-at him again.</p>
-
-<p>So far from getting up again as quickly as possible, the Dutch doll
-remained where he was, rubbing his forehead on the deck of the ark.</p>
-
-<p>“Get up, man,” said Wooden’s mother sharply, “and don’t stop lying
-there like a silly.”</p>
-
-<p>The Dutch doll got up, looking foolish, and bowed low to Wooden’s aunt.
-“I hope your Majesty is quite well,” he said. “I am very pleased to see
-your Majesty.”</p>
-
-<p>“Lawks! he calls me ‘your Majesty!’” said Wooden’s aunt. “Well, I
-never! I shall die of laughing if this goes on.” And indeed it seemed
-likely that she would.</p>
-
-<p>“The man’s silly,” said Wooden’s mother. “His ducking has turned his
-head. The Queen isn’t here. We’re only the party that the royal ark has
-been sent down for.”</p>
-
-<p>But still the Dutch doll kept on bowing to Wooden’s aunt, and calling
-her your Majesty; and Wooden’s aunt enjoyed it.</p>
-
-<p>Lady Grace intervened in her polite and aristocratic manner. “Don’t you
-know Queen Rosebud by sight?”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> she asked. “In calling this lady your
-Majesty you are coming very near to telling a story.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, I wouldn’t do that, my lady,” said the Dutch doll, much shocked.
-“Queen Rosebud is dead, you know.”</p>
-
-<p>“I feared it,” said Wooden. “It is very sad.”</p>
-
-<p>Lady Grace turned pale. “She was a loving mistress and a great Queen,”
-she said.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s mother said, “Yes, she was. But crying out about it won’t
-bring her to life again, poor thing!” And Wooden’s aunt had the grace
-to leave off with her nonsense, and say, “I’m sure I’m sorry to hear
-the news. Then who is going to be Queen now?”</p>
-
-<p>“You are, your Majesty,” said the Dutch doll, bowing to her again.
-“King Selim is going to marry you.”</p>
-
-<p>“What, marry me!” exclaimed Wooden’s aunt, forgetting to be vulgar
-for once, in her surprise. “Well, I never! Why, I hardly know the
-gentleman.”</p>
-
-<p>“Surely you are making some mistake,” said Lady Grace.</p>
-
-<p>The Dutch doll looked offended. “Do you think I’d tell you a lie?” he
-asked.</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, no, of course he wouldn’t do that,” said<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> Wooden hastily. “If he
-says so, of course it is so. But you’re not Queen yet, aunt.”</p>
-
-<p>“No, nor never will be, if you don’t learn to behave proper,” said
-Wooden’s mother. “If I was you I should keep quiet till the wedding
-ceremony.”</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s aunt seemed to think this was good advice, for she gave no
-more trouble till the ark drew up at the royal quay in the middle of
-Dolltown.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img16">
-<img src="images/img16.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="V">V
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">ARRIVAL AT THE ROYAL PALACE OF DOLLTOWN</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">The Royal Quay was a great open space carpeted with red felt, and
-decorated with palms and flowers. Wooden soldiers were standing all
-round the square, and inside it was a royal carriage with six wooden
-horses, and servants in scarlet liveries. A little troop of lead
-soldiers on black horses was drawn up by the carriage, and looked very
-gallant with their scarlet tunics, silver breastplates and helmets and
-waving plumes. Lady Grace blushed when she saw that the head of the
-troop was Colonel Jim, and said to Peggy, “The rather nice-looking
-officer is a friend of mine, dear. I will introduce him to you when I
-get an opportunity.”</p>
-
-<p>Behind the wooden soldiers was a great crowd of dolls, all cheering
-themselves hoarse as the royal ark was being tied up by the quay, and
-the bridge was being run out. Peggy noticed that there were no wax
-dolls among them, and rather wondered at this, but had not time to ask
-about it in the excitement of the moment.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span></p>
-
-<p>Just by the landing stage was a little group of gentlemen dolls. The
-most important person in it was an old gentleman doll of patriarchal
-aspect. He had no beard, but his head was completely bald, and he was
-dressed in a long gown of black velvet. As soon as the bridge between
-the quay and the ark was put into position, he came forward with his
-party on to the platform of the ark, and bowed low before Wooden, who
-happened to be standing a little in front of the rest.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img17">
-<img src="images/img17.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">He had no beard, but his head was completely bald</p>
-
-<p class="p2">“Welcome, your Majesty,” he said, “to the Capital of your kingdom of
-Toyland. I will explain why I thus address you later.”</p>
-
-<p>Wooden was quite taken back, and could only stammer out, “But
-<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr>—<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr>—I don’t know your name, but——”</p>
-
-<p>“My name is Norval,” said the old gentleman doll. “And I am the Lord
-Chancellor of your Majesty’s kingdom.”</p>
-
-<p>“But why do you call me your Majesty, <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Norval?” asked Wooden.</p>
-
-<p>“<em>Lord</em> Norval, at your Majesty’s pleasure,” corrected the Lord
-Chancellor. “I address you as a Queen because King Selim, successor
-to our late lamented Queen Rosebud, has intimated his intention of
-marrying you, and in these matters I feel that one cannot<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span> begin too
-soon. Besides, it is his Majesty’s pleasure that you should be paid
-every possible honour, as his highly respected bride to be.”</p>
-
-<p>“But Lord Noodle!” stammered Wooden, getting his name a little wrong in
-her perplexity, “this gentleman said that it was my aunt here that the
-king wanted to marry.”</p>
-
-<p>She indicated the Dutch doll, and the Lord Chancellor looked at him in
-anger. “Did you say that?” he asked.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s aunt broke in before the Dutch doll could speak. “Yes, he did
-say it,” she said. “And I ain’t going to give up my Selim for nobody.
-Him and me has always been friendly like, and I wasn’t a bit surprised
-to hear he wanted to marry me. Why should he want to marry a young
-thing like Wooden, I should like to know? Why she’s like a kid beside
-of him! It’s me that’s going to be Queen, not her.”</p>
-
-<p>“Captain Cook,” said the Lord Chancellor to a lead soldier of his
-party, “arrest this Dutchman for telling a lie, and arrest this woman
-for telling another.”</p>
-
-<p>“What, me!” cried Wooden’s aunt. “How dare you accuse me of telling a
-lie, you old creature with a head like an egg? How dare you? What lie
-have I told?”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span></p>
-
-<p>“Arrest her again for insulting the Lord Chancellor,” said Lord Norval.
-“You said you were going to be Queen, and that’s a lie. King Selim
-wouldn’t look at you. He has confided to me that he has been in love
-with—with—I suppose I had better say <em>Princess</em> Wooden, for some
-time, and has reason to believe that she is not indifferent to him.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well, he has looked at me sometimes,” said Wooden, “but I’m sure I
-never gave him any encouragement. I don’t like him very much, Lord
-Noodle. He’s a foreigner, you see, and I don’t like foreigners.
-Couldn’t it be arranged for him to marry my aunt, as she’s ready for
-him! I’d rather it was her than me.”</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor looked muddled. “I couldn’t say anything without
-consulting his Majesty,” he said. “He <em>might</em> consent; but then
-again he might not. The best way will be for us all to go up to the
-Palace, as already ordered, and ask him. I am sorry your aunt will have
-to appear there under arrest, but as she has committed a crime, or
-rather two crimes, that can’t be helped.”</p>
-
-<p>The situation was certainly awkward. Nobody quite seemed to know what
-to do about it. But Peggy, who had been listening with great interest
-to what had been said, ventured to make a suggestion. “If Wooden’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span>
-aunt <em>does</em> marry the King,” she said, “then she wouldn’t have
-told a story, would she?”</p>
-
-<p>Everybody brightened up, and the Lord Chancellor said, “That is one of
-the cleverest things I ever heard said. But who is this ingenious and
-attractive-looking young lady, may I ask?”</p>
-
-<p>Wooden explained to him who Peggy was, and he bowed low to her, and
-said he was proud to make her acquaintance. “Well, after what you have
-pointed out,” he said, “I have no difficulty in unarresting this lady
-for telling a lie. But she has also insulted a high official. She said
-that my head was like an egg. It may be or it may not be, but nobody
-could say that it was a polite thing to point out.”</p>
-
-<p>He looked at Peggy as if he expected her to make another suggestion,
-and would not be sorry if she made it.</p>
-
-<p>Peggy could think of nothing better to say than, “I like eggs myself,
-especially if they are new-laid.”</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor caught at this instantly. “Did you have a new-laid
-egg in your mind when you referred to my head, Madam?” he asked of
-Wooden’s aunt.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s aunt, who was looking much more subdued than usual, standing
-by the officer who had arrested<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span> her, said, “Well, there’s one thing I
-never would do, and that’s tell a lie. I can’t rightly say that I had
-a new-laid egg in my mind, because I won’t deceive you, I don’t know
-where my mind is. I went to sea early, and never had much schooling,
-and never learnt no physiognomy. There may be a new-laid egg in my
-mind, or there may not. I wouldn’t like to say.”</p>
-
-<p>“What I would suggest to you, madam,” said the Lord Chancellor, “is
-that in likening my head to an egg you didn’t mean an old-laid egg, or
-an addled egg, or a bad egg, or anything of that sort. If it is like an
-egg at all, it was a fresh egg you meant.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, lawks, yes,” said Wooden’s aunt. “I’d never be one for insulting a
-gentleman. I know what’s due to myself and my family better.”</p>
-
-<p>“Then that is quite enough for me,” said the Lord Chancellor, evidently
-greatly relieved. “Captain Cook, unarrest this lady completely.”</p>
-
-<p>“And the Dutch doll, too,” said Peggy, pleased at having succeeded so
-well.</p>
-
-<p>“And the Dutch doll, too, of course, Captain Cook,” said the Lord
-Chancellor. “And my advice to you, sir, is to make yourself scarce. You
-have had a narrow escape, and let it be a lesson to you.”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img18">
-<img src="images/img18.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">The Dutch doll, whose knees had been knocking together<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span> with fright,
-picked up the skirts of <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah’s second-best yellow robe, and ran
-away as fast as he could. He poked in between two of the wooden
-soldiers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> guarding the quay, and was lost in the crowd. But he was
-an honest doll, for the next morning <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah received back his
-second-best robe by parcel’s post, with a note of thanks, which he
-could not read, as it was written in double-Dutch.</p>
-
-<p>The party was now ready to land and get into the royal carriage, but
-just as they had stepped off on to the red carpet on the quay, the Lord
-Chancellor’s eyes fell upon Lady Grace, whom he seemed not to have
-noticed before.</p>
-
-<p>His face darkened, and he said, “Why, what is this? A wax doll
-at large, after the royal proclamation that all Waxes are to be
-imprisoned! Captain Cook, do your duty instantly.”</p>
-
-<p>Captain Cook stepped forward to arrest Lady Grace, who shrank away from
-him, while Wooden and her mother and aunt began to protest volubly
-against such an outrage, for they were all friendly to Lady Grace, who
-had always treated them with perfect politeness.</p>
-
-<p>Peggy felt dreadfully frightened at the moment at all the hubbub, and
-at the idea of poor Lady Grace being taken off to prison; but just
-as she was trying to think what she could do to stop it there was
-an unexpected diversion. Colonel Jim, the officer in charge of the
-Lifeguards standing by the royal carriage, rode<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> forward with a clatter
-of harness and accoutrements, and said in a loud voice, “Unhand that
-lady!”</p>
-
-<p>There was a moment’s pause. Then the Lord Chancellor said, “Colonel
-Jim, you are taking a great deal upon yourself. You know what the royal
-proclamation was. All Waxes are to be arrested and sent to prison.”</p>
-
-<p>“What for?” asked Colonel Jim, with soldierly brevity.</p>
-
-<p>“The general charge against them,” said the Lord Chancellor, “is giving
-themselves airs.”</p>
-
-<p>“Has Lady Grace ever given herself airs?” asked Colonel Jim.</p>
-
-<p>“No, that she never has,” said Wooden’s mother indignantly. “I will say
-this for her, Wax or no Wax, that a nicer-spoken or nicer-behaved lady
-never stept.”</p>
-
-<p>“And she was a great favourite of Queen Rosebud’s, besides,” said
-Wooden. “She thought the world of her.”</p>
-
-<p>And even Wooden’s aunt showed up well in the emergency. “If I’m to be
-Queen,” she said, “I shall have Lady Grace as my own lady-in-waiting.
-She shall put in my hairpins for me, which I never could do rightly
-myself. And how’s she to do that if she’s in prison?”</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Jim rode back to his troop without saying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> another word. But
-his interference had been successful, for the Lord Chancellor said,
-“Under the circumstances, I will not have Lady Grace arrested now. She
-can come with us to the Palace, and we will see what the King has to
-say about it.”</p>
-
-<p>Then Wooden and her mother and aunt, and Lady Grace and Peggy got into
-the royal carriage, and the Lord Chancellor and his suite got into two
-other carriages. Colonel Jim and his Life Guardsmen formed themselves
-on either side, and with a clash and a glitter, the little procession
-started. 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.</p>
-
-<p>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.
-For one thing, there were no signs of mourning in the streets, but on
-the other hand there were flags on some of the houses, and all the
-people seemed to be out of doors watching for the royal procession,
-and when it appeared they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> cheered heartily, and seemed as happy and
-pleased as possible. This was all the more remarkable because, if what
-the Lord Chancellor had said was true, which of course it was, as he
-would never have told a lie, all the wax dolls in the place had already
-been sent off to prison, and you might have thought that that would
-have sobered the rest. But even the four dolls in the carriage seemed
-to have forgotten it, and also the unpleasant episode of Lady Grace
-nearly being taken off to prison, too. They were all anxious to point
-out to Peggy the interesting sights to be seen on either side of them,
-and had nothing to say about anything else, not even about what might
-happen when they arrived at the royal palace. And as they seemed able
-to forget everything but the pleasure and interest of the moment, Peggy
-was able to do so, too.</p>
-
-<p>What she saw of Dolltown enchanted her. It was like all the toys
-she had ever had, and her friends had had, and she had seen in
-shop-windows, all become real, and not only that, but of a size to
-be used. 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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span> 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. Peggy could have used everything she saw herself,
-and it was really quite thrilling and delightful to feel that she could
-pretend to be a doll if she wanted to, and have all the fun for herself
-that little girls give to their dolls.</p>
-
-<p>Just outside the royal quay was a large station, with platforms and
-signal boxes and bridges and lines of rails all complete, and a train
-waiting there with a bright green clockwork engine, ready to go off
-into the country. One of Peggy’s boy cousins had collected a splendid
-railway plant—his relations always gave him things for it at Christmas
-and on his birthdays—and Peggy had often wished she could go for a
-ride in it all round his playroom floor, and be shunted and go under
-the little tunnels, and stop at the stations, just as the tin soldiers
-he put into the carriages did. Well, it would be just as much fun going
-in this railway system, and she could get into the toy carriages just
-as easily as her cousin’s tin soldiers.</p>
-
-<p>They crossed over the river on one of those suspension<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span> bridges that
-you see in shop-windows, and then climbed a hill into the town. At the
-beginning of the hill was a large toy fort, crammed with tin soldiers,
-who were looking over the parapet and cheering them as they passed.</p>
-
-<p>Then they went through a street of shops, and the joints of meat
-hanging in the butchers’ shops, and the fish lying on the slabs of the
-fishmongers’ shops, and the stores in the grocery shops were all real;
-and specially attractive were the highly-coloured fruits.</p>
-
-<p>As for the shops where they sold the baby-clothes, they were too
-delightful. But the first one they passed brought a most disturbing
-thought to Peggy. She turned to Wooden and said, “Oh, Wooden, dear,
-where are all the long-clothes babies! Surely they haven’t been cruel
-enough to send them to prison, too!”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, no, dear,” said Wooden decidedly. “Nobody is cruel in Toyland.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy did not feel quite so sure of that, considering that Lady Grace
-had nearly been sent to prison already for being wax; and of course
-most long-clothes babies are wax, or composition. “Then where are
-they!” she asked.</p>
-
-<p>“They are all having their morning sleep, dear,” said Wooden’s mother,
-and Peggy had to be content.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span></p>
-
-<p>When they reached the more important streets of Dolltown, most of the
-houses were built of wooden or terra-cotta bricks, and very fine some
-of them were. But this part of the town <em>was</em> rather silent and
-deserted, for the owners of most of the fine houses were wax, and they
-had all been taken off to prison.</p>
-
-<p>At last they reached the royal palace. It was a most gorgeous building,
-built of ivory, with windows made of enormous diamonds and rubies and
-emeralds and sapphires, all glittering in the sun.</p>
-
-<p>The carriages drew up underneath an ivory porch. The Lord Chancellor
-was at the door of the royal one as soon as it was opened. “I will
-conduct you straight to his Majesty,” he said.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img19">
-<img src="images/img19.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="VI">VI
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">KING SELIM HOLDS AN AUDIENCE</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">They were led through several magnificent ivory halls, with a great
-many looking-glasses in them but scarcely any furniture, and into the
-great Hall of Audience, where there was a lovely ivory throne on a daïs
-at one end, and on either side of the Hall a row of ivory chairs.</p>
-
-<p>Here Peggy had two great surprises.</p>
-
-<p>The first surprise was the new King, who was sitting on the throne.
-Directly she saw him, Peggy exclaimed, “Why, he’s a White Chess King!”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img20">
-<img src="images/img20.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">“He’s a White Chess King!”</p>
-
-<p class="p2">And so he was, though none of the dolls seemed to know it. His crown
-was on his head, and he had a face underneath it, which chess kings
-don’t have, and, although he was wood himself, his robes did not appear
-to be. But there was no doubt about his being a chess king, in spite
-of these differences, and the moment she saw him Peggy had the feeling
-that he ought not to be King of Toyland, for he wasn’t a real doll that
-children play with, but only part of a game for grown-ups.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span></p>
-
-<p>The King was sitting on his throne when they came into the Hall, and
-standing by his side on the daïs was a lady doll. And this was Peggy’s
-second surprise. For the lady doll was no other than Rose, who had
-once been her own doll—the one she had given to Mabel in exchange for
-Wooden.</p>
-
-<p>Now, as we know, Peggy had never really loved Rose; she had tried to,
-but had not succeeded. But she had not come to <em>dis</em>like her in
-any way, and had kissed her affectionately when she had given her up to
-Mabel, and told her that she would come to see her sometimes. And she
-had done this now and then, until Mabel’s father had left the village
-shortly afterwards, and taken Mabel and Rose with him.</p>
-
-<p>But now, directly she set eyes on Rose again, and recognized her, Peggy
-felt that she did dislike her. She looked very proud, for one thing,
-and pride is not a quality that becomes anybody, least of all dolls,
-who are generally free from it. She also looked bad-tempered, and that
-again is a fault from which dolls are usually free. The only point to
-admire about her was her good looks, but as Peggy had never been able
-to love her because of them when she had been her own doll they did
-not recommend her now. Peggy felt once for all that she had been quite
-right in not liking Rose,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> and also felt that it would be impossible
-ever to like her.</p>
-
-<p>But we must get on. Directly the party introduced by the Lord
-Chamberlain made its appearance at the door of the Hall of Audience,
-the King rose from his throne. As they advanced up the Hall, he
-stepped down from the daïs, and approaching Wooden, bowed to her in a
-stately but somewhat foreign fashion, and took her hand. Then he said
-with great respect, “Madame, our wedding will take place in half an
-hour, and our coronation half an hour after that. I wish to get both
-ceremonies over before tea-time.”</p>
-
-<p>He spoke in an imperious way, and although there was a sort of smile on
-his face as he looked at Wooden, showing that she was dear to him, it
-was not altogether a pleasant smile; nor did King Selim seem to Peggy
-an agreeable person. He was tall and fat and ugly, and looked as if he
-ate and drank too much.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden was taken aback by the suddenness of the proposal. And no
-wonder! It must be remembered that she hardly knew King Selim, and had
-had no idea until half an hour before of anything in the nature of
-a marriage with him. And, although he had smiled at her, he had not
-uttered a word of love, nor even asked if she wanted to marry him or
-not. No lady would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> like a gentleman simply to tell her that he was
-going to marry her in half an hour, even if the gentleman <em>was</em> a
-King.</p>
-
-<p>“I don’t know, your Majesty,” she said hesitatingly. “Of course it’s a
-great honour you’re doing me. But I haven’t thought of such a thing,
-and—and——”</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor stepped forward and bowed to the King. “Your
-Majesty,” he said. “I am empowered by this lady to make a suggestion
-to you. Would it be the same to your Majesty if you were to marry the
-lady’s aunt instead of her? She has the advantage of being wood, and
-of possessing considerable personal attractions. Wooden’s Aunt, kindly
-step forward, and display those attractions to his Majesty.”</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s aunt stepped forward, dropped a curtsy to the King, and
-smirked.</p>
-
-<p>The King’s face darkened, and he was about to speak, when Rose, who was
-still standing by the throne on the daïs, interrupted. “Your Majesty,”
-she said, “this woman is not at all suitable for the purpose that has
-been suggested. She lives in the same part of the country over there
-as I used to, and I know all about her. She is quite a common woman—I
-believe she was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> once a sort of stewardess on a ship—and, if I may
-so express myself, it is like her impudence to think of marrying your
-Majesty.”</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s aunt bridled. “And who are you, I should like to know,” she
-burst out, “to call me common? Common yourself! I dare say you think
-yourself very grand now, talking to a Majesty, but I’ve seen you
-dressed in dirty pink flannelette, and held head-downwards by one foot,
-over there. So there now, Miss Superior! Common, indeed! <em>I</em>’ll
-learn you!”</p>
-
-<p>From these two speeches, Peggy understood that when dolls in Toyland
-talked about the world of real people they called it “over there.”</p>
-
-<p>“Peace, woman!” ordered the King in an angry voice. “How dare you make
-a brawl in my royal palace?”</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s aunt was affected by the majesty of his demeanour, which
-was certainly that of a King, though not perhaps of a good king. She
-shrank back, and Selim went on: “I have no idea of marrying this woman,
-Norval, and I wonder at your suggesting such a thing. But before we
-talk about that I should like to know how it comes about that a wax
-doll is brought into my presence, when I have given orders that all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span>
-Waxes are to be imprisoned. And I should also like to know who this
-human child is, and how <em>she</em> comes here. It looks to me very much
-like prying.”</p>
-
-<p>King Selim had very bushy eyebrows, and he bent them with a terrific
-frown upon Peggy and Lady Grace, as he spoke.</p>
-
-<p>Lady Grace shrank back, evidently frightened by Selim’s anger. But
-Peggy wasn’t frightened at all. She knew somehow that she had nothing
-to fear from a chess king, however angrily he might look at her. She
-even thought that she might be able to do something to save Lady Grace,
-if the King tried to punish her for being wax. But at present she
-thought she had better keep quiet, and see what happened.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor did not seem to be frightened of the new King
-either. He said, in a chatty sort of way, “Now those are both very
-interesting questions, your Majesty, and I shall be delighted to
-discuss them with you. Then there’s the question of your marriage to be
-decided, and several other little matters, which will give us quite an
-agreeable discussion, if we take them one by one. What I say is, let’s
-have an Audience.”</p>
-
-<p>The King stepped back on to the daïs and whispered to Rose, who
-shrugged her shoulders and looked disagreeable,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> but did not seem to be
-able to object to the proposal.</p>
-
-<p>“Very well,” said the King, seating himself on his throne. “We’ll have
-an Audience.”</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor seemed pleased at the idea of an Audience. “Bring
-in the Woolsack,” he said to the royal servant dolls, who were standing
-round the daïs; and two of them went out, and came back with a large
-sack of wool, which they placed in the middle of the Hall. The Lord
-Chancellor took his seat on it, facing the throne, but it was so soft
-that he fell back into it, and it covered him up so completely that
-only two little thin legs could be seen sticking into the air. But
-the two royal servants quickly rescued him, and sat him in the middle
-of the sack, which bulged up all round him. He laughed in a very
-good-humoured way at his mishap, and said, “Now the rest of you take
-your seats, please, and then we’ll begin.”</p>
-
-<p>All the company sat down on the ivory chairs on either side of the
-Hall, except Rose, who still stood at the right of the King on his
-throne.</p>
-
-<p>“Now we must have everything quite in order,” said the Lord Chancellor
-cheerfully. “I don’t know who the lady is standing by his Majesty. I’ve
-nothing to say against her whatever. In fact, I’m sure she will<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> be of
-great assistance to us in our important deliberations. But I should
-like her to take her place with the rest, please.”</p>
-
-<p>“I am advising his Majesty on behalf of the Composition dolls,” said
-Rose hastily. “It is his Majesty’s wish that I should keep by him.
-Please get on with the Audience, and don’t fuss.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, if it’s his Majesty’s wish, I’ve nothing more to say,” said the
-Lord Chancellor genially. “I only thought you would be more comfortable
-sitting down. Now the first thing to be done is to announce what steps
-have been taken by your Majesty for the welfare of the Kingdom of
-Toyland. Let’s have it all, please, from the time you received the last
-wishes of our dear lamented Queen Rosebud.”</p>
-
-<p>The King frowned. “I don’t want to have to go into all that again,” he
-said. “I want my questions answered.”</p>
-
-<p>“All in good time, your Majesty,” said the Lord Chancellor. “But let’s
-have your statement first, please.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy quite expected that the King would refuse, and might even do
-something to the Lord Chancellor for giving him an order in that sort
-of way. But it seemed as if it was difficult for a doll to refuse to
-obey<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span> any order, if it was given with enough firmness. At any rate, the
-King obeyed this one, although he frowned and looked very disagreeable
-about it.</p>
-
-<p>“Well, if you must have it,” he said, “when the late lamented Queen
-Rosebud was nearing her end she told me that she wished me to reign
-over Toyland in her place.”</p>
-
-<p>“Will you kindly make a note of this?” said the Lord Chancellor to his
-secretary, who was standing beside him. “Take it all down in shorthand;
-then we shall know where we are. Go on, please, your Majesty.”</p>
-
-<p>“That’s all,” said the King. “Queen Rosebud said I was to reign, and
-I’m reigning.”</p>
-
-<p>“Did his Majesty say it was raining?” asked the secretary.</p>
-
-<p>“No, no,” said the Lord Chancellor testily. “The King said <em>he</em>
-was reigning—with a ‘g.’ Keep your ears open, please. Well, that’s all
-in order, then. Now what about the imprisonment of all wax dolls, your
-Majesty? Let’s have that explained, please.”</p>
-
-<p>The King frowned again. “Have I got to explain everything I do, when
-I’m already King?” he asked.</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, please, your Majesty,” said the Lord Chancellor firmly.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span></p>
-
-<p>“Well, then,” said the King, “I was given reason to believe that there
-would be a revolution among the Waxes, when it was known that a wooden
-King was to succeed a wax Queen, and I took steps to prevent it, that’s
-all.”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img21">
-<img src="images/img21.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">“Who gave your Majesty reason to believe such a thing?” asked the
-Lord Chancellor. “I am China myself, but I have always lived on good
-terms with Waxes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> and Woodens alike—Compositions and Rags, too, for
-the matter of that—and I believe I may say the same of most of the
-inhabitants of this happy country. I see no reason to believe that
-there would have been a revolution of any sort, when it was given out
-that Queen Rosebud had nominated you as her successor.”</p>
-
-<p>“Did you say that she abominated her professor?” asked the secretary.
-“You talk so very fast.”</p>
-
-<p>The King broke in before the Lord Chancellor could reply. “Are you
-giving me a lecture?” he asked angrily.</p>
-
-<p>“Yes,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Will your Majesty kindly answer my
-question?”</p>
-
-<p>“No, I won’t,” said the King. “It is enough to say that I gave orders
-that if there was any trouble among the dolls landing from over there,
-a gun was to be fired. The gun <em>was</em> fired, and I ordered the
-Waxes to be locked up at once.”</p>
-
-<p>“The gun was fired by mistake,” said Wooden’s mother sensibly. “I saw
-the soldier’s ears boxed for firing it with my own eyes.”</p>
-
-<p>“Did she say she fired it with her own eyes?” asked the secretary. “She
-does mumble so.”</p>
-
-<p>“Mistake or no mistake,” said the King, “the gun was fired, and the
-Waxes were locked up. And now<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span> we’ve finished all that, I should like
-to know what this lady is doing here, when she ought to be in prison.”</p>
-
-<p>He frowned terrifically at Lady Grace, who was sitting between Peggy
-and Wooden. Peggy took hold of her hand. Although Lady Grace was grown
-up, and she was only a little girl, she felt that she must protect her.
-For after all she was her own dearly loved doll, and Peggy was not
-going to have her bullied by a chess king, if she could help it.</p>
-
-<p>It was Wooden who answered, in her calm, kind voice. “Lady Grace was a
-favourite lady-in-waiting of dear Queen Rosebud,” she said. “I think it
-would be a great pity to send her to prison, and I hope you won’t do
-it, your Majesty.”</p>
-
-<p>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.”</p>
-
-<p>“<em>You</em>’re not even Composition,” broke in Wooden’s aunt, who had
-been glowering at Rose all along, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> seemed to have forgotten her own
-fright. “You’re Composition down to the neck, and your hands and feet
-and the rest of you is stuffed rag. Yes, <em>stuffed rag</em>! So there,
-Sawdust!”</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor held up his hand. “That is a very serious
-accusation to bring against a lady,” he said. “I understood the lady to
-claim that she was Composition. Do you mean to accuse her of telling a
-lie, madam?”</p>
-
-<p>“I’ve seen her held upside down by the leg,” said Wooden’s aunt.
-“Composition below, sawdust above. Deny it if you can.”</p>
-
-<p>Rose did not deny it. She looked as if she were going to, but her eyes
-rested on Peggy, and she knew that Peggy knew all the truth about her.
-She burst into angry tears. “It is most offensive to be addressed in
-that way by a vulgar creature like that,” she said. “Before gentlemen,
-too! She hasn’t got any legs at all, herself, over there. Nor a nose
-either. She’s a regular figure of fun.”</p>
-
-<p>The King put out his hand to soothe her. “The first law I shall make,”
-he said, “will be that no doll in my dominions shall ever refer to the
-deficiencies of another doll over there, under pain of imprisonment.
-I feel very strongly on the subject. That is why I object to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> human
-children being brought over here to pry, and perhaps to tell tales. I
-shall make a law forbidding that, too.”</p>
-
-<p>“I think it would be a pity to do away with the good feeling that
-exists between us and human children,” said the Lord Chancellor.
-“Allowing one of them occasionally to visit us here is the only return
-we can make for special kindness. I shouldn’t make that law if I were
-you, your Majesty.”</p>
-
-<p>“When I was at the head of my Pieces over there,” said the King, “there
-was a horrible child who used to put my head in her mouth. She had at
-the time only one tooth, but I bear the marks of that tooth upon me to
-this day.”</p>
-
-<p>Directly he had spoken, a sudden memory came back to Peggy. A year or
-so before, her father had wanted to play a game of chess with a friend.
-The chess-men had been brought out, but it had been found that the
-white king was missing. Then it had come out that Peggy had had him to
-play with when she had been a baby, and he had not been seen since. Of
-course she had been too young to remember playing with him, but she
-felt almost certain that King Selim was the very same piece, especially
-as he was exactly the same in pattern as the black king, who still
-remained.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span></p>
-
-<p>“Why, I do believe you’re our white chess king!” she cried out. “Father
-<em>will</em> be glad that you are found again.”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img22">
-<img src="images/img22.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="VII">VII
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">THEY ALL GO TO PRISON</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">It would be impossible to describe the consternation that Peggy’s
-remark caused in the Hall of Audience. King Selim grew purple in the
-face with passion, and cried out in a terrible voice, “Arrest this
-Human instantly, and take her off to prison. She has spoken the truth,
-and it shall be her own undoing.”</p>
-
-<p>Some royal guards stepped forward to do his bidding, and there was a
-great commotion among the other dolls in the Hall.</p>
-
-<p>But before the soldiers could reach Peggy, the Lord Chancellor made
-his voice heard above the hubbub. “Half a moment! Half a moment! Half
-a moment!” he kept on calling out, louder and louder, and quicker and
-quicker, until the words sounded like “Ar-mo! Ar-mo!” The soldiers
-paused, and the noise died down, until he could make himself heard.</p>
-
-<p>“It is rather a serious thing to arrest a Human, your Majesty,” he
-said. “I don’t think it has ever been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span> done before, and it may make a
-deal of trouble. We ought to be careful how we go.”</p>
-
-<p>The King was still almost beside himself with rage. “Do you think I am
-going to let my enemy go, now I have got her in my power at last?” he
-cried. “Yes, that’s the odious child who made these scars.”</p>
-
-<p>Since his face had become so red, a lot of little white marks had come
-out all over it. They were the marks of Peggy’s dear little first
-tooth, and she couldn’t help laughing as she looked at them, which made
-the King angrier still.</p>
-
-<p>“How dare you laugh?” he cried passionately. “I’ll send you to prison,
-and keep you on bread and water and mustard. I’ll execute you. I’ll
-have your ears boxed three times a day, an hour before meals and half
-an hour after. If my mouth was big enough I’d bite <em>your</em> head,
-and see how <em>you</em> liked it. Arrest her instantly and take that wax
-doll with her as well, and the woman who dared to think she was going
-to marry me. Do it at once, and don’t you dare to cross my royal will
-any longer, Norval, or I’ll have you arrested, too.”</p>
-
-<p>As the King had given way when the Lord Chancellor spoke firmly, so the
-Lord Chancellor now gave way when the King spoke firmly. He shrugged
-his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span> shoulders, and said, “Well, I think you are making a mistake, your
-Majesty, but if you say it is to be done, of course it must be done.”</p>
-
-<p>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.”</p>
-
-<p>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. But he was so beside
-himself with rage that he hardly knew what he was doing or saying.
-“Take the whole lot of them off,” he ordered, “and don’t let me see
-their ugly faces again.” Then he gathered up his robes and stalked off
-the daïs and out of the Hall, by a door at the back, which he banged
-after him.</p>
-
-<p>The royal guards now approached the five prisoners, but did not take
-hold of them or put handcuffs on them, or anything of that sort. For
-the Lord Chancellor said to them, “Go easy, now! It’s only a little
-flash in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> the pan, ladies. The King is rather irritable by nature, and
-I don’t think his lunch has agreed with him. But he will think better
-of this by-and-by, and you will all be let out again.”</p>
-
-<p>“Not if I know it,” said a haughty, scornful voice.</p>
-
-<p>It was Rose, who still stood on the daïs, and was looking at them with
-a cruel joy, which she made no effort to disguise.</p>
-
-<p>Her contemptuous gaze fell upon each of them in turn, but when she came
-to Peggy it turned into one of absolute ferocity. She stretched out her
-forefinger, and pointed at her. “Base human,” she addressed her. “I
-never thought to get you into my power, but now I have you you will rue
-the day when you came across the path of Rose, who never forgets and
-never forgives.”</p>
-
-<p>“Tut! tut!” said the Lord Chancellor. “These are hard words, madam, and
-quite out of order.”</p>
-
-<p>“Silence!” cried Rose, in a terrible voice, and flashing a terrible
-look at him from her dark and flaming eyes. And the Lord Chancellor
-shrugged his shoulders again, and kept silence, until she had finished
-her oration.</p>
-
-<p>“Was it not enough,” she said, “that I should be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> born into the world
-over there as the property of a human child whom I despised and hated,
-but I must be treated by her with the grossest indignity?”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy thought this was a little too much. She was not in the least
-frightened of Rose, nor of the King, nor of all the palace guards put
-together, and thought it would be rather amusing to go to a dolls’
-prison, and see what it was like. But she was not going to be stormed
-at and told stories about by Rose.</p>
-
-<p>“Why did you hate me?” she asked. “I was always kind to you, and I
-would have loved you if you had let me.”</p>
-
-<p>Rose laughed her scornful laugh. “As if I wanted <em>your</em> love!” she
-exclaimed. “Or the love of any human child! I hate the whole tribe of
-them, and wish I could have them <em>all</em> over here, and tell them
-what I thought of them.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, this is quite out of order, quite out of order,” said the Lord
-Chancellor fussily. “I wish you would finish what you have to say,
-madam, and let us get on with our work. You are keeping us all waiting.”</p>
-
-<p>Rose took no notice of him, but went on. “You exchanged me,” she said,
-“for a battered wreck of a wooden doll, without a vestige of beauty
-such as mine, or indeed of any sort.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span></p>
-
-<p>“Who are you talking about, Miss Imperence?” said Wooden’s aunt,
-suddenly breaking in. “This young lady exchanged you for my niece, who
-is going to be Queen when she comes out of prison. You’d better be a
-bit more careful of what you say; that’s my advice to <em>you</em>. And
-don’t forget that what we can’t see of you is stuffed with sawdust.”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, I should leave off, if I were you,” said the Lord Chancellor.
-“You are not being polite, you know, and it is quite true what the lady
-says. It is the future Queen of Toyland that you seem to have been
-exchanged for, and his Majesty won’t like it if you call her names.”</p>
-
-<p>Rose laughed her scornful laugh again. “<em>She</em> will never be Queen
-of Toyland,” she said. “I’ll see to that.” And with a toss of her
-head and a swish of her skirts she swept out of the Hall, by the door
-through which the King had already disappeared.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor completely recovered his good humour the moment
-she was gone. “What a very talkative lady!” he said, with a laugh.
-“However, we needn’t worry our heads about her. We’ve got plenty to
-occupy ourselves about, haven’t we?”</p>
-
-<p>It really seemed as if they had. It is not every day that five ladies
-are taken off to prison, not knowing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span> when they will be let out again;
-and the experience would naturally make them think. But the four dolls
-did not seem to be much cast down by the prospect, and Wooden kept on
-assuring Peggy that the House of Cards was a very nice prison, and
-there was a magnificent view from the upper stories.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor proposed that they should walk to the prison, so
-that Peggy might see some of the life of Dolltown before she was shut
-up. “I should have liked to take you about myself,” he said politely,
-“and to show you some hospitality during your visit. It’s a pity you
-didn’t come when Queen Rosebud was alive. However, we must make the
-best of things, mustn’t we? I’ll see that you’re comfortable, and
-have plenty of pot-plants. We might buy a few as we go along. I like
-pot-plants.”</p>
-
-<p>They set out. The Lord Chancellor gave the palace guards instructions
-to walk behind. “The people will think they are just a guard of
-honour,” he explained kindly. “If they were to put handcuffs on you,
-it would be different. But I have always been one for making things
-comfortable all around. Live and let live is my motto.”</p>
-
-<p>He walked between Peggy and Wooden as they went through the streets,
-and turned out to be a pleasant,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span> chatty old gentleman, with a
-well-stored mind, and a fund of varied information. He told Peggy a
-good deal that interested her about the conditions of life in Dolltown,
-and she found it difficult to believe that she was really being taken
-to prison, and quite enjoyed her walk.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img23">
-<img src="images/img23.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">He walked between Peggy and Wooden</p>
-
-<p class="p2">The streets were gay, and crowded with dolls of all sorts except
-those made of wax. A good deal of interest was aroused by the little
-procession, with the six palace guards bringing up the rear. Gradually
-a crowd of dolls gathered and walked with them, so that the streets
-became rather full, and the dolls who were driving the toy hansom cabs,
-and the toy motors, and the toy carts, had some difficulty in making
-their way along.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor seemed to enjoy the attention that was being drawn
-to them, but also to be a little anxious about being recognized. He
-called his secretary to him, and said, “You might just tell some of the
-people that the elderly gentleman in the velvet gown, with a learned
-and amiable expression of face, is the Lord Chancellor. Then they
-will hand it on to the others. We will go into this shop and buy some
-pot-plants.”</p>
-
-<p>They went into a flower-shop, full of toy flowers in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span> very bright red
-pots, and the Lord Chancellor made a handsome purchase, and paid for
-it with toy money, which Peggy thought most fascinating. She wished
-she had brought some of hers with her, for she had had a lot given to
-her for a Christmas present, and would have been quite rich with it
-in Toyland. The pots were given to the guards to carry, and they said
-good-bye to the nice pleasant woman doll who kept the shop, and set out
-again.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img24">
-<img src="images/img24.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">While they had been in the shop, the Lord Chancellor’s secretary had
-been telling everybody who they were, and also that they were all on
-their way to prison. He had not been told to say this, but he was
-rather stupid. The only reason why he was kept on was that he was so
-willing. But this time he had been a little too willing, for a lot of
-the doll people were inclined to be angry at so much sending to prison,
-and some of them thought that the Lord Chancellor could have stopped it
-if he had liked.</p>
-
-<p>So when they all came out of the shop, there were not quite so many
-smiles for them as before, and there were even a few boos and hisses as
-they continued on their way.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor looked surprised and pained. “Now I did think that
-when they were told who I was they would be pleased,” he said. “I
-must say that I do like people to like me, and it makes me positively
-miserable if they don’t. What can I have done? There isn’t a smut on my
-nose, or anything like that, is there?”</p>
-
-<p>“No,” said Wooden. “There is only a small pimple that people might
-mistake for a smut if they were a little short-sighted.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span></p>
-
-<p>“Ah, then I expect that is it,” said the Lord Chancellor. “That pimple
-has been growing lately, and I always feared that it would bring me
-trouble.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy now began to be a little frightened, for the crowd of dolls was
-pressing more closely round them, and the hisses and the booing were
-beginning to get louder. Many of the dolls looked angry, too, and she
-found that it was one thing to laugh at a single chess king being
-angry, and quite another to have several hundred dolls as large as life
-jostling round her in a crowd.</p>
-
-<p>You see, an angry doll is not what you are accustomed to, and you are
-always apt to be a little frightened at something that is quite strange.</p>
-
-<p>But just as it was beginning to be difficult to move forward, because
-of the crowd, Peggy suddenly caught sight of something that took her
-mind off what was happening. This was the shiny black hat and yellow
-robe of <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah on the edge of the crowd, and not only that, but
-the brown coat and merry face of her own old Teddy. She had been so
-occupied with all the curious and interesting things that had been
-happening since she had come off the ark that she had had no time to
-think about Teddy, or to wonder what he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span> was doing. But evidently he
-had made great friends with <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah, and was going about with
-them.</p>
-
-<p>Well, Teddy was peering between the heads of the people to see what
-was happening, and directly he caught sight of Peggy he pushed his way
-through the crowd, followed by <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah. All of them were tall
-and strong, and although there were some complaints from the dolls they
-elbowed aside, such as, “Now then, where do you think you are going?”
-and “Mind who you’re shoving, can’t you?” the three of them quickly got
-through.</p>
-
-<p>“Now then, <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Man,” said Teddy to the Lord Chancellor, “where are you
-taking my young mistress off to?”</p>
-
-<p>“Why, they’re taking them off to prison!” said an indignant voice
-from the crowd, and it was repeated by several other voices, equally
-indignant. “They’re taking them off to prison.”</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor held up his hand. “Now then, my good people,” he
-said, “don’t disturb yourselves, I do pray and beg of you. It’s the
-King’s orders, you know, and you can really hardly call it going to
-prison. They are going to be his Majesty’s guests for a little time
-in the House of Cards. There’s a glorious view<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> from there, and they
-will get very good food. You see, we’ve just been buying pot-plants to
-brighten up their apartments for them. Here they are. The guards are
-carrying them. You can see them for yourselves. Do please let us get
-on. The ladies want their tea.”</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor seemed to attach great importance to the
-pot-plants, and they did make some impression on the crowd, because
-they could all see them, and there was no doubt about them at all. They
-made way for the Lord Chancellor to go on for a few steps, followed by
-his charges.</p>
-
-<p>But Teddy wasn’t at all satisfied. “Here, wait a minute, Mister,” he
-said. “What are you taking my young mistress to prison <em>for</em>?
-That’s what I want to know. And, why bless me! here’s Wooden, too, and
-Lady Grace, and Wooden’s mother and aunt. I say, this won’t do at all,
-you know. Are they all going to prison?”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, yes, but only—well, you might almost call it for a little fun,”
-said the Lord Chancellor. “It’s more like a first-class hotel than a
-prison, you know. And—and—well, look at the pot-plants! You can see
-for yourself!”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, blow the pot-plants!” said Teddy; and Peggy did not object to the
-vulgarity of the expression, as he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span> spoke as if he really meant to do
-something. “What are they going to prison <em>for</em>?”</p>
-
-<p>“Three wooden dolls, too!” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah. “And one of them was going
-to be Queen, we were all told. It doesn’t seem to me as if the new King
-was acting quite right, it doesn’t.”</p>
-
-<p>There were murmurs among the crowd. <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah seemed to have hit upon
-a feeling that they all shared, more or less. “No, it isn’t right.”
-“There was hardly any sending to prison in Queen Rosebud’s time.” “They
-don’t look as if they had done anything wrong either.” “Nice kind
-faces, all of them!” These were a few of the speeches that reached
-Peggy’s ears from among the dolls who were all round her.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor still kept his good-natured expression of face, as
-if they were all making a great fuss about nothing, but he would put
-up with it for the sake of pleasing them. “Now, look here,” he said in
-a persuasive voice, “I think there’s a great deal in what you say, and
-I should be the last one to want to go against you. A more intelligent
-and intellectual-looking crowd I have seldom set eyes on, and it’s a
-real pleasure to address you.”</p>
-
-<p>There were murmurs of approval, and one smartly dressed lady doll
-standing near to Peggy, said, “Lord<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> Norval can be trusted. I know all
-about him, and I once met him at a garden party.”</p>
-
-<p>“Now suppose we come to a compromise,” said the Lord Chancellor.</p>
-
-<p>There were more murmurs of approval. Another lady doll near to Peggy
-asked, “What is a compromise?”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, don’t you know?” said the first lady doll. “It’s ‘If you give way,
-I’ll pretend to.’”</p>
-
-<p>“What I suggest is this,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Let us all take
-these ladies to the House of Cards—it isn’t really like a prison at
-all, you know—and when we have made them comfortable there, and got
-them off our minds, then we’ll talk about what can be done. Now that
-strikes me as eminently fair.”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, that’s a compromise,” said the first lady doll, “and a very good
-one. But I knew that the Lord Chancellor could be trusted. A cook I
-once had had been kitchen maid to a great friend of his wife’s.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy did not think much of the Lord Chancellor’s compromise, but
-it seemed to satisfy the crowd, who greeted it with enthusiasm, and
-immediately made a way through for them, and went along with them.
-Peggy thought that Teddy would have seen that if they were once all
-shut up in prison it would be much<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span> 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 <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> and
-<abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> 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.</p>
-
-<p>So on they all went, and by-and-by they came to the House of Cards.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img25">
-<img src="images/img25.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="VIII">VIII
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">PEGGY BATHES A BABY AND HAS A SURPRISE</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">The House of Cards was a noble structure, and one which interested
-Peggy extremely. She had once built one herself, up to five stories,
-and had nearly finished the sixth before it tumbled down. But the House
-of Cards in Dolltown was of no less than thirteen stories, and towered
-high above all the other buildings. Each story was as high as the shops
-round the market-place, and not even the Post-Office, which was an
-imposing edifice of terra-cotta bricks, reached higher than its second
-story. It was built up of gigantic cards, just as Peggy had built hers
-with ordinary sized ones, but it seemed quite strong, and as if it
-would last for ever. There were windows and doors in the cards, and the
-ones that were laid flat at each story formed platforms and balconies,
-on which you could go out to look about you.</p>
-
-<p>Just as the Lord Chancellor was ushering them in to the House of Cards,
-a lead Life Guardsman from the palace rode up on his black horse and
-handed him a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> note. “Now I am rather sorry for that,” he said, when
-he had read it. “I had intended to shut you all up in the top story,
-for the sake of the view. But the King doesn’t wish that. You are to
-be imprisoned on the first floor. Those are his very words. Well,
-you will be able to see the life of the market-place, which is very
-entertaining. As a distinguished doll once said, ‘There is no cloud
-without its silver lining.’ You couldn’t do that so conveniently from
-the top story. Perhaps the King thought of that. There is a good deal
-of thoughtfulness in his nature, though he is apt to be a little
-irritable after meals.”</p>
-
-<p>“It’s like his nastiness not to let us see the view,” said Wooden’s
-aunt. “I wouldn’t marry him now, not if he was to go down on his bended
-knees, I wouldn’t.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy would have liked to go up to the top of the House of Cards, but
-it turned out very well for them all that they were not shut up there,
-as will presently appear.</p>
-
-<p>The cards of which the house was built were so enormous that each
-story had two floors of several rooms. They were taken upstairs by a
-policeman doll, and found themselves in a spacious apartment furnished
-with quite nice dolls’ furniture, and not like a prison at all. The
-Lord Chancellor rubbed his hands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span> as he looked round him, and said,
-“Well, this isn’t so bad, is it? With the pot-plants it will look quite
-home-like, and I should think, when you are set free, you will hardly
-like to leave it. You can go out on this balcony, see? We might go out
-now, and look at the people. I’m sure they will be pleased to see us
-all, especially me. The people have a great love for me, and it is very
-gratifying. I often think about it when I am alone, and it sometimes
-brings tears to my eyes.”</p>
-
-<p>They went out on the balcony, and looked down at the crowd of dolls in
-the market-place. There were all sorts there except wax. Peggy looked
-to see if she could see Teddy or the Noahs among them. There were
-several Teddy bears, and one or two Noahs in the crowd, but although
-she might not have recognized the Noahs of the royal Ark, Peggy would
-have known her own Teddy anywhere. She was sure that he was not in the
-crowd, and wondered what had become of him.</p>
-
-<p>The crowd of dolls cheered when they appeared on the balcony. The Lord
-Chancellor put himself in front, and bowed repeatedly, but the dolls
-seemed to be cheering Wooden more than him. This was probably because
-they had been told that she was to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span> their Queen, and because any
-doll who knew her would have told their friends how nice and good
-she was. So the news would have spread, and Wooden would have become
-popular. At any rate the dolls kept on calling out, “Wooden! Wooden!
-Speech! Speech!”</p>
-
-<p>The platform was too high above the market-place to make it convenient
-for anybody to make a speech from it, even if they had wished to.
-Wooden did not wish to, not being accustomed to public speaking, but
-her aunt offered to dance a Highland fling, which her late husband had
-taught her. This offer was refused, and Wooden’s mother told her to
-behave herself, and remember where she was.</p>
-
-<p>“Now, I must leave you,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Good-bye, ladies,
-and a very pleasant imprisonment to you!”</p>
-
-<p>He shook hands affably with all of them, and bowed himself out. He
-seemed already to have forgotten the compromise he had come to with the
-people, and they seemed to have forgotten it, too; for Peggy watched
-him go off, followed by the palace guards, and bowing to right and
-left. The dolls in the market-place cheered heartily, but none of them
-stopped him to say anything, and he disappeared round the corner.</p>
-
-<p>“Dolls seem to have very short memories,” said<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> Peggy to herself. She
-could not help feeling a little unhappy at being shut up in a prison,
-though it was only a dolls’ prison, and quite different from the stone
-cells she had read about. She did think that her own Teddy might have
-done something more to help them. She knew now that he was rather
-flighty, but surely he need not have gone off like that, and have left
-his mistress and her friends to be locked up, without trying to do
-anything to rescue them! She supposed he was amusing himself with his
-new friends, <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Noah, and had forgotten all about her.</p>
-
-<p>But she did Teddy an injustice there, as you will soon see.</p>
-
-<p>The policeman doll came up to see if they wanted anything directly
-the Lord Chancellor had gone, and brought his wife with him. He was
-a large, amiable-looking doll, and his wife was nice too. She was
-dressed as a Swiss peasant, and when she saw Peggy she said, “Bonjour,
-Mademoiselle! Comment ça va t’il?”</p>
-
-<p>Now Peggy knew a good deal of French already, because her father and
-mother took her to Etretat every summer for the holidays. So she said
-at once, “Merci, Madame, ça va bien. Et vous?”</p>
-
-<p>The policeman doll’s wife was delighted to hear her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> own language
-spoken, and asked Peggy if she might kiss her. The policeman doll
-beamed affectionately at them, and said, “Isn’t that clever now? I
-never could pick up her lingo.”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img26">
-<img src="images/img26.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">They said they would like some tea as soon as possible, and apricot jam
-with it. The policeman doll’s wife, whose name was <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma, said that
-she would bring it up as soon as she had bathed her baby.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span></p>
-
-<p>“Oh, have you got a long-clothes baby?” asked Peggy, clasping her two
-hands together.</p>
-
-<p><abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma said that she had, and Peggy begged her to let her go down
-and bathe it for her.</p>
-
-<p>The policeman doll said he didn’t think he could allow that without
-orders, but <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma persuaded him, and he said that as the outer
-door of the house was locked, perhaps it wouldn’t much matter after
-all; only she wasn’t to tell anybody. Peggy would have promised almost
-anything for the sake of bathing a real live baby doll, and promised
-this readily enough. So she left the four dolls, promising to come back
-soon, and went downstairs with <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma.</p>
-
-<p>They lived in the basement, where they had a large and well furnished
-kitchen, spotlessly clean. In one corner of it was a pretty bassinette
-covered with muslin and ribbons, and inside it was the sweetest little
-baby doll, beautifully dressed in a hand-made robe of cambric and lace.
-Everything was so pretty and dainty that it might have belonged to
-a princess, and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma told Peggy that she took a great pride in
-having everything very nice for her baby.</p>
-
-<p>Peggy lost her heart to the baby doll at once. She would have loved
-it even if it had been just like other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span> dolls, but when it smiled at
-her, and put out its little pudgy hands, and gurgled happily, she could
-almost have eaten it, it was so fascinating.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img27">
-<img src="images/img27.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">Peggy lost her heart to the baby doll</p>
-
-<p class="p2"><abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma put on her a large bath apron, and got out a white enamelled
-toy bath, with a gold rim round it, and a cake of pink soap, and filled
-the bath with hot water. And then Peggy lifted the baby doll carefully
-out of the cot and undressed it and put it into the bath, first putting
-her own hand in the water to see that it was not too hot.</p>
-
-<p>It was lovely, bathing that beautiful fat laughing baby doll. <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma
-stood over the bath smiling at them both, but she soon saw that Peggy
-knew exactly what to do and how to do it, so she went away to her work
-in another part of the kitchen.</p>
-
-<p>Peggy was so busy with the baby doll, and so wrapped up in it, that
-she did not pay much attention to what <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma were talking
-about. But she heard some of the things they said, and, although she
-did not pay much attention to them at the time, as I have said, they
-turned out to be important afterwards, as you will see.</p>
-
-<p>When Peggy had bathed the baby doll, and dressed it and put it back
-into its cot, she was taken upstairs again. She found the Woodens and
-Lady Grace on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span> the balcony, where something interesting was just about
-to happen.</p>
-
-<p>A Teddy bear had made its appearance in the market-place with an
-enormous pole, and just as Peggy went out on to the balcony he was
-balancing it on his head. Then he balanced it on different parts of his
-body, as he knelt or lay or stooped on the ground. The crowd of dolls
-who still filled the market-place was absolutely delighted with his
-performance, and when he shouted out that he would climb up to the top
-of the pole and balance himself on his head, if somebody would hold it
-for him, all the gentlemen dolls in the market-place wanted to have the
-honour of holding the pole for him.</p>
-
-<p>But the Teddy bear said he must choose who should hold the pole
-himself, and chose out of the crowd four tall wooden dolls with shiny
-black hats and different coloured robes. Then he looked up at Peggy and
-the four dolls standing on the balcony of the House of Cards, and waved
-his paw and made a low bow, and told his four assistants to hold up the
-pole near the House, so that the ladies could see. The crowd of dolls
-was pleased at this, for they were sorry for the prisoners, and wanted
-them to have all the amusement that they could get.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span></p>
-
-<p>Well, of course you have already understood that the Teddy bear who was
-so clever at his acrobatic feats was Peggy’s own old Teddy, who had not
-forgotten her at all, but had evidently chosen this means of getting
-at them. And the four tall wooden dolls who were helping him were <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr>
-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.</p>
-
-<p>Teddy climbed carefully up to the top of the pole, and when he got
-there he stood on one foot and waved his paws about, and then changed
-to the other foot, and kissed his paw to the crowd, and to Peggy and
-the dolls on the balcony. Peggy was afraid that he might tumble, and
-almost forgot to listen for anything that he might say when he got near
-to them. But he seemed quite at home on his pole, and as he turned
-towards them and kissed his paw, he said in a mysterious voice, “One of
-you go to the other side.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span></p>
-
-<p>That was all he said, and the crowd down below could not have known
-that he was saying anything at all, he did it so cleverly. He was just
-on a level with the balcony, and could easily have jumped on to it if
-he had wanted to. Peggy had thought that perhaps he had meant to do
-that, so as to be with them, because he could not have got there in
-any other way. But he was too clever for that, for if he had stepped
-on to the balcony, all the dolls who had been watching him would have
-known at once that they had been deceived. And besides, he would only
-have been locked up with Peggy and the four dolls, and could have done
-nothing more to help them.</p>
-
-<p>When Teddy had said, “One of you go to the other side,” he turned round
-again, and then stood on his head on the top of the pole, as he had
-promised to do. The crowd of dolls was wild with delight, and none of
-them suspected that he had given a message to the prisoners.</p>
-
-<p>“What does he mean? What are we to go to the other side for?” asked
-Wooden.</p>
-
-<p>“I expect there is somebody there,” said Lady Grace. “Shall I go?”</p>
-
-<p>“No, I’ll go,” said Wooden’s aunt, who had largely recovered her
-spirits during Teddy’s performance, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span> had danced a few steps of a
-Highland fling on her own account, while he was posturing on the pole.</p>
-
-<p>“I think Peggy had better go,” said Wooden’s mother. “She has a
-slightly better head than any of us, because she is human.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, yes, let Peggy go,” said all the others at once. So Peggy went
-round the balcony to the other side of the house, feeling proud at the
-trust reposed in her, but a little alarmed also at what should happen.
-But she hid that from the dolls, and walked with a firm and confident
-step.</p>
-
-<p>There was as big a space in the market-place on the other side of the
-House of Cards as in the one in which Teddy was performing, but it was
-absolutely empty. Every doll was watching Teddy, and even the shops
-were deserted, as all the doll shopkeepers had gone round to the other
-side. A thief might have taken anything he liked from the shops, and
-nobody would have seen him. But dolls are never thieves, so it was
-quite safe.</p>
-
-<p>Perhaps I ought not to have said that that side of the market-place was
-absolutely empty. It looked so to Peggy when she got there, but when
-she looked over the edge of the platform she saw a solitary doll figure
-standing below her, looking up. It was rather a disappointment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span> to
-her, for it was a gentleman doll wrapped up in a long black cloak, and
-he had his arms full of pot-plants, like the ones the Lord Chancellor
-had bought to brighten up their rooms. Peggy thought they had quite
-enough pot-plants to go on with, and, if the gentleman doll only wanted
-to sell them some more, it was hardly worth Teddy’s cleverness to get
-all the people round on the other side, so that he might do so without
-being observed.</p>
-
-<p>And that was apparently all that the gentleman doll did want, for
-directly he saw Peggy looking over the platform at him he called up to
-her, “Kind lady, buy a few pot-plants from a poor man. I’ve got some
-lovely ones here.”</p>
-
-<p>“No, thank you,” said Peggy. “We have plenty. Besides, I haven’t got
-any money; at least, not here.”</p>
-
-<p>“I don’t want any money for them,” said the gentleman doll. “Let me
-come up and show you my lovely pot-plants.”</p>
-
-<p>Now there was something in his voice that Peggy seemed to recognize.
-She thought she had heard it before, but she couldn’t remember where or
-when. However, she began to understand that the pot-plants were only an
-excuse for the gentleman doll to get into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span> the House of Cards, and that
-if he did so he might have something interesting to say.</p>
-
-<p>“I should be glad if you could come up,” she said. “But the doors are
-locked, and I don’t suppose they will let you.”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, they will, if you say the word ‘pot-plants,’” said the gentleman
-doll. “Say that somebody has come from the palace with some pot-plants
-for you. Go quickly, before anybody comes.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy went back, and told Wooden and the others what had happened. “I
-don’t know who it was,” she said, “but I couldn’t help thinking that I
-had heard his voice before.”</p>
-
-<p>“Was it the Lord Chancellor?” asked Wooden’s mother. “Perhaps this is
-his compromise.”</p>
-
-<p>“I don’t think so,” said Peggy. “But hadn’t we better ask for him to be
-let in?”</p>
-
-<p>Teddy had finished his performance, and was climbing down the pole. It
-was time to do something, for soon the crowd of dolls would disperse,
-and some would go round to the other side of the House.</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, dear, we had better do that,” said Wooden. “It is a very good
-idea. Perhaps you had better go yourself, if you don’t mind, as it was
-you who heard what he said.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span></p>
-
-<p>Peggy would have been quite willing to go down, but the door of their
-room was locked. So after a little more discussion they rang the bell,
-and presently <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma came up to see what they wanted.</p>
-
-<p>The dolls seemed to expect Peggy to speak, so she said, “There is a man
-outside who wants to come up and see us.”</p>
-
-<p><abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma beamed affectionately upon her. “Bless your dear little
-heart!” he said. “I’d do anything to please you, but I can’t let
-anybody up to see you without orders. It would be as much as my place
-is worth.”</p>
-
-<p>“He has come from the palace with some pot-plants,” said Peggy.</p>
-
-<p><abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma’s face underwent a complete change. “Come with what?” he asked.</p>
-
-<p>“With some pot-plants.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, well then, I’ll let him up at once,” said <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma. “Oh,
-certainly.”</p>
-
-<p>He went out quickly, but did not forget to lock the door behind him.</p>
-
-<p>Just as he had locked it, and they thought he was on his way
-downstairs, he unlocked it again, and put his head into the room. “What
-did you say the man had come with?” he asked.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span></p>
-
-<p>“With some pot-plants,” said Peggy again.</p>
-
-<p>“Ah, that’s the word,” he said. “I wasn’t quite certain I’d got it
-right.”</p>
-
-<p>Then he locked the door behind him again, and they heard his feet going
-heavily downstairs.</p>
-
-<p>In a few minutes he came back again, unlocked the door, and came into
-the room with the gentleman doll, who was wrapped in his long cloak,
-and carried his pots in his arms.</p>
-
-<p>“I’ll leave the gentleman with you for a bit,” said <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma, “as I’m
-just in the middle of my tea.”</p>
-
-<p>He went out and locked the door behind him once more. The gentleman
-doll, who had put the pots down on the floor, stood up and threw off
-his cloak, and revealed the stalwart form and handsome features of
-Colonel Jim, of the Lifeguards.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img28">
-<img src="images/img28.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="IX">IX
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">THEY DISCUSS A PLAN OF ESCAPE</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">The first thing Colonel Jim did when he had thrown off his disguise
-was to bow politely to all of them. But to Lady Grace he did more than
-that. He took her hand and kissed it respectfully, and then said,
-“Very sorry to see you here, my lady. Forming plans to get you out.
-Disgraceful affair altogether!”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img29">
-<img src="images/img29.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">He took her hand and kissed it respectfully</p>
-
-<p class="p2">Lady Grace looked pleased at the attention paid to her, and blushed.
-Peggy had not known before that dolls could fall in love, but it was
-quite plain that Lady Grace was in love with handsome Colonel Jim.
-It seemed plain also that he was in love with her. He spoke in short
-sharp sentences because he was a soldier, and loved deeds better than
-words. But there was a tenderness in his manner when he addressed Lady
-Grace which he did not show to anybody but her, though his manners were
-always courteous.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s aunt gave a screech of enjoyment when <span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span>Colonel Jim kissed Lady
-Grace’s hand, and said,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span> “Lawks! I wish I’d got a handsome beau like
-that.” But nobody took any notice of her, as there was so much to talk
-about. Wooden’s mother requested Colonel Jim to take a seat, which he
-did, and proceeded to explain himself.</p>
-
-<p>“Didn’t hear you were shut up till Teddy bear came and told me so,”
-he said. “Determined at once to use the pass-word for the day, which
-I knew, as commanding troops at palace. Pass-word ‘Pot-plants.’ So
-concocted plan with Teddy bear, and here I am.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy wondered that she had not known who he was under his disguise.
-But he had not then spoken in the military way he used now, as he had,
-of course, been playing his part as well as he could.</p>
-
-<p>“And very pleased we are to see you, Colonel Jim,” said Wooden, in her
-nice gentle manner. “It’s a sad thing, this shutting up of Waxes and
-others. I’m sure dear Queen Rosebud would never have allowed it, if she
-had been alive.”</p>
-
-<p>“It’s my belief,” said Colonel Jim, “that Queen Rosebud <em>is</em>
-alive.”</p>
-
-<p>All the dolls exclaimed, in surprise. And Wooden said, after the pause
-which followed, “But King Selim said that she was dead, Colonel Jim. We
-all heard him with our own ears.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span></p>
-
-<p>“I know that,” said Colonel Jim shortly.</p>
-
-<p>There was another pause of consternation. “Do you mean that you think
-the King has told an untruth?” asked Lady Grace, in an awestruck voice.</p>
-
-<p>“Yes,” said Colonel Jim.</p>
-
-<p>Another pause. “It would be a dreadful thing if he had,” said Wooden.
-“He wouldn’t deserve to be King if he could do a thing like that, would
-he?”</p>
-
-<p>“He doesn’t deserve it,” said Colonel Jim.</p>
-
-<p>Nobody spoke. The matter was too serious to be treated in a light
-conversational way, and it was felt that Colonel Jim must have more to
-tell them, if he could only get it out.</p>
-
-<p>He seemed to feel, himself, that he owed them explanations, and must
-try to make them as clear as possible, for he spoke slowly, and in
-longer sentences than he usually employed. He could do this all right
-if he liked.</p>
-
-<p>“It was Rose who put him up to it all,” he said. “She’s mad all the
-time because she isn’t Wax.”</p>
-
-<p>“And only half Composition,” put in Wooden’s aunt.</p>
-
-<p>“Well, that’s as may be,” said Colonel Jim. “Anyhow, she got him to let
-her nurse the Queen, and told him to give out that she was dead. She
-wasn’t dead at all, but getting better all the time.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span></p>
-
-<p>“Do you mean that <em>she</em> told a story?” asked Wooden, in a voice of
-consternation.</p>
-
-<p>“Yes,” said Colonel Jim. “I do.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well,” said Wooden, “I never liked her; but I did not think she would
-go so far as that.”</p>
-
-<p>“It’s depravity,” said Wooden’s mother. “That’s what I call it;
-positive depravity.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well, that’s as may be,” said Colonel Jim again. “Anyhow, that’s what
-she did.”</p>
-
-<p>“How did you find out about Rose so cleverly?” asked Lady Grace.</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Jim looked pleased at being called clever, which he wasn’t
-very. “One of my troopers is going to be married to Rose’s maid,” he
-said. “She heard them talking—Rose and Selim—and told him about it.
-He came and told me. Very proper thing to do. Made him a lance-corporal
-on the spot. He marries the maid tomorrow. Shall give them a wedding
-present. Silver pepper-castor.”</p>
-
-<p>“Then, where is dear Queen Rosebud?” asked Wooden. “I am so glad she
-isn’t dead after all. I wish we could see her.”</p>
-
-<p>“This is my month to be in waiting,” said Lady Grace. “Could you take
-me to her, do you think?”</p>
-
-<p>“Afraid that’s impossible,” said Colonel Jim.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> “Don’t know where she
-is. She was taken out of the palace and hidden somewhere.”</p>
-
-<p>“How dreadful it all sounds,” said Wooden. “I shouldn’t have thought
-such things could have happened in Toyland. I do hope they give her
-enough to eat.”</p>
-
-<p>“I expect she’s having her tea now,” said Wooden’s aunt. “If I was a
-Queen, I’d have herrings every day.”</p>
-
-<p>It was a foolish remark, as many of Wooden’s aunt’s remarks were, but
-it turned out to be a lucky one, for it reminded Peggy of something she
-had heard downstairs, while she was bathing the baby doll.</p>
-
-<p>“I suppose she couldn’t be the lady in the top story!” she said.</p>
-
-<p>They stared at her. “What do you mean, dear? What lady?” asked Wooden.</p>
-
-<p>“When I was downstairs just now,” said Peggy, “<abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma was getting
-tea ready for the lady in the top story, and <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma said he was
-sorry for her being shut up there, and he wondered if she would like a
-herring for her tea.”</p>
-
-<p>“Did they give her one?” asked Wooden’s aunt.</p>
-
-<p>“No,” said Peggy. “<abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma said that as she was Wax she might not
-like herrings.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img30">
-<img src="images/img30.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">“It’s the best fish out of the sea,” said Wooden’s aunt, smacking her
-lips. “Lawks! How I wish they’d bring me one!”</p>
-
-<p>“Adone, now!” said Wooden’s mother sharply. “We’re talking about the
-Queen in the top story, not about what you’d like to have for your
-tea.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span></p>
-
-<p>“I don’t know that it is the Queen,” said Peggy. “But there is a lady
-on the top story, and she is Wax. I know as much as that.”</p>
-
-<p>“And it’s a good deal to know, dear,” said Wooden fondly. “It was very
-clever of you to find it out.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, it’s the Queen, right enough,” said Colonel Jim. “Wonder we never
-thought of her being here before. Question is now how to get at her. I
-wish that Teddy bear was here.”</p>
-
-<p>They all seemed at a loss what to do next, and the suggestions they
-made were not very helpful. Wooden thought that it would be a good
-thing if Teddy were to bring a very long pole and climb up to the top
-of the House of Cards. But it was quite certain that there wasn’t a
-pole long enough in the whole of Toyland, or anywhere else. Wooden’s
-mother suggested throwing the Queen a rope. But it was equally certain
-that nobody could have thrown it far enough. Wooden’s aunt said,
-why not telephone to her? But this was silly, because there was no
-telephone.</p>
-
-<p>By-and-by they all looked at Peggy, as if they expected her to suggest
-something sensible. She did not like to disappoint them, as it was
-flattering the way they seemed to believe in her. So she knitted her
-brows hard, to see if she could think of something.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span></p>
-
-<p>“We could do so much more if we weren’t locked up in prison,” she said
-at last.</p>
-
-<p>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.”</p>
-
-<p>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.</p>
-
-<p>“Did you and Teddy make any plan for getting us out of prison?” she
-asked, turning to Colonel Jim.</p>
-
-<p>“Now, I wonder what made her think of that?” said Wooden’s mother.</p>
-
-<p>“Well, we did make a plan,” said Colonel Jim; “though how you guessed
-it I don’t know, as you couldn’t have heard us talking. Our plan was
-this: When I’m ready to go out, I say to <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma, ‘I should like to
-look at the view.’ He says, ‘With pleasure,’ and takes me up to the top
-story.”</p>
-
-<p>“But supposing he doesn’t say ‘With pleasure,’” suggested Wooden.</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Jim looked worried. “Teddy bear said he’d<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span> say ‘With
-pleasure,’” he said. “Never thought of asking what to do if he didn’t.”</p>
-
-<p>“If Teddy said he’d say ‘With pleasure,’ I should think he would,” said
-Wooden. “Teddy is flighty, but I have always found his word reliable.”</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Jim brightened. “Well, then, we go up to the top story,” he
-said. “Then I look at the view, and I say—let’s see, what is it I say?
-I’ve learnt it all up, but it’s difficult to remember. Oh, yes, I know.
-I say, ‘What’s that bird flying towards the sea?’ No, that’s wrong. I
-say, ‘What’s that bird over there?’ He says, ‘What bird? Where?’ I say,
-‘Over there!’ pointing towards the sea. He turns to where I point, you
-see, and——”</p>
-
-<p>“But are you sure there will be a bird to point at?” asked Lady Grace.
-“If not, won’t it be telling a story?”</p>
-
-<p>“Do you think it will?” asked Colonel Jim. “I shouldn’t like to do
-that.”</p>
-
-<p>There was a pause. “I like the plan,” said Wooden, “but that does
-rather interfere with it, doesn’t it?”</p>
-
-<p>They all looked at Peggy as if they expected her to find a way out of
-the difficulty; and she did so at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span> once. “I think there are sure to be
-birds flying about,” she said, “and some of them will be flying towards
-the sea.”</p>
-
-<p>Their faces brightened, and Wooden’s aunt slapped her knee. “Now,
-doesn’t that beat all?” she said. “How she do think of things, to be
-sure! Well, go on, soldier.”</p>
-
-<p>“Directly he says, ‘What bird, where?’” proceeded Colonel Jim, “that’s
-my sign. I get behind him. I whip off my cloak. I throw it over his
-head. I tie the cord—it’s got a cord, you see—round his arms, so that
-he can’t move. Then I say to him, ‘Your keys, please.’ Then I come
-downstairs with the keys, unlock the doors, and off we go. Well, that’s
-the plan, and if it all goes right I don’t think a better plan was ever
-invented. It’s Teddy bear’s plan chiefly, but it was me who thought of
-saying, ‘Your keys, please,’ instead of ‘Hand over your keys.’ More
-polite.”</p>
-
-<p>The plan was not received with the pleasure that Colonel Jim seemed to
-expect. Wooden said doubtfully, “<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma is a very nice man. He might
-not like to have a cloak thrown over his head.”</p>
-
-<p>“Don’t you think he would?” asked Colonel Jim, in a disturbed way. “I
-never thought of that. What do you say, Peggy?”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span></p>
-
-<p>“If you were to treat him as gently as you could,” said Peggy, “and
-tell him that he might go downstairs to <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma and the baby in five
-minutes, when we had all got away, he might not mind so much.”</p>
-
-<p>“He couldn’t do that,” said Colonel Jim. “His legs would be tied up
-too. I forgot to say that. Can’t keep everything in your head at once.”</p>
-
-<p>“Try again, dear,” said Wooden hopefully.</p>
-
-<p>“Well, supposing we told <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma she could go up and untie him, as we
-went out!” suggested Peggy.</p>
-
-<p>“The very thing!” exclaimed Wooden’s mother. “I should never have
-thought of that if I had tried for a week.”</p>
-
-<p>They had no time to settle anything further, for at that moment the key
-was heard turning in the lock outside. Colonel Jim had just time to put
-on his long cloak again before <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma came into the room.</p>
-
-<p>He seemed not to be in quite such a good temper as before. Directly he
-came in, he said to Colonel Jim, “Now, then, my man, you’ve been here
-quite long enough. Pot-plants or no pot-plants, it’s time you cleared
-out.”</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Jim hesitated. Peggy was afraid for the moment that he had
-forgotten the words he had learned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span> so carefully. But they seemed to
-come to him all of a sudden. He straightened himself up, and said in a
-firm voice, but rather as if he were repeating a lesson, “I should like
-to go up to the top story and look at the view.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy heard Wooden say, “With pleasure,” under her breath, as if she
-were helping <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma to remember his part.</p>
-
-<p>But unfortunately <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma had not learnt his part. What he did say
-was, “Oh, you would, would you? Well, I’m afraid I can’t oblige you.
-I’m almost run off my legs with work as it is. Now you come along down
-with me.”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img31">
-<img src="images/img31.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="X">X
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">PEGGY TALKS TO A ROYAL PRISONER</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">Colonel Jim threw a despairing look at Peggy; she could just see it
-under the hood that he had put over his head. His carefully arranged
-plan had gone wrong at the very beginning, and he hadn’t the least
-idea what to do next. Of course, he might just as well have thrown
-his cloak over <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma’s head there and then, as done it on the top
-of the House of Cards, after pointing to a bird which might not have
-been there. But perhaps he did not like to exercise violence before
-ladies, or perhaps it never occurred to him to alter the plan so as to
-suit the circumstances. At any rate, he prepared to follow <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma
-downstairs without any further ado. If Peggy had not suddenly thought
-of something, there would have been an end of any good he had done by
-making his way in to them.</p>
-
-<p>As they were going out, Peggy said to <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma, “If you and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma
-have got so much work to do, couldn’t I come down and help you?”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span></p>
-
-<p><abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma turned round and beamed at her. “Now, you <em>are</em> a kind
-little lady!” he said. “And I don’t know as you can’t help us. Yes, you
-come along o’ me, dearie. My missus will be glad to see your pretty
-little face, anyhow, and you can talk to her a bit in her own lingo,
-which I never could fathom, nohow.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy was very glad at that moment that she had paid attention to her
-French, which gave her this opportunity of helping her doll friends,
-though she had been far from thinking that she would ever make such
-extraordinary use of it when she had talked as much as she could to
-French people during her holidays. She followed <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma out of the
-room, and he locked the door carefully after him, and led the way
-downstairs.</p>
-
-<p>Now would have been Colonel Jim’s opportunity, either to throw his
-cloak over <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma, who was in front of him, or else to bolt upstairs
-instead of down. If he had done that, <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma would have had to follow
-him, and then they could have had it out together, and Colonel Jim
-would probably have won, as he was younger and stronger than <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma.
-But, though as brave as a lion, Colonel Jim had a brain that did not
-move very fast. All he could do, as they went downstairs, was to nudge
-Peggy with his elbow,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span> and that did not take them very far, for when
-she whispered to him, “What is it?” he had nothing to say.</p>
-
-<p>So it rested with her to think of something, and she whispered to
-Colonel Jim, unheard by <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma, whose large feet were making a
-considerable noise, “I will try to get upstairs, and see if it is the
-Queen who is there; and you and Teddy must try to get in to us again.
-Then I will tell you what I have found out.”</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Jim nodded his head repeatedly, and Peggy could only hope that
-he had understood what she had said, and would remember it, for she had
-not time to say it over again, as they had now reached the ground floor.</p>
-
-<p><abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma unlocked the big door leading into the market-place, and
-Colonel Jim went out. Just as he was going down the steps, Peggy had
-another bright idea. She said to <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma, “We should like this man to
-bring us a few more pot-plants later on. I suppose you will let him in,
-if he comes.”</p>
-
-<p>But <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma spoilt that little plan at the beginning, for he said,
-“No, dearie, I can’t do that. When he once goes out he stays out.” Then
-he locked the door.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img32">
-<img src="images/img32.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2"><abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma was pleased to see Peggy again. She and <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma had had
-their own tea, and she was preparing trays to take up to the prisoners.
-Peggy helped her to do this, while <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma sat by the cradle of his
-baby doll, of which he seemed to be very fond. Peggy couldn’t help
-going over to have a look at it sometimes, and see it smile and gurgle;
-and it delighted <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma to see her so taken up with his baby doll.
-This was a very good thing, for when Peggy said, “Now, I will take up
-the trays, if you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> like,” <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma replied, “I ought not to let you do
-it, I suppose, because I shall have to give you my keys. But I’ve been
-so rushed off my legs today that I shan’t be sorry to sit still for
-a bit; and you’re such a nice little lady that I really feel as if I
-could do anything for you.”</p>
-
-<p>“It is more like Mademoiselle doing something for <em>you</em>,” said
-<abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma, with a laugh. But if she had only known, she might not have
-said that.</p>
-
-<p>“I know you wouldn’t want to get me into trouble,” said <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma as he
-handed Peggy his keys. “You won’t tell the King now, will you? He’s
-Wood, and so am I; but he don’t seem above punishing Woods, if it suits
-him, any more than the rest.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy promised not to tell the King, readily enough. She was not quite
-sure that <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma might not get into trouble, if anything came of her
-taking his keys; but she made up her mind to speak up for him when
-affairs in Toyland came to be righted, as she hoped they would be.
-Selim was only a usurping King, after all, and if Queen Rosebud was
-restored to her throne he would not be able to do any harm to <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma,
-or to anybody else.</p>
-
-<p>“First of all,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma, “you might take this tray up to the top
-story. There is a wax lady<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> there who hasn’t been very well. I should
-like her to have her tea first.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy was almost frightened at the easiness of it all. She had hardly
-taken any trouble to bring it about, and here she was with the key to
-the Queen’s prison, and her tea-tray in her hands. For she had little
-doubt now that it was the Queen who was shut up in the top story. <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr>
-Emma had no idea who she was, but she said she had been ill, and Peggy
-knew that the Queen had been ill.</p>
-
-<p>Just as she was going out with the tea-tray, <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma said, “Don’t
-stay very long, because there are the other trays to take up. But you
-might just talk to her a little. She is a nice lady, and it is lonely
-for her up there, all by herself.”</p>
-
-<p>This made it all the easier for Peggy, and she started upstairs,
-thinking how luckily it had all turned out.</p>
-
-<p>It took her quite a long time to reach the top story. There were four
-flights of stairs to each story, and each flight had ten steps. Four
-times ten times thirteen are five hundred and twenty all the world
-over, and if you ever try going up five hundred and twenty stairs with
-a rather heavy tea-tray in your hands you will find that it is no light
-matter. However, Peggy got to the top at last, with one or two rests
-on the way—But<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span> wait a minute. She did not have to go up the last two
-flights of stairs, which would have led to the roof, so that takes
-twenty off the total, and makes exactly five hundred steps, which is
-almost as serious as five hundred and twenty.</p>
-
-<p>She put the tray on the floor outside while she unlocked the door. Then
-she knocked at it, and a voice inside said, “Come in.”</p>
-
-<p>She opened the door a little, took up the tea-tray from the floor, and
-then pushed the door open with her elbow and went in.</p>
-
-<p>The room was much like the one downstairs, and was quite as comfortably
-furnished, but was without the pot-plants which made theirs so bright
-and gay. So that it did look rather bare, and not altogether unlike a
-prison, in spite of the large window, which showed a magnificent view
-of the country. But perhaps what gave it the air of being a prison was
-not that, but the sad figure of the lady doll that was sitting in a
-chair by the window.</p>
-
-<p>Peggy knew that it must be the Queen, directly she saw her. Indeed,
-it was surprising that neither <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> nor <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma had guessed who the
-prisoner on the top story really was.</p>
-
-<p>For she looked very royal. She was most delicately<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span> 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.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img33">
-<img src="images/img33.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">She looked very royal</p>
-
-<p class="p2">She wore a dress of rich brocade embroidered with seed pearls, rather
-like those that you see in pictures of Queen Elizabeth. It was quite
-possible that she might have been born about the same time as Queen
-Elizabeth, which would have made her very interesting, if she had had a
-good memory, and could have talked about all the changes she had seen.
-But dolls’ memories are short, and Peggy did not find out how old the
-Queen really was, and, indeed, it would not have been good manners to
-ask.</p>
-
-<p>When Peggy came in with the tea-tray, the Queen looked surprised, and
-said, in a sad but gentle voice, “Who are you? Have you come to take me
-home? Why am I kept locked up here?”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy put the tray down on the table, and said, “I am Peggy, your
-Majesty. Wooden brought me to Toyland. You said that she might.”</p>
-
-<p>“Why do you call me your Majesty?” asked the Queen. “They said that
-if anybody called me that,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> or I told anybody who I was, I should be
-locked up in a dungeon where I could not see the light.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy felt desperately sorry for her. She had called her “Your Majesty”
-quite naturally, for she was very royal, both in appearance and manner,
-although she was only a doll. It seemed quite dreadful that she should
-be locked up there, and be threatened with still worse imprisonment,
-and for no fault of her own at all.</p>
-
-<p>“I know that you are the Queen,” Peggy said, “and I hope that you will
-soon be back in your beautiful palace again. They are making plans
-outside to rescue you.”</p>
-
-<p>“I can’t understand it,” said the poor Queen, passing her hand wearily
-over her brow. “I have always been as nice as I could to everybody. And
-yet they told me that the people hate me, because I am Wax, and don’t
-want me to be their Queen any longer.”</p>
-
-<p>“That isn’t true,” said Peggy. “That wicked Selim has told everybody
-that you are dead, and that you said that he was to be King after you.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, I never said that,” said the Queen indignantly. “How can he have
-said such a thing? I never said anything like it.”</p>
-
-<p>“That is what he has given out,” said Peggy. “It<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> was Rose who made it
-up. She is as wicked as he is.”</p>
-
-<p>The Queen thought for a little time, looking out of the window at the
-beautiful view of her own kingdom. 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.”</p>
-
-<p>“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. Why, he has
-actually sent her to prison, because she said she didn’t want to marry
-him.”</p>
-
-<p>The Queen looked out of the window and did not speak for some time.
-Then she said, “I was kind to Selim. When he was brought to me after
-he had been wrecked, and had lost everything that he had, I gave him
-apartments in my own royal palace, and money every month from my
-treasury.”</p>
-
-<p>“He is bad and wicked,” said Peggy. “And Rose is bad, too. She used to
-be mine once, and I never liked her. Now I know why.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span></p>
-
-<p>“I didn’t like her either,” said the Queen. “She wanted to be my
-lady-in-waiting. She said that I ought to have one Composition at
-least, and not all Waxes round me. But I said no. Perhaps I would have
-a Wood, so as to please the Woods. 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?”</p>
-
-<p>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. “Why, what would you think of us over there?”
-she asked, “if you could not trust us?”</p>
-
-<p>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 <em>really</em> naughty, and soon
-get over whatever little trouble there may be with them, and are good
-and obedient again. Peggy wondered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span> 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.</p>
-
-<p>“I am sure when the people know you are alive,” she said, “they will
-very soon take you back to your palace. And they will be most awfully
-glad to have you reigning over them again.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well, you must tell them,” said the Queen. “I can wait here a little
-longer in patience, now that I know things are to be put right. And I
-am very pleased to see you here, my dear; but I wish you had come at a
-happier time.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy had never before conversed with a Queen, or indeed with any
-royal person, though she had once seen her own King and Queen driving
-through London; but she knew somehow that she was being dismissed from
-the presence. She kissed the Doll-Queen’s hand, which she had read
-somewhere was the proper way to behave, and went out of the room,
-leaving Queen Rosebud sitting by the window.</p>
-
-<p>As she went down the five hundred steps, she thought it was rather
-extraordinary that the Queen had not said anything about the way in
-which she was to be rescued. She had seemed to take it for granted
-that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> when her people knew what had happened, everything would come
-right for her. She could leave the details to them.</p>
-
-<p>This seemed to Peggy rather royal, too, and also that she had not
-grumbled at all about her imprisonment. Though she was only a doll,
-Peggy had gained a great respect for Queen Rosebud.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img34">
-<img src="images/img34.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="XI">XI
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">THE RELEASE OF PEGGY AND WOODEN</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">Peggy went down to the kitchen. She had time as she went down the five
-hundred stairs, to make up her mind as to whether she should tell <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr>
-and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma that the Wax lady on the top floor was the Queen. She
-decided not to do so just yet, but to wait a little longer and see what
-happened. They might be very indignant at hearing what Selim and Rose
-had done, but on the other hand they might be frightened that they
-would be punished for having let Peggy see such an important prisoner;
-and in that case they would probably not let her see her again. And
-Peggy wanted to see Queen Rosebud again.</p>
-
-<p>When Peggy went into the kitchen <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma said, “You have been a long
-time away, but I know it takes a long time to go up and down those
-stairs. How did you find the lady? I hope she liked the tea I sent her.
-I gave her some bread and honey instead of bread and butter.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy thought this rather remarkable, as she remembered the nursery
-rhyme about the Queen being<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span> in her parlour eating bread and honey.
-She wondered whether <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma had any suspicion of the prisoner being
-the Queen.</p>
-
-<p>Before she could reply <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma went on, “I was just saying to my
-husband that she is very like what Queen Rosebud was, except for
-her crown. Queen Rosebud had no sisters, but I shouldn’t be at all
-surprised if she didn’t turn out to be a sort of cousin. If you think
-that is likely, I shall ask her to write her name in my birthday book.”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img35">
-<img src="images/img35.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">Before she could reply <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma went on</p>
-
-<p class="p2">So she seemed to have no suspicion of the truth; but that seemed to be
-only because the Queen was not wearing her crown.</p>
-
-<p>“It would be nice to have her name in your book,” said Peggy. “Shall I
-take up the other tray now?”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes, dear,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma. “And then will you please bring the keys
-down? You have been very kind helping us, but of course we must not
-forget that you are a prisoner.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy smiled to herself as she went upstairs again. If she took the
-keys down, their room would not be locked, and she would hardly be a
-prisoner. But she did not say anything, as she thought that if the door
-was left unlocked she might take Wooden or Lady Grace, or both of them,
-up to see the Queen.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span></p>
-
-<p>The dolls were interested in what she told them, but they were now
-quite used to the idea of Queen Rosebud being alive, and showed less
-excitement at her news than Peggy had expected. While she had been
-away, they seemed to have been talking about the failure of the plan
-concocted by Teddy and Colonel Jim, and to have agreed that Teddy had
-not behaved well in telling Colonel Jim that <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma would say, “With
-pleasure,” when he asked him if he could go up to the top story. For
-<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma had said quite the opposite.</p>
-
-<p>“I always knew Teddy was flighty,” said Wooden, “but I did not think
-that he would go so far as to tell a story.”</p>
-
-<p>“So many people seem to be telling them now,” said Lady Grace sadly.
-“It is very dreadful.”</p>
-
-<p>“But Teddy didn’t tell a story,” said Peggy. “He only thought that <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr>
-Emma would say that, and told Colonel Jim so.”</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s aunt, who was already very busy with her tea, slapped her
-knee, and said, with a mouth full of bread and butter, “There now!
-Didn’t I say the very same thing? I was the only one as stuck up for
-Teddy. I said he wouldn’t tell a lie, because I knowed he wouldn’t.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span></p>
-
-<p>“You didn’t say what Peggy says he told Colonel Jim,” said Wooden’s
-mother. “Are you sure he said that, dear?”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes,” said Peggy stoutly. “That is what he must have said.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well, I am sure I am very glad to hear it,” said Wooden, with a sigh
-of relief. “I know <em>you</em> wouldn’t tell a story, dear, and if you
-say that is what Teddy said, of course he said it. I am <em>very</em>
-glad he didn’t tell a story, as I shouldn’t like to think ill of him. I
-suppose you couldn’t tell us what Rose really said, could you? I have
-never liked her, but you did exchange her for me over there, and I have
-always felt sorry for her, because the exchange was such a good thing
-for me. I should like not to think badly of her, if I could.”</p>
-
-<p>“Rose has told nothing but stories,” said Peggy decisively. “She is
-really wicked, and when Queen Rosebud comes to the throne again I hope
-she will do something to her. I am very glad I did exchange her for
-you, dear Wooden, especially now I know what she is really like.”</p>
-
-<p>“Perhaps if she had stayed with you she might not have been so wicked,”
-said Wooden; and Peggy thought this was a great compliment from a doll,
-because<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span> in some ways they are better than human beings. Of course
-they have not so many temptations to be naughty, but I am not sure
-that they don’t resist the temptations that they do have better than
-a good many humans. 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. However, I
-am far from excusing his abominable behaviour at this particular time,
-and think that Peggy was quite right in hoping that he would come to be
-soundly punished for it.</p>
-
-<p>When they had nearly finished their tea, footsteps and voices were
-heard coming up the stairs, and to their surprise the Lord Chancellor
-came into the room, followed by <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor looked annoyed, and <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma looked frightened.
-Peggy guessed at once that this was because the Lord Chancellor had
-found out about <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma giving her his keys.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img36">
-<img src="images/img36.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">She was right. As they came into the room, the Lord Chancellor said, “I
-dare say the young lady did want to see your baby. Nobody knows better
-than I do, from long experience of the law, that young ladies like to
-see babies, and you have nothing to teach me<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> about that. But you had
-no right whatever to lend her your keys, and allow her to go in and out
-of this room as she pleases.”</p>
-
-<p>When he had said this he changed his expression of face completely, and
-smiled at Peggy and the four dolls. “Well, ladies,” he said, “I am glad
-to see you all looking so well, and I expect you are glad to see me
-looking well. I should say now that none of you have been in the least
-inconvenienced by your visit to this handsome building.”</p>
-
-<p>He said this as if he were inviting them to agree with him, and added,
-“Why, for part of the time you haven’t even had the door locked, which
-must have taken away the idea of a prison from your minds altogether.”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy thought this was rather cool, considering they had just heard
-him scolding <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma for letting them have the door unlocked. While
-the Lord Chancellor had been speaking, <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma had been making signs
-to her in a pathetic imploring sort of way, pointing up to the ceiling
-and at her and himself and the Lord Chancellor and the tea-tray on the
-table, and making words at her with his mouth, none of which she could
-understand. But suddenly she understood by his signs what he wanted to
-convey to her. He was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span> begging her not to tell the Lord Chancellor that
-she had carried the tray up to the top story. So she nodded her head
-and put her finger on her mouth to assure him that she would keep his
-secret, for she did not want to get him into further trouble. He seemed
-a little soothed by this, but still very dejected, as he stood with his
-head on one side behind the Lord Chancellor.</p>
-
-<p>“If I had not made it a rule of life never to take tea twice on the
-same day,” said the Lord Chancellor, “I should feel inclined to ask you
-for a cup. I assure you that this is better tea than I drank at my own
-house half an hour ago. Really, I feel inclined to wish that I could be
-sent to the House of Cards myself, for a short time. I doubt if there
-is a more comfortable place in the whole of Dolltown. Now, confess,
-ladies. Haven’t you found it so?”</p>
-
-<p>“We have nothing to complain of in our treatment,” said Wooden, in a
-polite and simple but yet dignified way. “But nobody likes to be in
-prison, and I would rather go without my tea altogether than have it
-and be shut up.”</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor seemed delighted with this speech. “Now, it is a
-most extraordinary thing,” he said, “that you should express those
-sentiments. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span> was half afraid, when I came in, that you would be
-so delighted with your present situation that you would not want to
-exchange it for another. In fact, I thought you might even refuse to do
-so. I am very glad indeed that I was mistaken. For I have come to tell
-you that his most gracious Majesty, moved by one or two things that
-I have said to him, has instructed me to release you and Peggy. Now,
-don’t tell me—<em>please</em> don’t tell me—that you would rather stay
-where you are.”</p>
-
-<p>“No, I shall not,” said Wooden. “I am very glad to be let out of
-prison. I ought never to have been sent here. None of us ought. Are my
-mother and aunt and Lady Grace still to be kept here?”</p>
-
-<p>“If she and Peggy go, <em>I</em> go,” said Wooden’s aunt. “That’s flat.”</p>
-
-<p>“You will go by-and-by,” said the Lord Chancellor in a soothing voice.
-“Leave it to me, and I will arrange it all. But I’m afraid you three
-others will have to stay here a little longer. Lady Grace is Wax, you
-see, and the order for releasing Waxes has not yet been given. But it
-will be. You needn’t have the slightest doubt about that. Just have
-patience for a little; that’s all.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well, I ain’t Wax,” said Wooden’s aunt. “I’m<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span> Wood, and proud of it.
-What’s the matter with me being let out?”</p>
-
-<p>“Well,” said the Lord Chancellor, “the fact is that the King is still
-rather annoyed with you for thinking of such a thing as him marrying
-you.”</p>
-
-<p>“I don’t think of it no more,” said Wooden’s aunt. “I don’t want to
-marry the old heathen image. You tell him that, <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Lawyer, with
-Wooden’s aunt’s comps.”</p>
-
-<p>“Certainly, I will,” said the Lord Chancellor, with a polite bow. “It
-may make all the difference; there’s no telling.”</p>
-
-<p>“Am I to stay in prison?” asked Wooden’s mother. “If so, I think it is
-very unfair. I’ve done nothing.”</p>
-
-<p>“I hinted as much to his Majesty,” said the Lord Chancellor, “but
-he said two out at a time was enough. So I shouldn’t worry about it
-if I were you. You’ll be let out all in good time, and you are so
-comfortable here that it hardly makes any difference whether it’s
-sooner or later.”</p>
-
-<p>“You keep on saying that like a Poll-parrot,” said Wooden’s aunt. “I’ve
-no patience with you. You go back and tell your master that if I ain’t
-let out of this in an hour’s time I’ll yell the place down. So there
-now!”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span></p>
-
-<p>“I will be sure to convey your message, madam,” said the Lord
-Chancellor, as politely as before. “Now, I think we might make a start,
-eh?” He turned towards Emma, and his face became severe once more. “As
-for you, sir,” he said, “I shall have you dismissed from your post. You
-have given your keys to a prisoner. That is the most serious offence
-you could have committed.”</p>
-
-<p>Poor <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma threw himself on his knees and held up his hands in
-supplication. “Oh, don’t dismiss me, your Honour,” he cried, “I’ve got
-a wife and a dear little baby, and you wouldn’t want them to starve,
-now would you? You’ve got a kind face; and a kind heart goes with it—I
-know it do. Don’t turn me off; please don’t.”</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor’s face became softer. “It is quite true that I have
-a kind face,” he said. “Many people have remarked the same thing before
-now, and some of them have even gone so far as to say that for my age
-it is a handsome face. Of course that was only said in compliment, I
-know; I don’t wish to make too much of it; but it does show that there
-is something in my face that strikes people, and I don’t wonder that it
-has struck you. Well, now, about dismissing you from your post—if I
-<em>could</em> find a way out of it——!”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span></p>
-
-<p>He looked at Peggy, as if he expected her to help him, but for the
-moment she couldn’t think of anything.</p>
-
-<p>“Of course you have committed a serious fault,” he said to <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma,
-who had risen from his knees and was waiting to hear what was to be
-done to him, with a mournful expression on his face. “Prisoners are
-entrusted to you, and you are right in treating them as well as you
-can. But you have treated this young lady as if she weren’t a prisoner
-at all.”</p>
-
-<p>“But I am not a prisoner,” said Peggy. “You have said yourself that I
-am not.”</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor’s face lightened. “Now, why didn’t I think of
-that?” he said. “It makes all the difference. <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma, you have
-committed no fault whatever. In fact, by carrying out his Majesty’s
-wishes at the earliest possible moment, you have shown yourself a
-zealous servant of the Crown, and I shall have much pleasure in
-recommending you for a rise in wages.”</p>
-
-<p>So that matter was settled in the most satisfactory fashion, and Peggy
-was pleased to see <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma cheer up and look proud of himself, as if
-he had done something particularly clever.</p>
-
-<p>She and Wooden said good-bye to the others, who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span> 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. They know
-that the bad time will end, and are content to wait till it does. Peggy
-managed to whisper to Lady Grace that she would do all she could to
-set things right and get the Queen out of prison. Then, of course, she
-would come out, too, and be restored to her post as lady-in-waiting.
-Wooden’s aunt was still eating and drinking in great enjoyment, and
-Wooden’s mother, after kissing them farewell, said that she should have
-a little nap, and when she woke up perhaps she would be let out.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img37">
-<img src="images/img37.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="XII">XII
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">PEGGY STAYS IN A REAL DOLLS’ HOUSE</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">Peggy had only stayed a very short time in prison, and had been so much
-interested in all that had happened there that she had hardly been able
-to think of herself in prison at all, but she was none the less pleased
-to be in the open street and free to go anywhere. They were going first
-of all to Wooden’s house, which was in the chief residential quarter of
-Dolltown, near the royal palace.</p>
-
-<p>The news of the imprisonment of a human child, and of four dolls, two
-at least of whom were highly respected, must have spread; for as they
-walked along everybody seemed to recognize them, and they were followed
-by an ever increasing crowd of dolls, who seemed to be greatly excited
-by their reappearance. The Lord Chancellor was in a high state of
-delight at the attention they were receiving. If he had a fault, it
-was a slight but excusable vanity. By his own labours he had raised
-himself to his present proud position, and thought it only natural that
-everybody who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> saw him should be extremely interested in him. He was
-generally accompanied by his secretary when he walked about the streets
-of Dolltown, so that if he happened to go unrecognized the secretary
-could tell the people who he was. But this time he had left him behind,
-to write out the notes he had taken in the Hall of Audience, and walked
-alone with Peggy and Wooden.</p>
-
-<p>He certainly received a great deal of attention, and was at first very
-pleased with it, as I have said. But by-and-by he became a good deal
-less pleased.</p>
-
-<p>For the crowd was not so good-tempered as it had been when they had
-all walked to prison together. Most of the dolls that composed it made
-a lot of fuss over Peggy and Wooden, whom they were pleased to see
-let out of prison, but they did not seem at all pleased to see the
-Lord Chancellor, and he had to listen to some unpleasant remarks about
-himself for his share in what had happened.</p>
-
-<p>These remarks caused him a good deal of pain, and, when he understood
-that he was not sharing in the popularity that Peggy and Wooden
-enjoyed, he began to explain to everybody who would listen to him that
-he had been against sending anybody to prison from the first, and that
-it was entirely owing to him that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span> Peggy and Wooden had been let out.
-But nobody did listen to him very carefully, and one rather rude Dutch
-doll actually said to him, “Oh, dry up, you silly old fool, and don’t
-talk so much.” This distressed him very much. He had never in his life
-been called a silly old fool before, and the phrase rankled. He did not
-try to excuse himself any more, but kept on repeating “silly old fool”
-under his breath, so as to see if it was really as bad as it sounded.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden’s house was situated in a handsome terrace, which had a gate and
-a little wooden lodge at each end of it, to keep the houses private.
-This was a good thing, for the crowd had to stay outside the gates.
-It was nice to have them so enthusiastic, but they might have made
-themselves a nuisance if they had swarmed about the house itself, and
-looked in at the windows, and dirtied the front door steps.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden had told Peggy what a nice house she had, and was pleased to be
-able to show it to her. It was a handsome, rather old-fashioned, wooden
-dolls’ house of three stories and six rooms, with a staircase running
-up the middle. It was nicely furnished, too, with beautifully-made
-dolls’ furniture and ornaments. Any little girl would have been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span>
-overjoyed at having such a dolls’ house given to her to play with. To
-Peggy it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> was even more delightful than if she had had it as a toy,
-because it was of a size that made it possible for her to use it as a
-real house. Instead of putting her hand inside the rooms with great
-care, so as not to disturb the arrangements, she could go into all the
-rooms herself and use the things in them.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img38">
-<img src="images/img38.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">It was a handsome house of three stories</p>
-
-<p class="p2">I know that it is not customary in stories to talk about the rooms and
-furniture of a house before your characters have entered it; but in
-this case it is all right, because the front of the house stood open,
-and Peggy saw nearly everything inside it before they went in.</p>
-
-<p>The rooms were a good deal larger than those in most dolls’ houses. I
-mean not only larger because the house had grown up, so to speak, but
-because they would hold more dolls and more furniture. In a dolls’
-house it is sometimes awkward to have a doll or a piece of furniture
-that takes up nearly the whole of a room, and even in good ones it does
-not often happen that the rooms are big enough to accommodate many
-dolls, or more than a few pieces of furniture. But there was quite a
-lot of furniture in the rooms of Wooden’s house, and although they were
-all square, and of the same size, which gave them a certain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span> lack of
-variety, they would comfortably hold quite a large number of dolls.</p>
-
-<p>On the ground floor were a kitchen and a dining-room, on the first
-floor a drawing-room and the best bedroom, and on the top floor a
-servants’ room and a spare room. Wooden pointed them out as they walked
-up the terrace, and said that as long as Peggy stayed with her she
-should give her the best bedroom, because it had the best furniture in
-it, and use the spare room for herself.</p>
-
-<p>It was just like Wooden to offer to do this, but Peggy said no, she
-wouldn’t hear of it. She could not see the furniture of the spare room
-from where they were, as it was too high up, but she was sure it was
-good enough for her.</p>
-
-<p>It may seem a little odd that Wooden should have spoken as if they were
-going to stay in Toyland, if not for ever, at least for some time.
-For Peggy had understood that the dolls who were still played with
-by children only went to Toyland when it was night—“over there,” as
-they would have said. But it did not seem odd to her, and in fact she
-never thought about it. Once in Toyland, the dolls who inhabited that
-pleasant country behaved as if they always lived there. It seemed to
-come from the air of the place; and that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span> explains why Peggy never once
-thought of going home again as long as she was there, any more than
-Wooden or any of the other dolls did.</p>
-
-<p>The weather was fine and warm, which would have made it nice to have
-the front of the house open, although a little wanting in privacy. But
-Wooden said, “I should like you to go in through the front door, dear.
-It is a beautiful door, and it seems a pity not to use it. So I think I
-will have the front of the house shut.”</p>
-
-<p>Two wooden servant dolls, a cook and a housemaid, dressed one in a
-blue, the other in a black frock, with snowy white caps and aprons,
-had been standing in front of the kitchen looking out for them. Wooden
-told them to shut the front of the house, and they came out and did so,
-pushing it back quite easily. For they were good servants and devoted
-to their mistress, and kept the hinges well oiled.</p>
-
-<p>When the front of the house was shut it looked very handsome indeed.
-The door that Wooden was so proud of was inside a fine porch, and had
-a brass knocker on it. All the windows had little panes of glass, kept
-beautifully clean, and white curtains looped up inside them. And each
-of them had a neat iron railing in front of it to hold flowers. It was
-like a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> real house, and yet it was like a dolls’ house, too, which made
-it all the more fascinating.</p>
-
-<p>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. She felt frightfully pleased; and it really was
-nice, and not a bit like a real house, although everything in it was of
-an ordinary real size.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor had come in with them. He had told Wooden that he
-had had a lot of running about and should like to rest a little. But,
-of course, what he really wanted was to get away from the crowd, and go
-home later on when it should have dispersed. But Wooden said that it
-was an honour to entertain him in her own house, which pleased him, and
-by the time they had got inside he had recovered some of his spirits,
-and seemed ready to be as talkative as ever.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img39">
-<img src="images/img39.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">Wooden led the way up to the drawing-room, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span> had a carpet of a
-very large pattern and a wall paper with enormous roses on it. The
-furniture was beautifully made, but Peggy felt that she was really
-sitting on a dolls’ sofa and not on an ordinary one, although it was
-comfortable, and of an ordinary size. Nothing was quite the same. The
-mirrors had tin frames, the books on the tables were evidently toy
-books, with thick leaves and bindings that did not keep quite flat;
-and there were some packs of cards and some dominoes on another table
-looking exactly like those very tiny ones which you can buy in shops,
-but are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span> so small that you do not want to play with them more than once.</p>
-
-<p>They had hardly sat down, Peggy and Wooden on the sofa and the Lord
-Chancellor on a large chair, before the doll housemaid opened the door
-and announced a visitor, by the name of <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Winifred.</p>
-
-<p><abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Winifred was a mature-looking Dutch doll. Most of the wooden dolls
-in Toyland were of Dutch extraction, even Wooden herself, just like
-many of the old families of New York, but they were no more Dutch than
-the New Yorkers are. She came forward and kissed Wooden, and said she
-was very glad she had come out of prison, and she felt that she must
-come round at once and tell her so.</p>
-
-<p><abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Winifred had hardly been accommodated with a seat before <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr>
-Hilda was announced, and when <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Hilda had said the same as <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr>
-Winifred, Captain and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Louisa were announced. Captain Louisa was
-an officer in a regiment of wooden soldiers, and wore his uniform. His
-wife and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Hilda were wooden dolls like <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Winifred. These were
-followed by <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Joyce, <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Ida, <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Mollie, <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr>
-Jane, and one or two more, all of the best wooden families of Dolltown,
-and it was evidently a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span> source of great pride to Wooden that they
-should show such a nice feeling towards her.</p>
-
-<p>She introduced them all to Peggy, and those who did not know him to the
-Lord Chancellor. There were so many of them that it was like a sort of
-party. The dolls sat rather stiffly in their chairs, and there were
-other little points about them, such as their knees showing rather
-prominently through their skirts and trousers, which made it seem like
-a dolls’ party, and as if they were all playing at something. This
-pleased Peggy. She felt as if she had set them all down herself on
-their chairs and on the sofas, exactly where she wanted them to be, as
-she did sometimes with her smaller dolls in her dolls’ house at home,
-and pretended that they were talking politely to each other.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img40">
-<img src="images/img40.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="XIII">XIII
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">THE DOLLS TALK IT ALL OVER</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">The late imprisonment of Peggy and Wooden, and especially of Wooden,
-naturally formed the chief subject of conversation.</p>
-
-<p>“I must say,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Winifred, “that I was surprised to hear that
-<em>you</em> had been sent to prison, <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Wooden. We had all heard that
-such a <em>very</em> different lot had been prepared for you.”</p>
-
-<p>“Yes,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Hilda. “What we heard was that you were to be made
-Queen and live in the palace.”</p>
-
-<p>“And we were very <em>glad</em> to hear it,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Joyce, a thin,
-rather vinegary-looking doll, whom Peggy did not very much take to.
-“We knew that if <em>you</em> were made Queen there would be no more
-high-and-mightiness at the palace, and you wouldn’t give yourself airs
-with <em>us</em>.”</p>
-
-<p>“It would be the beginning of a new era,” said <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Joyce, who was a
-members of the Dolls’ Parliament. “The Woodens would be no longer
-oppressed by the Waxes, and peace and contentment would reign, where
-before there had been strife and inequality.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span></p>
-
-<p>“I’m not sure,” said the Lord Chancellor, “that I quite agree with that
-observation. 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.”</p>
-
-<p>“What I think,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> 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.”</p>
-
-<p>The other dolls seemed to be rather taken aback by this plainness of
-speech, and the Lord Chancellor said, “Tut, tut! You mustn’t say things
-like that, my dear lady. It isn’t respectful to the Crown.”</p>
-
-<p>“But it’s what a good many of us are feeling,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Winifred. “At
-first it was very nice to feel we were considered as good as the Waxes.
-In this company there’s no harm in saying that Waxes do give themselves
-airs, and it isn’t nice to feel you are considered common, when you
-know you are nothing of the sort, but quite the opposite.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img41">
-<img src="images/img41.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">“But <em>all</em> Waxes don’t give themselves airs,” said Wooden,
-speaking for the first time. “There’s Lady Grace, now. Both of us live
-with this dear little girl when we’re over there, and we are real
-friends, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span> there’s never a word awry between us. And it’s the same
-here.”</p>
-
-<p>“I’m sure,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Ida, a young-looking doll who was dressed more
-fashionably than the rest, “that I have always got on as well as
-possible with the Waxes. In fact, most of my friends were Wax before
-they were all sent to prison.”</p>
-
-<p>“I should think you must feel a bit lonely, then,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Jane.
-“I’ve always associated with Woods myself, and prefer their company.”</p>
-
-<p>“The best company in Toyland,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Winifred, “is to be found
-amongst the higher classes of Woods. Still, I’m against this sending to
-prison of all Waxes, whether they give themselves airs or not.”</p>
-
-<p>“It isn’t so much the shutting up of Waxes that I object to,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr>
-Louisa. “It’s the shutting up of Woods. How did it come about, Wooden,
-that instead of marrying the King you were sent to prison?”</p>
-
-<p>Captain Louisa cleared his throat behind his hand. “Manners, my dear,
-manners!” he whispered to his wife.</p>
-
-<p>“We don’t want to go into all that,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Perhaps
-a slight mistake was made; but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span> it has now been put right, chiefly
-owing to representations made to his Majesty by myself.”</p>
-
-<p>“It hasn’t been put right, and we do want to talk about it,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr>
-Mollie. “There are two Wooden dolls still locked up in the House of
-Cards, to say nothing of a Wax one. What were they locked up for, and
-when are they going to be let out?”</p>
-
-<p>She addressed her question directly to the Lord Chancellor, and there
-seemed to be a general opinion amongst the other dolls that it was
-right to ask it, and that it wanted an answer.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor gave one. He gave it at great length, but there was
-not much in it. It seemed that all they had to do was to trust to him,
-and everything would come right in the end.</p>
-
-<p>“That doesn’t satisfy <em>me</em>,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Mollie, when he had
-quite finished. “And it isn’t only Woods either that have been sent
-to prison, and are being kept there for nothing at all. What about
-this human child? What was <em>she</em> sent to prison for? I’m against
-sending human children to prison when they are allowed to come over and
-visit us. It’s likely to make bad feeling over there.”</p>
-
-<p>There were murmurs of approval at this, and all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span> the dolls looked
-sympathetically at Peggy, who felt rather shy.</p>
-
-<p>“You are quite right, <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Mollie,” said Captain Louisa. “And I may
-tell you in strict confidence that the army feels with you about it.
-It is the best army to be found anywhere. Leads and Woods alike are
-devoted to their duty, and quite ready for a war, if a war is forced on
-us. But we don’t want a war with the people over there. We should win,
-of course, in the long run, but it would leave bad blood behind it, and
-while it was going on our women and children wouldn’t be safe.”</p>
-
-<p>“It’s a prospect I don’t like at all,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Winifred. “I have
-received nothing but kindness from Humans, myself, and I believe the
-same may be said by most of us here. I say that Peggy ought not to have
-been locked up, and I hope she will remember that I said that when she
-goes back. <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Winifred, 4 Prospect Place, Dolltown, are my name and
-address, and over there I may be found at any time at Top Drawer, Day
-Nursery Chest, 43 Hamilton Square, London, <abbr title="southwest">S.W.</abbr>”</p>
-
-<p>All the other dolls hastened to give Peggy their names and addresses,
-except <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Joyce, who said,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span> “My peace-loving sentiments are well
-known, and nobody over there is likely to make any mistake about them.
-I agree with the opinion of this assembly to this extent: I believe
-that a Wood King is the best kind of King we could have for Toyland,
-but I’m not at all sure that King Selim is the right doll in the right
-place, or that this reign is likely to be an improvement on the last.
-Wax or no Wax, Queen Rosebud would never have made the mistakes in
-foreign policy that have already been made in this reign. If we are not
-very careful, this young lady, and others who may come over to visit
-us, will carry back a report that may bring serious trouble. King Selim
-ought to be told that.”</p>
-
-<p>“For my part, I’ve no patience with King Selim,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Mollie. “I
-heartily wish Queen Rosebud wasn’t dead.”</p>
-
-<p>“But Queen Rosebud <em>isn’t</em> dead,” said Wooden. “She is locked
-up in the House of Cards. Peggy took her tea up to her this very
-afternoon.”</p>
-
-<p>She spoke in a tone of surprise, as if everybody ought to know that
-Queen Rosebud was alive. Peggy had been wondering whether it would be
-a good thing to tell the dolls what she had discovered, and now that
-Wooden had let it out, she was rather glad. She<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span> didn’t much like
-keeping such a secret to herself, and, of course, a doll is hardly
-capable of keeping any secret, and Wooden had only not spoken before
-because she had got used to the idea of Queen Rosebud being alive, and
-had not thought much about it since.</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, my dear lady!” said the Lord Chancellor, before anybody could
-speak. “You mustn’t say a thing like that, you know. King Selim has
-said that Queen Rosebud is dead and of course she must be dead.”</p>
-
-<p>“But she isn’t,” Wooden persisted. “Peggy has seen her.”</p>
-
-<p>“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.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well, that’s beyond everything!” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Winifred. “And I should
-like to know who Rose is, to go locking up the Queen.”</p>
-
-<p>“If Waxes like to give themselves airs, that’s one thing,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr>
-Ida. “But for a Composition——! That’s what nobody can stand.”</p>
-
-<p>“There are Compositions and Compositions,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Mollie. “But Rose
-would be a disgrace to <em>any</em> class. She ought to be locked up
-herself.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span></p>
-
-<p>“And I think you ought to see to it, Lord Norval,” said <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Jane.
-“According to Peggy, she has told a deliberate falsehood, and that is
-punishable by law, as I’ve always understood.”</p>
-
-<p>They seemed to be in danger of forgetting all about Queen Rosebud in
-their disgust for Rose. But this brought them back to the subject.</p>
-
-<p>“I quite agree with you,” said the Lord Chancellor. “It is a most
-disgraceful affair altogether. 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.”</p>
-
-<p>“But Selim is just as bad as she is,” exclaimed Peggy. “<em>He</em> ought
-to be sent to prison, too. Why do you call him ‘His Majesty’? He isn’t
-a King at all.”</p>
-
-<p>“Hush, hush, my dear young lady!” said the Lord Chancellor, much
-shocked. “I know you are human, and to be excused on that account, but
-if one of <em>us</em> had said that, it would be punishable, you know.
-Selim is a King. He wears a crown. We have all seen it.”</p>
-
-<p>“He is only a chess king,” said Peggy. “I meant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span> that he isn’t King of
-Toyland. He can’t be, if Queen Rosebud is still alive.”</p>
-
-<p>“That’s one way of looking at it, certainly,” said the Lord Chancellor,
-in a puzzled kind of way. “I shall have to think about it very
-carefully when I go home. He <em>says</em> he’s King of Toyland. I shall
-get at it better when I’ve slept over it.”</p>
-
-<p>“But aren’t you going to do anything now?” asked Peggy. “There’s Queen
-Rosebud still locked up in the House of Cards. <em>I</em> think Captain
-Louisa ought to take his soldiers at once, and let her out.”</p>
-
-<p>All the dolls had sat with puzzled faces, looking at Peggy and the Lord
-Chancellor. They had all been ready to talk a great deal, but when it
-came to doing something they seemed quite at a loss.</p>
-
-<p>Captain Louisa started when his name was mentioned. “If it was my duty,
-I should do it,” he said. “I should do it very well—nobody better.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well, I think it is your duty,” said Peggy. “Don’t you, Wooden?”</p>
-
-<p>“Well, dear,” said Wooden, “if we all did our duty as well as Captain
-Louisa, we might be very proud of ourselves.”</p>
-
-<p>Captain Louisa looked proudly at Peggy. “You see what she thinks of
-me,” he said. “And it isn’t only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span> me either. My men would follow me
-anywhere.”</p>
-
-<p><abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Winifred rose from her seat. “I’m afraid I must say good-bye, dear
-<abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Wooden,” she said. “I am so glad you have been let out of prison.
-And I’m so glad that Queen Rosebud isn’t dead. Somehow, I could never
-feel that she was.”</p>
-
-<p>All the dolls rose one after the other to say good-bye. They all
-said they were glad that Queen Rosebud was alive, and some of them
-said that she ought not to stay in prison a moment longer. But none
-of them seemed interested in how she was to be got out, or in what
-should happen afterwards, except that <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Mollie said she hoped Rose
-would get her deserts, and <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Ida said that they saw now what came
-of Compositions giving themselves airs. However much they seemed to
-be different from one another in their way of talking and looking
-at things, they all seemed alike in having no idea of acting for
-themselves. They were very nice, but Peggy thought that if she had been
-the Queen in prison she would hardly have felt so confident as Queen
-Rosebud had been of her doll subjects getting her out again.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img42">
-<img src="images/img42.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">All the dolls rose to say good-bye</p>
-
-<p class="p2">However, the Lord Chancellor, who stayed behind, did seem to think that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span>
-<em>something</em> ought to be done, though he seemed disinclined to
-do it himself. “When the people get to know of this,” he said, “I’m
-afraid there will be trouble. The question is, how to act so as to save<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span>
-trouble.”</p>
-
-<p>“<em>I</em> should think the question was how to get poor Queen Rosebud
-out of prison as soon as possible,” said Peggy.</p>
-
-<p>“Well, certainly there is that side of it,” he said. “The only thing
-is that if she comes out of prison and goes back to the palace, there
-will be two of them—a King and a Queen—and that is something that it
-is very difficult to know how to deal with, without a great deal of
-careful thought. If King Selim could marry Queen Rosebud, now! How does
-that strike you as a way of getting over the difficulty?”</p>
-
-<p>“It doesn’t strike me at all,” said Peggy. “Selim has done a very
-wicked and horrible thing. Queen Rosebud was ill, and she <em>might</em>
-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.”</p>
-
-<p>“That is a very eloquent speech,” said the Lord<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span> Chancellor. “Very
-eloquent indeed. I wish I could make one like it. But you see the
-trouble is that the King can do no wrong; so of course you can’t punish
-him.”</p>
-
-<p>“But he <em>has</em> done wrong,” said Peggy. “And he <em>isn’t</em> the
-King. You keep on talking about him as if Queen Rosebud wasn’t alive.
-<em>She</em> is the Queen. Selim is only a usurper.”</p>
-
-<p>“I’m beginning to see it,” said the Lord Chancellor. “It’s a very
-subtle point, but I’m beginning to see it, or at least some of it.”</p>
-
-<p>Whether he would have seen all of it in time cannot be known, for just
-at that moment the door was opened by the housemaid doll, and in came
-Colonel Jim and Teddy.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img43">
-<img src="images/img43.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="XIV">XIV
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">THE ESCAPE</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">The moment Teddy came into the room, Peggy felt that the time for
-action had come. And she had never felt more pleased with him than when
-he addressed himself straight to the Lord Chancellor, and said, “Now,
-then, old man, you come along with us to the House of Cards. We’re
-going to get the Queen out of prison, and we want you with us.”</p>
-
-<p>“I’m sure I’m very glad that you propose to adopt that course,” said
-the Lord Chancellor, speaking quickly and nervously. “It is exactly
-what I should have recommended myself. But why do you want me with you?
-I should have thought—”</p>
-
-<p>“Never mind what you would have thought,” said Teddy. “We want you with
-us because, now the people have found out that old Selim’s a rascal,
-and the Queen isn’t dead, they’ve got their dander up. They’ll have
-some questions to ask, and you can answer them. Colonel Jim and me will
-be too busy.”</p>
-
-<p>This did not seem to suit the Lord Chancellor at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span> all. He began to
-protest vigorously that he had had no more to do with the fraud that
-Selim had practised than anybody else. But Teddy cut him short. “If you
-won’t come of your own accord,” he said, “Colonel Jim has a couple of
-troopers outside who will make you. You’d like to come, too, Peggy and
-Wooden. We’ve brought gees for everybody. Come along quick. We don’t
-want to waste any time.”</p>
-
-<p>He led the way downstairs, and the others followed him, Colonel Jim
-bringing up the rear, and keeping an eye on the Lord Chancellor to see
-that he did not escape.</p>
-
-<p>Waiting outside the house were several horses. There was Colonel Jim’s
-black charger, and those of his two troopers. These were of lead. There
-were also some composition horses, and a couple of shaggy ponies, made
-of wood and covered with hair, and a beautiful cream-coloured one, with
-a bridle and saddle-cloth sewn with gold embroidery. They were all toy
-horses and ponies, but they looked splendidly alive, and Peggy was
-quite delighted to see that the two shaggy ponies had side-saddles, for
-she knew at once that one must be meant for her and one for Wooden. She
-loved riding, and thought it would be great fun to ride through the
-streets of Dolltown on a toy pony.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span></p>
-
-<p>Wooden was not used to riding, although Peggy had sometimes put her on
-her rocking-horse at home, so she was not altogether without practice.
-But Teddy assured her that he had chosen her a very quiet pony, and
-she was so nice, in the way that she always did what people wanted
-her to, that she made no trouble about it, and got on very well when
-she was once helped into the saddle. Peggy felt quite at home on her
-pony, and patted its nice shaggy neck. She would have liked to have
-a gallop on it, but that would not be possible in the streets of the
-town. Colonel Jim and his troopers mounted their chargers, the Lord
-Chancellor got on to one of the composition horses, and Teddy leapt
-on to another straight from the ground, without using the stirrup. A
-royal servant-doll, dressed in scarlet and gold, led the beautiful
-cream-coloured pony, which was evidently meant for Queen Rosebud. It
-was a good idea to have a sort of little procession on horseback to
-take her from her prison to her royal palace again, and no doubt Teddy
-had thought of it, for he seemed to be the only one who really did
-things, while the other dolls only talked about them.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img44">
-<img src="images/img44.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">What Teddy said about the inhabitants of Dolltown being excited over
-what had happened was quite true. The crowd outside the gates of the
-terrace was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span> larger than ever, and when Peggy and the dolls appeared
-amongst them on horseback there was quite a commotion. They cheered
-them all except the Lord Chancellor, and they were so angry with him
-that they would probably have pulled him off his horse if he had not
-been riding between the two troopers, who protected him. They seemed
-to have taken the affair much more seriously than the dolls who had
-come to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span> visit Wooden, but then a crowd always is more excited about
-things than a few people, because they work each other up. Very likely,
-if this crowd of dolls had had to do something of their own accord,
-instead of shouting at those who were doing it, they would not have
-been very good at it. And if they <em>had</em> pulled the Lord Chancellor
-off his horse, it is doubtful if they would have known what to do next.</p>
-
-<p>The poor Lord Chancellor was terribly upset at the way the crowd hissed
-and booed at him. Peggy heard him explaining to the troopers who rode
-on either side of him that nobody was more surprised than he was, or
-more glad either, that Queen Rosebud was alive. But they took no notice
-of him, and the crowd went on booing and hissing all the same.</p>
-
-<p>When they arrived at the market-place, there was a square of lead life
-guardsmen all round the door of the House of Cards, to keep the crowd
-off. The market-place was packed full of dolls, shouting and singing,
-and looking up to the top story, where they had heard that the Queen
-was imprisoned. Peggy could see the open window at which she had sat;
-but she did not appear at it.</p>
-
-<p>What seemed more remarkable still was that there was nobody on the
-balcony of the first floor, either.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span> It might have been thought that
-Wooden’s aunt, at least, would have been there, watching what was going
-on. But there was nobody to be seen.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img45">
-<img src="images/img45.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">There was nobody on the balcony of the first floor either</p>
-
-<p class="p2">They rode into the empty space kept by the soldiers. Teddy whispered
-something to Colonel Jim, who got off his charger and went up the
-steps and knocked at the door. As he waited for a minute before it
-was opened, all the dolls on that side of the market-place were quite
-silent.</p>
-
-<p>The door was opened by <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma. Peggy could not hear what passed
-between him and Colonel Jim, but presently Colonel Jim turned sharp
-round and came down the steps again. “The Queen’s gone,” he said. “So
-are the other prisoners. Selim and Rose came and fetched them half an
-hour ago.”</p>
-
-<p>Here was a piece of news! <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma was summoned, and made to tell
-exactly what had happened. The Lord Chancellor asked most of the
-questions, for he was out of reach of the crowd and had somewhat
-recovered from his fright. Besides, he was used to asking questions,
-and liked doing it.</p>
-
-<p>It seemed that Selim had come to the prison in a closed carriage,
-accompanied by Rose; and another empty carriage had come with them.
-He had seemed to <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma to be in a very nervous state, but he had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span>
-not seen much of him, because he had sat in the carriage all the time,
-while Rose had gone in to the House of Cards, and fetched the Queen
-down. <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma had not known it was the Queen until this moment, for
-he had kept himself shut up in the House of Cards, with <abbr title="Missus">Mrs.</abbr> Emma and
-the baby, and had not tried to find out what the crowd outside was so
-excited about.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor asked him what the Queen had said when she had come
-downstairs.</p>
-
-<p>“She didn’t say nothing, your Honour,” said <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma. “She looked kind
-of proud-like, and held her head high. If she’d had her crown on I
-should have knowed it was the Queen by the way she behaved.”</p>
-
-<p>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 <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> 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!” This had offended <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma, for he had left the police force some
-time before.</p>
-
-<p>Rose had got into the first carriage, with the Queen and Selim, and the
-other three had got into the second carriage. Then they had all driven
-away.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span></p>
-
-<p>That was <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Emma’s story, and about all that could be got out of
-him. The two carriages had driven off in the direction of the palace,
-and Rose must have told Wooden’s aunt that that was where they were
-going to. The carriages were not the gilt and glass coaches that were
-generally used from the palace, but ordinary landaus. They had not
-stood before the House of Cards very long, and nobody had taken much
-notice of them. A few dolls had seen the Queen come out and get into
-the carriage, but they had not known who she was.</p>
-
-<p>Well, what was to be done now? It seemed plain that Selim had found
-out somehow that the people were beginning to find out all about his
-wickedness, and had kidnapped the Queen. Why he had also taken off
-Lady Grace, and Wooden’s mother and aunt, was not quite so plain, but
-perhaps it was because he thought they knew too much, and he wanted to
-get them out of the way.</p>
-
-<p>“What we had better do,” said the Lord Chancellor, “is to go back to
-the palace and interview King Selim. I’m all for prompt action in these
-matters, and I propose we start at once.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, you silly old thing!” said Teddy. “As if he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span> had gone to the
-palace! You ought to know better than that, at your age.”</p>
-
-<p>“But Wooden’s aunt said they were going to the palace,” said the Lord
-Chancellor. “You wouldn’t accuse her of telling a lie, I suppose!”</p>
-
-<p>“Rose told her so,” said Wooden. “You can’t believe <em>anything</em>
-that <em>she</em> says. Aunt would like to think she was going to the
-palace, and Rose must have told her that to quiet her.”</p>
-
-<p>It was rather clever of Wooden to think of this, for dolls are apt to
-believe everything they are told. But when a doll has once made herself
-disbelieved, as Rose had done, there is an end of their trusting her.</p>
-
-<p>“There is a good deal in what you say,” said the Lord Chancellor. “But
-if they have not gone to the palace, where <em>have</em> they gone? It
-might be as well to go there and see if anybody knows.”</p>
-
-<p>They might perhaps have done this, for, although Selim would not have
-been likely to tell anybody where he meant to go, still, they might
-have picked up some sort of a clue. But just as they were discussing
-it, our old friend <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah pushed his way through the soldiers who
-were guarding the square. He was, of course, a royal servant, and wore
-a medal to show it,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span> so they let him through. He brought the important
-information that the two carriages had been seen driving fast through
-the town on the road to the sea.</p>
-
-<p>Directly Teddy heard this, he gave a whoop, and said, “Let’s after
-them, then, as fast as we can go. Come on, all!” He dug his heels into
-his horse’s sides, and galloped off. The soldiers parted to let him
-through, and the crowd scattered away from him on all sides, as he
-galloped through the streets and was lost to sight.</p>
-
-<p>Now this was all very well. Teddy was anxious to catch up the
-fugitives, but if he did catch them up he couldn’t very well do
-anything all by himself. Besides, he seemed to be about the only one
-who had any ideas in his head—or, at least, ideas that were worth
-anything—and if he went off all by himself, the others were likely to
-make a muddle of things. It was his “flightiness” coming out, but he
-had done so well already that he might be forgiven for it.</p>
-
-<p>However, his going off like that was not so bad as it might have been.
-If it had been left to the Lord Chancellor to say what was to be done
-next, it would have taken a long time to do anything, and then very
-likely what would have been done would have been wrong. And Colonel
-Jim, though brave as a lion, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span> handsome, too, was not intellectual.
-But <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah seemed to have a few ideas in his head, and some spirit to
-carry them out. Of course he was not exactly a doll, though he lived
-in Dolltown, and he had Oriental blood in his veins, or whatever fluid
-dolls do have, and this made him rather more clever than might have
-been expected from his wooden expression. He was angry, too, at having
-had orders given him about his Ark by Selim, and wanted to get at him
-and tell him what he thought of him.</p>
-
-<p>Anyhow, as the Lord Chancellor was talking and talking, <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah cut
-him short. “What are you wasting all this time for?” he asked. “What
-we’ve got to do is to go after them as quick as we can, and take the
-soldiers with us. Give me a horse, and let’s be off.”</p>
-
-<p>There was a horse to spare, and <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah got on to it. He looked rather
-funny in his long yellow robe, and being a sort of sailor he was not
-used to horses. But he managed to stick on all right, and as the horse
-was fortunately a quiet one, he soon got used to the unusual motion. He
-said to the others, “Now, you come after me!” and without waiting any
-longer he trotted off.</p>
-
-<p>The others all followed him. Colonel Jim gave some orders to his men,
-and they formed themselves into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span> fours and fell behind. It was quite a
-gay cavalcade that went trotting through the streets of Dolltown, and
-this time the crowd cheered them to the echo, and forgot to hiss and
-boo at the Lord Chancellor.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img46">
-<img src="images/img46.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="XV">XV
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">THE PURSUIT</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">They trotted along through the streets of the town, and soon got clear
-of the crowd. But the news of what had happened had spread all over
-Dolltown by this time, and there were many dolls at the windows and on
-the pavements to see them pass. They did not know yet that Selim had
-kidnapped Queen Rosebud, but they knew that she was alive, and that he
-was a usurper. When they saw all the soldiers they knew that something
-stirring was going to happen, and by the way they shouted and waved
-their hands it seemed that Selim had very few friends in Dolltown, and
-had better look out for himself if he ever came back there.</p>
-
-<p>At the end of the town, where the country began, there was a gate,
-and a sentry box beside it, where a wooden sentry was keeping guard.
-They stopped to question him. He remembered the two carriages driving
-through the gate, and had wondered who they belonged to. It was not his
-duty to challenge them, as he was there chiefly for ornament; but when
-Teddy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span> had galloped up, he had asked him, more out of curiosity than
-anything else, why he was going so fast. Teddy had said, “Open the gate
-and I’ll tell you.” So he had opened the gate, and the moment Teddy had
-got through it he had galloped off again, shouting out to the sentry,
-“I’m going fast because my horse is.” Of course this was true, but it
-had made the sentry angry; and he had been still more annoyed when
-Teddy had jumped himself round on his horse, just as if he had been a
-rider in a circus, and ridden away backwards, making long noses at him.
-The sentry said that this was disrespectful to a servant of the Crown,
-and asked the Lord Chancellor to send Teddy to prison for it. But they
-had no time to waste over his grievances, and set off again.</p>
-
-<p>They trotted through the country roads, and Peggy enjoyed the ride very
-much. She felt quite safe, with all the soldiers riding behind them,
-but thought it was hardly necessary to have brought so many of them, as
-<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah and Teddy, to say nothing of Colonel Jim and his two special
-troopers, would have been enough to take Selim prisoner when they
-caught up with him. But it was a good thing that they had brought the
-soldiers, as will presently appear.</p>
-
-<p>By-and-by they came to an inn, which was a farm as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span> well, and looked
-very peaceful and comfortable, with its neat toy barns and outhouses
-among the trees and fields, and the toy animals feeding all about them.
-They stopped for a minute or two to ask questions of the innkeeper,
-who was a wooden doll of a rather stolid appearance. When the Lord
-Chancellor began to ask him questions he went and fetched his wife, and
-she was more intelligent, and gave her answers well.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img47">
-<img src="images/img47.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">He went and fetched his wife</p>
-
-<p class="p2">She said that the two carriages had stopped at the inn, and a lady in
-the first one had put her head out and asked for a glass of water. The
-blinds of the carriage were drawn down, but when the innkeeper’s wife
-had brought the glass of water she had seen the lady who asked for it
-give it to another lady inside the carriage. She thought that this
-second lady had tried to say something to her, but the first lady had
-put her hand over her mouth and stopped her, and then somebody else in
-a corner of the carriage—she thought it was a man by the size of his
-hand—had passed the glass out to her, with a piece of money, and the
-window had been pushed up at once and the carriages had driven off.</p>
-
-<p>She was rather confused about it all, as it had passed so quickly; but
-it seemed plain that Queen Rosebud had thought of this way of making
-it known that she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span> was being carried off. She must have said that she
-didn’t feel very well, and would like a glass of water at the next
-house they stopped at, meaning to tell whoever brought it who she was.
-But Rose had prevented her. This was one more thing against Rose.</p>
-
-<p>That was not all the innkeeper’s wife told them. As the carriage drove
-off, a wooden lady had put her head out of the second one and called
-out, “Here we go round the mulberry bush!” The innkeeper’s wife had
-thought afterwards that perhaps these were some lunatics—for there
-are a few lunatics amongst dolls—being taken out for an airing. But,
-of course, it had only been Wooden’s aunt acting in her usual silly
-fashion.</p>
-
-<p>But the odd thing was that the innkeeper’s wife had seen nothing of
-Teddy. She said she must have seen him if he had passed along the road,
-as she had been in her kitchen, which was in front of the house, all
-the time. So as they went on they had something to wonder about, as to
-what had become of Teddy. Wooden thought he had missed the way, but
-this seemed impossible, as the road ran straight towards the sea. The
-Lord Chancellor thought that he might have tumbled off his horse, but
-this seemed more unlikely still, as he was clever enough to jump about
-on it and ride backwards. What Peggy thought she kept to herself. It<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span>
-was that Teddy had some clever plan in his head, which they would hear
-about all in good time, and had never meant to catch up the carriages
-all by himself. For of course he could easily have done so if he had
-liked, as he could go much faster than they could.</p>
-
-<p>They went up the road over the hills, which you remember that the river
-had come through in a gorge, and when they came to the top of it they
-could see the sea a few miles away. The road ran straight down to it.
-They could see several specks on the road at a good distance off, but
-there was nothing that looked like the two carriages.</p>
-
-<p>This was a disappointment, as they had quite expected to catch sight of
-the fugitives from the top of the hill, and to come up with them before
-they could reach the sea. If they had already got there, it seemed as
-if they must have escaped them after all.</p>
-
-<p>But it seemed impossible that the carriages should have got so far
-ahead. They had not been more than half an hour behind them at the inn,
-and even if they had not gained on them since, they must have seen them
-on the road in front, if they had been there. So they must have left
-the straight road, and the question was what to do next.</p>
-
-<p>As they were talking it over, Peggy thought she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span> heard a cry in the
-wood on their right. She listened with all her ears, and then thought
-she heard another. She told Wooden, and all of them listened.</p>
-
-<p>Yes, there was no doubt about it. The noise was some distance off,
-and could not be heard very plainly; but it kept on, and seemed to be
-somebody calling for help. They got off their horse and went into the
-wood, in the direction from which the call seemed to be coming. As they
-got farther in among the trees it became louder. It was like a woman
-calling “Help! Help!” every second or two, but in a strangled voice, as
-if there were something in the way.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden called out “Coming! Coming!” and they ran on as fast they could.</p>
-
-<p>They came to a little clearing in the wood, and there, sitting on the
-ground with her back against a great fir-tree, was Wooden’s unfortunate
-aunt. She had a handkerchief tied over her mouth, and a rope went round
-her body and tied her tight to the tree. Her hands were behind her, and
-seemed to be tied too, so that she could not free herself. Altogether,
-she was in a very sorry plight.</p>
-
-<p>But she did not seem to have altogether lost her spirits, for when she
-saw them coming towards her she kicked her legs up and gave a little
-sort of crow, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span> sounded rather pathetic, coming through her
-handkerchief.</p>
-
-<p>Wooden untied the handkerchief, murmuring sounds of distress and
-sympathy all the time, while Colonel Jim busied himself with the rope,
-and when he found he couldn’t untie it cut it with his sword. In a
-very short time, Wooden’s aunt was standing up free, shaking the pine
-needles off her skirts.</p>
-
-<p>“I thought somebody would come if I yelled long enough,” she said, in
-quite a cheerful voice, which did her credit, as it showed she had a
-great deal of pluck, in spite of the numerous faults of her nature.</p>
-
-<p>“But how did you come to be here, dear?” asked Wooden. “And what has
-become of mother?”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, yer mother’s all right,” said Wooden’s aunt. “She’s with the
-quality. I don’t like their ways of going on, so I asked them to kindly
-drop me anywhere that was convenient.”</p>
-
-<p>“But why did they tie you up like this, dear?” asked Wooden.</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, they thought we was playing Blind Man’s Bluff,” said her aunt.</p>
-
-<p>It was all very well for her to take it in this light-hearted spirit,
-and Peggy rather admired her for it. But she must have had a very rough
-time, for her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span> dress was all torn, and her wrists were scarred where
-the rope had bound them. As she spoke she was rubbing them, to restore
-the circulation, and she looked white, and as if she might faint at any
-moment.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img48">
-<img src="images/img48.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">Fortunately, there was a little pool of water quite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span> near, and Colonel
-Jim, who showed himself kind and useful in this emergency, filled his
-helmet with water and gave it to her to drink, as she sat on the ground
-again with Wooden kneeling by her side and holding her.</p>
-
-<p>“Ah, that’s better,” she said, smacking her lips, when she had had a
-good drink. “I’ve been looking at that pond and wishing I could get at
-it. Drat that Selim! I wish I could get at <em>him</em>! <em>I</em>’d mark
-him.”</p>
-
-<p>She said these last sentences in her usual vigorous way, which showed
-that she was recovering; and when she had rested a little longer, they
-got her story out of her.</p>
-
-<p>“They’d said we was going to be took to the palace,” she said, “and at
-first I didn’t think nothing of going such a long way round. None of
-us didn’t. But by-and-by Lady Grace says, ‘I wonder who’s in the first
-carriage,’ she says. ‘Oh, I’ll soon find that out,’ I says, and I pokes
-my head out of window and hollers out to the driver, ‘Hi, Mister! Who
-have you got in front there?’”</p>
-
-<p>“Was that before or after you had passed the inn where they got some
-water?” asked the Lord Chancellor.</p>
-
-<p>“Never you mind whether it was before or after,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span> said Wooden’s aunt.
-“I’m telling this story, and I’m going to tell it in my own way.”</p>
-
-<p>This was not very polite of her, but she had been through a great deal,
-and her nerves were in an irritable state. The Lord Chancellor asked no
-more questions, and she finished her story to the end.</p>
-
-<p>She said the coachman told her that it was the King who was in the
-first carriage, and advised her not to put her head out of window again
-as he had orders to hit anybody who did so with his whip.</p>
-
-<p>This seemed such an extraordinary order for him to have received
-that the three dolls in the carriage began to suspect that there was
-something wrong, especially as they had now been driving for a long
-time, and when Wooden’s aunt had put her head out of window she had
-seen that they were getting near the hills, which she recognized. It
-was not exactly observant of them not to have suspected something
-before, but, as you know by now, dolls are apt to take everything that
-happens as a matter of course.</p>
-
-<p>Well, by the time the carriages had reached the top of the hill, the
-three dolls had come to the conclusion that they were being run away
-with. Wooden’s aunt said she wasn’t going to stand that, and was going
-to ask Selim what he meant by it. She said she would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span> jump out of the
-carriage as it was going, and run forward to the first carriage. The
-others said that the coachman would hit her with his whip, but she said
-she would run the risk of his missing her.</p>
-
-<p>Well, as the carriages came to the top of the hill, she opened the
-carriage door quickly and jumped out, and ran forward to the first
-carriage. The driver shouted at her, and gave her a great cut with his
-whip, which unfortunately did not miss her, but hit her in the face,
-where there was still an ugly-looking mark. But she hardly felt it at
-the time, and ran forward to the first carriage, shouting out, “Hi, you
-there, Selim! Come out and show your ugly face!”</p>
-
-<p>Oh, there was no doubt about the pluck of Wooden’s aunt, in spite of
-the numerous faults of her character.</p>
-
-<p>The rest was soon told. Selim had been furious with her, and he and
-Rose had dragged her into the wood and tied her to the tree, and then
-they had gone off. But before they had left her, Rose had stood in
-front of her and laughed her scornful laugh, and said, “That’s for
-calling me Sawdust. Perhaps you’ll be sorry now for crossing the path
-of Rose, who never forgets and never forgives.”</p>
-
-<p>This was one more thing against Rose.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor asked Wooden’s aunt if she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span> had any idea where
-the carriages were going, and told her they could not see them on the
-straight road to Dollport. This was the name of the little town by the
-sea, where the dolls landed from “over there.”</p>
-
-<p>“Well, silly,” said Wooden’s aunt, “if they ain’t on that road, of
-course they’re on the other one. It don’t take a pair of specs to see
-that.”</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor, slightly annoyed at being addressed in this
-fashion, said stiffly, “I should have thought of that if I had been
-given time. We have delayed long enough. Let us at once take the road
-to Dollfort.” Now, Dollfort was the place in which the wooden soldiers
-of Toyland were trained. If Selim had gone there, it looked as if he
-expected the wooden soldiers to be on his side.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img49">
-<img src="images/img49.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="XVI">XVI
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">COLONEL JIM ATTEMPTS A RESCUE</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">The road to Dollfort turned to the right at the top of the hill, and
-ran for some way through the wood. When it got to the bottom of the
-hill there was a stretch of open country for about a mile; then there
-was another thick wood on another hill.</p>
-
-<p>There was no sign of the carriages on the straight bit of road, but the
-pursuers had been some time freeing Wooden’s aunt and listening to her
-story, and could hardly have expected to catch them up yet. Wooden’s
-aunt was riding between Peggy and Wooden. She had nearly recovered
-from her disagreeable experience, and was inclined to like being on
-horseback. She said the motion reminded her of being in a small boat on
-a choppy sea.</p>
-
-<p>When they had got about halfway between the two woods, Colonel Jim
-halted them with a sharp word of command. “Women and children behind!!”
-he said, and then ordered his men in front.</p>
-
-<p>It was a good thing that this was done, for as they approached the
-second wood two armed wooden soldiers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span> sprang out of it and levelled
-their rifles at them. They did not fire them, but it would have given
-Peggy and the dolls a nasty fright if they had been riding in front.</p>
-
-<p>The wooden sentries challenged Colonel Jim, riding at the head of his
-little troop, with a “Halt!” and a “Who goes there?” He said “Friend!”
-but they did not say “Pass Friend!” as is the usual custom. They told
-him that the King had recently gone through to Dollfort, and had told
-them that they were to let nobody pass until they received further
-orders from the fort.</p>
-
-<p>Now Colonel Jim engaged in the duties of his profession was quite a
-different person from the amiable but rather slow-witted person we have
-hitherto seen. He didn’t tell the sentries that Selim wasn’t the King
-at all, or engage in any argument with them. He said, “I’m an officer
-of the Royal Body Guard, so your orders can’t apply to me.” Then he
-gave them the password for the day, which, as you remember, was the
-word “pot-plants.”</p>
-
-<p>Now, you must also remember that, although Selim had thought he might
-be followed in his flight, which was the reason why he had given orders
-to the sentries to let no one pass the wood, he could not have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span> known
-that he would be immediately followed by a troop of Household cavalry,
-which is, of course, the special protection of a King or Queen. So he
-had naturally not warned the sentries of this, and as Colonel Jim spoke
-with authority, they were inclined to obey him.</p>
-
-<p>“Well, I suppose it’s all right for you and your men,” said one of the
-sentries, “but what about these here civs?” He meant civilians.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor now showed considerable resource. The sentries had
-lowered their rifles, which, strictly speaking, they ought not yet to
-have done, so he pushed his way to the front, and said in an important
-voice, “I am the highest official of this country; this gentleman here
-is the Royal Head Bargeman; this lady is the one the King has asked to
-marry him, and this is her aunt; and this little girl is a human being,
-and therefore doesn’t come under your orders at all.”</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, well, I suppose it’s all right,” said the sentry in a grumbling
-voice. “You can pass through, all of you, and if me and my mate thinks
-it isn’t all right afterwards, why we can shoot after you.”</p>
-
-<p>“Have you got your rifles in order?” asked Colonel Jim in a sharp
-voice. “Let’s have a look at them.”</p>
-
-<p>Because he was an officer, and had spoken in a voice<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span> of command, they
-obediently handed him their rifles to look at.</p>
-
-<p>“Thank you,” said Colonel Jim, and handed the rifles to one of his
-men. “Now, you take these two and bring them along with us,” he said
-to another one. The surprised sentries found themselves prisoners, and
-made to walk by the side of the horses, which now proceeded at a foot’s
-pace up through the wood.</p>
-
-<p>So far, all had gone well.</p>
-
-<p>They kept a sharp look-out going through the wood, but saw no more
-soldiers. When they came to the edge of the wood they could see
-Dollfort across the open downs about a mile away.</p>
-
-<p>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.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img50">
-<img src="images/img50.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">Dollfort was a very fine toy fort</p>
-
-<p class="p2">The pursuing party remained in the shelter of the wood, where they
-could not be seen from the fort, even<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span> with a telescope, but they
-could see the fort themselves quite plainly, and the country that lay
-between. This was all open grass-land, and woolly sheep were feeding on
-it. There were no houses between the wood and the fort.</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Jim at once announced that he was going to take his soldiers
-to the fort and summon Selim to surrender. The Lord Chancellor thought
-this was a dangerous proceeding, but Colonel Jim refused to listen to
-him. “I’m in military command here,” he said, “and that is what I am
-going to do.” No doubt he was in a hurry, not only because of the Queen
-being shut up there, in the power of Selim, but because his dear Lady
-Grace was also shut up there. But he did not say this. He left <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr>
-Noah in charge, and set off with his gallant little band. They watched
-them ride down the hill, and trot across the open road over the downs,
-and very fine they looked on their splendid black chargers, with the
-sun glittering on their helmets and cuirasses, and their white plumes
-waving in the breeze.</p>
-
-<p>The two captured wooden soldiers had had their hands tied, but when
-<abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah told them all about Selim’s wickedness, and about the Queen
-being still alive, they expressed such horror that he allowed them to
-be untied. They said that if the soldiers in the fort<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span> knew what had
-happened none of them would be on Selim’s side. They had only been
-prepared to obey him as King because he was of wood, but they were
-loyal to Queen Rosebud, and would be glad to have her reigning over
-them again. They were none of them pleased at the shutting up of all
-the Waxes, who had done them no harm, and rumours had come through
-to Dollfort that not only Waxes but some Woods also had been sent to
-prison, and this had pleased them still less. When the sentries were
-told that Wooden and her aunt had been two of the dolls in question,
-they were very interested, and said that their comrades would never
-fight for Selim, if it came to fighting. Whether this was true or not,
-you will soon see.</p>
-
-<p>They watched the little troop of soldiers get smaller and smaller,
-and at last disappear among the houses outside the fort. Then they
-waited for a long time, while the sheep fed peacefully on the downs in
-the evening sunlight, and no other signs of life could be seen at all
-except the smoke rising from the houses round the fort.</p>
-
-<p>They had finished talking, and had been sitting silent for about five
-minutes, when Wooden’s aunt, whose ears were very sharp, said suddenly,
-“Hark! What’s that?”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span></p>
-
-<p>Nobody else had heard anything, but almost immediately <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah said,
-“There are guns firing.” And then Peggy distinctly heard some faint
-pops coming from the direction of the fort.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img51">
-<img src="images/img51.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">This was serious, because the life guardsmen had no rifles, but only
-their swords, and if they were being fired upon by the wooden soldiers
-it would be difficult for them to defend themselves.</p>
-
-<p>“Look!” cried Peggy in great excitement.</p>
-
-<p>Just where the houses began, a mile away, there was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span> a flash of sun
-on bright metal, and no sooner had she spoken than they could all see
-that it was on the helmets and breastplates of the soldiers. Then they
-saw the life guardsmen galloping towards them, and directly they had
-got clear of the houses, they saw the scarlet and white of the wooden
-soldiers following them, and heard their guns shooting. But none of the
-horse-soldiers seemed to be hit, and on they came, galloping along the
-road, and on the grass on either side of it. The foot-soldiers came
-running after them, but of course they could not go nearly so fast, and
-presently Colonel Jim and his men galloped up the road into the wood.</p>
-
-<p>By this time the wooden soldiers were about a quarter of the way
-between the fort and the wood. There seemed to be an enormous number of
-them. They had left off firing their rifles, but were coming on at a
-good pace. In not so very long they would reach the wood, and it really
-seemed as if they must capture not only Colonel Jim and his troop, but
-Peggy and the Woodens and all the rest of them. Peggy <em>was</em> a
-little frightened then, for the red and white was coming towards them
-like a great wave, and all the soldiers had rifles, which they would
-certainly use if any resistance were offered to them.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span></p>
-
-<p>Colonel Jim cast one hurried glance round him. “If we had axes,” he
-said, “we could make a barricade, and keep them at bay until we could
-send for reinforcements. As it is, I’m afraid we must clear out.”</p>
-
-<p>“What, and leave my sister-in-law shut up there!” exclaimed Wooden’s
-aunt. “Never! If nobody else stays, I shall. I’ve got a sharp pair of
-nails, and I can give them a few scratches.”</p>
-
-<p>Now, this was plucky of Wooden’s aunt, and loyal too. She had only
-mentioned Wooden’s mother, but no doubt she had had the Queen in her
-mind as well. But she had left out of account the military situation,
-not knowing much about that sort of thing, and her opinion could not be
-allowed to stand against that of Colonel Jim, who was quite as brave as
-she was, but knew when there was a chance of fighting successfully and
-when it was better to retreat.</p>
-
-<p>“We shall have to go,” he said decidedly. “If they take us prisoners we
-can’t do any more good, but if we get back to Dolltown we can bring out
-reinforcements and take the fort. To horse, all of you!”</p>
-
-<p>The wooden soldiers were now about halfway across the stretch of open
-country. They were not running so fast now, as they must have got
-rather winded with their first effort, but more and more of them were
-coming<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span> out of the fort, and it was quite plain that the little band in
-the wood would have no possible chance against them.</p>
-
-<p>They untied the horses and ponies, and were just preparing to mount,
-when Wooden’s aunt said, “Hark! I heard a shout.”</p>
-
-<p>She turned towards the interior of the wood, and they all listened.
-Yes, there was somebody shouting, and they heard the noise of a horse
-galloping furiously, besides. In a moment there came into sight, among
-the trees—who do you think? None other than Peggy’s faithful old Teddy.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img52">
-<img src="images/img52.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="XVII">XVII
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">THE BATTLE</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">Teddy galloped up to them and threw himself off his horse. One glance
-at the advancing wave of wooden soldiers showed him what the position
-was. There was no time to explain what he had been doing. Every moment
-was of value. “There’s cavalry and infantry coming up,” he said to
-Colonel Jim. “We can make a stand here. Better send one of your men
-back to hurry up the guns.”</p>
-
-<p>But there was no necessity to do this, for as Teddy was speaking they
-could hear the noise of horses trotting along through the wood, and
-almost immediately a lot of lead soldiers made their appearance, and
-came rapidly towards them. They were Lancers, on bright bay horses, and
-very smart they looked with the little flags fluttering at the tops of
-their lances.</p>
-
-<p>The Colonel of the regiment rode at the head of them. He came up to
-Colonel Jim, and saluted. “Just in time, eh, sir?” he said. Colonel Jim
-saluted,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span> too, and said, “Are your men ready for a charge, sir? If so,
-we can keep them off till the guns come up.”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img53">
-<img src="images/img53.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">The Colonel of the Lancer regiment threw one glance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span> at the approaching
-wooden soldiers. There were thousands and thousands of them, and only
-a few of his men could come up at a time, by the narrow road through
-the wood. But odds did not daunt him, and he at once gave the order to
-charge.</p>
-
-<p>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.</p>
-
-<p>It had all happened so quickly that Peggy had not had time to be
-frightened yet. But the noise of the horses galloping and the men
-shouting got louder and louder, and the wooden soldiers had now got so
-near that their shouts could be heard too, as they stood to receive the
-shock of the cavalry. She suddenly shrieked, and clung to Wooden. “Oh,
-they’re not going to kill each other, are they?” she cried. “Do let’s
-go away!”</p>
-
-<p>Wooden soothed her. “Of course they’re not going<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span> to kill each other,
-dear,” she said. “Soldiers don’t do that in Toyland. They only knock
-each other down; and whichever side knocks most down wins.”</p>
-
-<p>This relieved Peggy’s fears a little, and in any case she was in the
-thick of it now, and had to see it through. She was really a plucky
-little girl, and by the time the cavalry got to the bottom of the hill
-she had partly recovered from her fright, and did not shut her eyes.</p>
-
-<p>The cavalry rode gallantly at the thick mass of soldiers, with their
-lances levelled, and whenever they hit a wooden soldier, down he went.
-The wooden soldiers fired their rifles at them as they came down the
-hill, and knocked over a few. But the bullets, which were small peas,
-of a kind grown specially for rifle ammunition, were not big enough
-to do much damage against men and horses coming so fast. It was only
-when several bullets hit the same soldier, or his horse, that they were
-knocked over. But the foot-soldiers left off firing and began to use
-their bayonets when the cavalry got amongst them, and then they did
-knock over a large number of men and horses, though not nearly so many
-as the Lancers knocked over of them.</p>
-
-<p>It was most fascinating to watch. The Lancers went on and on through
-the masses of infantry, and wherever they went, down fell heaps of
-wooden soldiers.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span> And when they were knocked down they lay quite still
-on the ground, and took no further interest in the proceedings. But the
-farther in the Lancers went the less they became, as men and horses
-were bowled over in their turn. It was just as if they were being
-swallowed up in the great mass of red and white, and there were so many
-of the wooden soldiers that it soon became plain that in a short time
-the Lancers would all disappear.</p>
-
-<p>Peggy watched the Colonel, who was always in front, fight his way
-steadily on, dealing lightning blows to right and left of him. But at
-last he went down, and the red coats were almost as thick as before,
-and still more were always coming up from the fort.</p>
-
-<p>It was then that Colonel Jim rallied his little troop for a last
-gallant charge. Teddy had galloped back through the wood, while the
-Lancers were charging, to hurry up the guns. He now came tearing back,
-and said to Colonel Jim in a hurried voice, “The guns will be here in
-a couple of minutes. If you can keep them back till then we shall have
-them beaten.”</p>
-
-<p>“I’ll try,” said Colonel Jim, looking at his little troop, which seemed
-almost nothing at all compared to the masses of soldiers advancing on
-them; and then he gave the word to charge.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span></p>
-
-<p>It was a desperate effort. The shock of the Lancers’ charge had now
-spent itself. The wooden soldiers, who had been kept back by it for a
-time which was short measured by minutes, but of inestimable value to
-the defenders of the wood, were now forming at the foot of the hill.
-If they succeeded in getting to the top of it, the little party in
-the wood would be surrounded and taken prisoners. Could Colonel Jim’s
-handful of men save them?</p>
-
-<p>The troopers were given instructions to form themselves into a line at
-the edge of the wood, and then to charge down the hill all together.
-They rode out of the shelter of the trees, and formed their line with
-as much coolness as if they were on parade. The foot-soldiers began
-firing again, and the bullets pattered on their cuirasses like hail,
-but had no effect upon these heroes, except to sting them up when they
-caught them in their faces, and to make their horses restive. Peggy
-could hear the bullets whistling and pattering amongst the leaves of
-the trees over her head, but she and the dolls had been withdrawn a
-little into the wood. Owing to the angle at which the wooden soldiers
-fired, there was no danger for them as long as the firing was from the
-bottom of the hill.</p>
-
-<p>It took the life-guardsmen a very short time to form<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span> into line, and,
-as the wooden soldiers had halted to fire at them, the time was not
-wasted. The moment they were in line, Colonel Jim, who was in the
-middle, slightly in advance of the rest, gave the word to charge.</p>
-
-<p>Down swept the splendid little band, in an irresistible charge. It
-was no good firing at them any longer, and the wooden soldiers stood
-with bayonets fixed to receive the shock. Wooden’s aunt, who had been
-getting more and more excited at what was happening, ran forward to the
-edge of the wood to watch, and Peggy and the others went with her.</p>
-
-<p>The sudden leaving off of the firing made a lull, in which the noise of
-the horses’ hoofs could be heard thundering down the hill. When they
-reached the bottom, the shock of the encounter was just like hammer
-blows, as wood met metal.</p>
-
-<p>The front line of wooden soldiers seemed to waver a little as the
-horsemen approached them. And no wonder! The wooden soldiers were brave
-enough, and they did not yet know that they were fighting in a bad
-cause, so there was nothing to make them cowards. But the first line
-of them, at least, must have known that they would all go down before
-the irresistible charge, and it spoke well for them that they stood and
-waited for it, instead of running away.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span></p>
-
-<p>It was not only the front line that went down under the weight, but the
-second and third. It really looked for a moment as if that single line
-of heavy cavalry would push the opposing host back all by itself. And,
-so far, not a single man or horse of them had fallen.</p>
-
-<p>But the impetus of the furious charge was bound to spend itself. A
-life-guardsman went down, and then another. But still they struggled
-on, Colonel Jim in front of them fighting desperately, as the Colonel
-of the Lancers had done. It was no longer a line of steel destroying
-everything in front of it as it swept on, but a few scattered horsemen,
-fighting gloriously against overwhelming odds.</p>
-
-<p>But still they did advance, and for every horse and rider that went
-down a score or more of foot soldiers bit the dust.</p>
-
-<p>“They’ll do it! They’ll do it!” yelled Wooden’s aunt, dancing about in
-a state of tremendous excitement.</p>
-
-<p>Teddy, sitting on his horse, was no less excited. “They’re giving way!”
-he cried. And Peggy distinctly saw a quiver run through the mass of
-wooden soldiers, like wind passing over a field of corn.</p>
-
-<p>At this very moment there was a roar and a rumble from the wood behind,
-and the artillery came galloping<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span> up, just in the nick of time. 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.</p>
-
-<p>The big guns got to work. One of them was quite near to where Peggy and
-the Woodens were standing. It was quickly loaded with gunpowder and an
-enormous pea. She stopped her ears as it was fired, but the noise was
-not so bad as if it had been a real gun. She distinctly saw the great
-pea fall in the middle of the fleeing army, and then go bowling along,
-knocking over lots of soldiers before its force had spent itself.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img54">
-<img src="images/img54.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">The big guns got to work</p>
-
-<p class="p2">Orders soon came, however, for the artillery to cease firing. More
-regiments of cavalry were coming up through the wood. As they arrived
-they were sent down to pursue the wooden soldiers, and also to ride
-round them, and cut them off from the fort. There was no necessity to
-knock down any more of them. If they were surrounded they would be
-obliged to surrender,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span> and this would come to the same thing. The guns
-would be wanted to reduce the fort, and, until further supplies of
-ammunition came up, they did not want to waste it.</p>
-
-<p>It was a pretty sight to see the cavalry galloping over the downs,
-outflanking the flying red coats, and presently getting between them
-and the fort. But a good many wooden soldiers who had only got a little
-way out when the rout began had already succeeded in making their way
-back. There would be plenty to defend the fort, if Selim should decide
-to try to hold it.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img55">
-<img src="images/img55.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="XVIII">XVIII
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">THE SIEGE</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">The great contest that would be known in the history of Toyland as the
-Battle of the Downs had been fought and won. But Queen Rosebud was not
-yet set free, and Selim was not yet captured. There was still stern
-work to be done. Dollfort must be taken at all costs, and as it was one
-of the strongest forts in the country that would be no light matter.</p>
-
-<p>The affair, however, was set in hand at once. The artillery limbered
-up and galloped down the hill and trotted across the downs, making a
-fine show. There were about twenty guns—quite enough to make a breach
-in the walls. But when they had done so, infantry would be required
-to pour in through the breach and complete the work that the guns had
-begun. The cavalry had already done their share, and would not be of
-much use for this task For in the valiant army of Toyland it was not
-customary to use horse-soldiers apart from their horses.</p>
-
-<p>But Teddy, who seemed to have thought of everything,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span> had asked for
-infantry to be sent from Dolltown, as well as cavalry and artillery,
-and almost as soon as the guns had thundered off down the hill the
-first detachment of foot-soldiers came up through the wood.</p>
-
-<p>If they had had to march from Dolltown they could not have been there
-in time; but all the available conveyances had been used to bring
-them up. 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.</p>
-
-<p>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. “So will the soldiers
-at Dollfort be, when they know the truth.”</p>
-
-<p>There was certainly no lack of eagerness shown by this fine regiment,
-as it marched down the hill with its flag at its head. Peggy was
-interested to see Captain Louisa marching with one of the companies. He
-had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span> said that his men would follow him anywhere, and she was glad to
-see that he was prepared to fight on the side of the right.</p>
-
-<p>When the first regiment had marched off, Teddy came up to them and
-said, “I think we might go now. You’d like to see the guns knock the
-fort down, wouldn’t you?”</p>
-
-<p>Peggy said she should like it very much. She had always liked playing
-with her boy cousin with his soldiers, and this was just like one of
-the battles and sieges that they had arranged, only on an enormous,
-glorious scale. Since she had seen that there was no horrible
-bloodshed, but only fair and square knocking down, from which none of
-the soldiers would be much the worse afterwards, she had ceased to feel
-any alarm at the fighting, and was quite ready to see some more of it.</p>
-
-<p>They rode across the downs towards Dollfort, and now Teddy had time to
-tell them how he had so luckily been able to bring up the troops, and
-spoil Selim’s little game.</p>
-
-<p>He had been galloping along the road after the two carriages and must
-have nearly caught them up, when he had met Japhet, <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah’s third
-son. He had been just about to pass him with a wave of the paw,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span> when
-Japhet had stopped him, and told him some most important news.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img56">
-<img src="images/img56.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">Now Japhet was a mild-mannered, studious young man, whose great hobby
-was the collection of wildflowers, which he pressed in a book. Whenever
-he was off duty on the royal Ark, he used to wander about the country
-picking flowers. Sometimes he went alone, and sometimes with a friend,
-who shared the same<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span> tastes. This friend was also in the royal service.
-In fact, he was none other than the driver of the carriage in which
-Selim had run away with Queen Rosebud. Japhet had made arrangements to
-meet him that very evening on the road between Dolltown and Dollfort,
-and have a good long ramble with him.</p>
-
-<p>It was fortunate that it was just on this road that Japhet had arranged
-to meet his friend. Of course, if he had not come, Japhet would have
-known that it was because he was on duty; but he would not have known
-where he was going.</p>
-
-<p>As the carriage passed, Japhet waved to his friend, and asked him where
-he was going. His friend said “Dollfort.” They both spoke under their
-breaths, making great movement with their mouths, and the driver also
-made a movement with his head towards the carriage behind him, and said
-in the same way, “I’ve got the old man with me.” This was how these two
-talked to each other about Selim, and was not meant for disrespect, as
-they would not have done it in public.</p>
-
-<p>Teddy said, “Are you sure he said Dollfort and not Dollport?”</p>
-
-<p>Japhet said he was quite sure, because he had jerked his thumb to the
-right, where Dollfort was. If he had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span> meant Dollport, he would have
-pointed straight ahead.</p>
-
-<p>Then Teddy had seen it all. Selim was not going to try to escape by
-sea, with Queen Rosebud, but was going to rouse the wooden soldiers
-of Dollfort, and perhaps try to get the kingdom back with their help.
-So Teddy turned sharp round, and rode back to Dolltown—but not along
-the road by which he had come—leaving Japhet standing there in
-considerable surprise.</p>
-
-<p>When he had told his story, the Lord Chancellor asked him why he had
-not come back and told them what he had found out. He was annoyed about
-it. “If it had not been for our own extreme cleverness,” he said, “we
-might have gone off on a false scent to Dollport, and not known where
-they had gone to at all.”</p>
-
-<p>Teddy grinned up at him rather impudently. “You wouldn’t have been much
-loss,” he said. “I knew it would take you about a month to start, if
-you started at all; and I wanted to take the short cut to the barracks.
-There was no time to be lost.”</p>
-
-<p>“It’s as well you did,” said <abbr title="Mister">Mr.</abbr> Noah. “The troops only came up just
-in the nick of time. Five minutes more, and the enemy would have been
-entrenched in the wood.”</p>
-
-<p>As they rode across the downs, they passed heaps<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span> of soldiers lying on
-the ground, most of which were wooden soldiers of the attacking party;
-but some were men and horses of the Lifeguards and the Lancers. None of
-them were much damaged, but they hated lying there and doing nothing,
-and implored to be picked up.</p>
-
-<p>But they were told that there wasn’t time for that. The ambulance corps
-would be sent out as soon as possible, and they must wait for that.
-The only soldier they did pick up was the Colonel of Lancers, who rode
-along with them, very glad for his horse to be on its feet again. He
-was proud of the charge that his regiment had made, but would not take
-any credit for his own share of it. He said that he had only done his
-duty as a soldier should.</p>
-
-<p>When they arrived at the houses in front of the fort, the guns had
-already got to work. The cavalry had gone into the streets, and told
-all the inhabitants to come away, as in five minutes their houses were
-going to be knocked down. It was necessary to destroy them, in order to
-have a clear range at the walls of the fort, and as our little party
-came up the dolls’ houses of the town were toppling down in dozens as
-the guns fired at them. All the poor dolls who had been told to leave
-them were gathered in a body on a low hill<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span> to the right, watching
-the destruction of their homes, and it was sad to hear the wails and
-lamentations that arose from them; for they had not had time to bring
-anything away. Perhaps their possessions were not worth very much, but
-still, a home is a home to those who live in it. Be it ever so humble,
-there is no place like it, as the song says, and it was not nice for
-these poor people to see their homes knocked down by great peas as big
-as wardrobes. However, the houses would all be put up again as soon as
-the siege was over, and the poor dolls would not be any the worse off.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img57">
-<img src="images/img57.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">All the poor dolls were gathered in a body</p>
-
-<p class="p2">The hill on which the refugees were crowded was out of the line of
-fire, and our party went there to watch what was going on.</p>
-
-<p>It was not quite such an easy matter to reduce the fort as it first
-appeared. For one thing, the walls had been built to resist such
-attacks, and would be more difficult to demolish than the houses
-outside them. And for another thing, the artillery did not have it all
-its own way. There were, of course, guns in the fort itself, and they
-were already doing great damage to the attacking forces. The shooting
-was not quite so good as it might have been, and the artillery-men in
-the field were very clever in moving their guns about quickly, so that
-whenever they had fired they would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span> move away to a new position, and
-the guns in the fort always had to be finding new ranges.</p>
-
-<p>Still, one field-gun after another was put out of action, and now there
-were only about half of them left to do the work.</p>
-
-<p>The situation was as follows. The houses in the way had all been
-knocked down, leaving the battlements of the fort open to attack, but
-it had cost half the artillery to do it. Would the other half be enough
-to make a breach in the walls, through which the infantry could pour
-in and do their work, before they were put out of action, too? And
-supposing they did, would enough infantry arrive in time to do the
-pouring in? It was touch and go, as all the episodes of this great
-battle had been.</p>
-
-<p>As for the infantry, the wooden regiment in which Captain Louisa served
-had already come up, and was resting under cover waiting till the time
-came for it to make its attack. And across the downs were marching more
-regiments, all of lead soldiers. Yes, the infantry would be ready, if
-the guns could do their work in time.</p>
-
-<p>The artillery now changed its tactics. The time had gone by for moving
-about and firing guns singly. They would never make a hole in those
-stout walls,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span> unless all of them fired at one place together. This then
-was what they had to do. It was costly, because when once the guns of
-the fort had found the range, they could knock them all out pretty
-quickly. But it was the only way.</p>
-
-<p>The Colonel of Lancers explained all this very politely to Peggy, and
-she watched with breathless interest this exceedingly important phase
-of the battle.</p>
-
-<p>There was silence from the field artillery while the guns were all
-being trained on to one place in the walls. But the guns from the fort
-redoubled their efforts. One of them had the good luck to find the
-range immediately. The moment the field-guns had galloped up to the
-position that had been decided on, a great bullet came bounding along
-and knocked one of the batteries down. Then the others found the range.
-The field-guns were pointed and loaded wonderfully quickly, but before
-any of them could actually fire, five of them had been knocked out.
-Just as the order to fire was given, two more were knocked out. So the
-great blow was only delivered by three guns.</p>
-
-<p>They might just have done it if the balls had all hit exactly the same
-spot in the walls. Two of them hit it exactly, but the third went a
-little wild. Peggy distinctly heard them hit the wall. There was a
-little fall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span> of masonry and a cloud of dust. When this cleared away,
-she looked eagerly for a hole in the wall. But no hole was there. Those
-frowning battlements stood as whole and nearly as strong as before.</p>
-
-<p>Immediately afterwards the remaining field-guns were put out of action
-by the guns of the fort. The artillery attack had failed, and a
-tremendous cheer arose from the soldiers who were crowding the walls of
-the fort watching the Homeric contest.</p>
-
-<p>But their cheering soon died away, for this was not the end of it. What
-followed happened so quickly that Peggy could not afterwards remember
-exactly how it did happen. But almost before she could draw breath the
-wooden regiment which had come up first was charging towards the fort
-with lusty shouts. Shots from the guns in the fort mowed them down in
-long lanes, but still they charged on. They swarmed over the ruins of
-the houses, and reached the very walls of the fort; and when they got
-there they began swarming up the walls themselves, just like flies.</p>
-
-<p>It was a most gallant assault. They were under shelter from the guns
-of the fort, but the soldiers on the battlements could reach them,
-and made great havoc in their ranks. They climbed up on each other’s
-shoulders, but directly one of them reached the top<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span> he was knocked
-down, and then the next one was knocked down, and sometimes a whole
-line of men was toppled over.</p>
-
-<p>But there were always more to take the place of those who fell. A
-regiment of lead soldiers came dashing up to help them, and then
-another and then another still. The advantage of numbers was on the
-attacking side now, but the advantage of position was very much with
-the soldiers of the fort, and it seemed impossible that anybody should
-ever succeed in climbing over the top of the wall.</p>
-
-<p>But a lot of sharpshooters were told off to aim at the soldiers who
-were manning the walls, and they did their work very cleverly, picking
-them off one by one. The guns of the fort were trained on them, and
-they went down in large numbers, but they imitated the tactics of the
-artillery, and never fired twice from the same spot; and gradually they
-made an impression. There came a moment when the soldiers on the top of
-the wall did not seem quite so thick as before. And when that moment
-came there was a great shout from the regiments below, and from the
-onlookers. For at last a soldier attacking the wall scrambled on to the
-top of it.</p>
-
-<p>They saw him stand for a second laying about him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span> at the defenders, and
-then he went down. But not before two or three more had climbed over.</p>
-
-<p>After that it was quickly finished. More and more soldiers reached
-the top, until presently the defence almost ceased, and the defendant
-forces were driven away from the top of the walls altogether.</p>
-
-<p>Another shout went up when the great gate in front of the fort was seen
-slowly to roll open. And then the gallant soldiers ceased climbing up
-over the wall, and poured in through the gate, to finish the work that
-had been so splendidly begun.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img58">
-<img src="images/img58.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="XIX">XIX
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">SELIM IS CAPTURED</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">The final reduction of Dollfort would have taken longer than it
-actually did if the citadel at the top of it had not been closed for
-spring cleaning. Selim and Rose would certainly have taken refuge
-there, and would have been defended by those that remained of the
-wooden soldiers. The citadel was very strong, and it might not have
-been possible to take it by assault at all. They might have had to
-starve it into surrender, and that would have taken a long time.</p>
-
-<p>However, by a lucky chance, the commander of the fort, who was rather
-fussy, had said the day before that he couldn’t have the place
-looking like a pig-sty, and it was to be thoroughly cleaned out and
-white-washed. This was being done when Selim drove into the fort, and
-the fighting had followed so soon that there had been no opportunity of
-putting the citadel into any sort of shape to resist attack.</p>
-
-<p>Soon after the fort was taken, Peggy and the others were allowed to
-ride into it through the gateway that had been opened by the attacking
-party. As they came<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span> into the first narrow street of the fort a wooden
-officer was standing by the gate. It was none other than Captain
-Louisa, who saluted his old friends, and said he was very glad to see
-them there.</p>
-
-<p>Another officer who was standing with him, patted him on the back, and
-said, “You haven’t told them that it was you who was first over the
-wall.”</p>
-
-<p>“That was nothing,” said Captain Louisa modestly. “I was only doing my
-duty as a soldier should.”</p>
-
-<p>They congratulated him heartily on his gallant feat of arms. He had
-said nothing about it himself, but it was plain that he was pleased
-at having it known to them. Peggy had thought it rather boastful of
-him when he had said in Wooden’s drawing-room that nobody would do his
-duty as a soldier better than he should, but it had turned out to be
-quite true. Wooden said how pleased his wife would be to hear what he
-had done, and his friend said that he would be made a Major for it, or
-perhaps even a Colonel.</p>
-
-<p>They got off their horses at the entrance to the fort, for the streets
-were too narrow and steep to let them ride any more.</p>
-
-<p>Dollfort was an old-fashioned though a very powerful fort. There were
-houses and shops in the narrow streets, and as they went up through
-them they saw<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span> the soldiers taking refreshment in the inns, which were
-rather foreign-looking, and made Peggy think of the places she had seen
-in France.</p>
-
-<p>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.</p>
-
-<p>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. All the
-defenders of the fort who had fallen had been picked up again, and, to
-judge by the merry noise they were making, were none the worse for the
-experience.</p>
-
-<p>Captain Louisa and his friend walked up through the streets with them,
-and Peggy was interested to learn that the friend, whose name was
-Lieutenant Napoleon, belonged to a regiment which had defended the
-fort. He was very indignant at what he had heard about Selim. “Still,
-it was a good thing we didn’t know what a rascal he was,” he said, “or
-we shouldn’t have had this glorious scrap.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span></p>
-
-<p>That was the spirit of all the soldiers who had been fighting. They
-often had sham battles, but this had been a real one, and they had
-thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the knocking down of the houses
-outside the fort. They would not have been allowed to knock them down
-in a sham fight.</p>
-
-<p>The exciting and interesting thing now was to find Selim and Rose, and
-get to know where they had hidden the Queen and Lady Grace and Wooden’s
-mother.</p>
-
-<p>Lieutenant Napoleon told them that the two carriages had come driving
-quickly into the fort, and the King had put his head out of the window
-of the first and told the sentries to close the gates, and to send the
-Commander of the fort to him at once at the Busby Arms, which was the
-chief inn in the place. Then they had driven into the courtyard of the
-inn, and the gates of that had been closed too.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img08">
-<img src="images/img08.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">The chief inn of the place</p>
-
-<p class="p2">The commander of the fort was General Wellington-Vera. He was an
-uncle of Lieutenant Napoleon’s, and had taken his wife’s name upon
-marriage, as is the custom in Toyland. General Wellington-Vera was a
-brave and capable officer, and had hurried at once to the King, as
-of course he thought him, to take his orders. These were that the
-fort was to be stoutly defended to the last man and the last ounce of
-powder,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span> against a cowardly and treacherous attack that would shortly
-be made upon the King’s life by the lead soldiers of Dolltown, who
-had revolted. That was what Selim had told him, and of course he had
-believed it.</p>
-
-<p>Orders had quickly been given out that every man should be found at his
-post. Then General Wellington-Vera had made up his mind that he would
-not wait to be attacked, but would himself attack first; and Selim had
-approved of this. The result had been as we have already seen, and we
-need not go over the same ground again.</p>
-
-<p>Lieutenant Napoleon was his uncle’s aide-de-camp, and had been by his
-side during the greater part of the battle and the siege. He was now
-free for a time, because the General, who was an old man, had been
-somewhat exhausted by his exertions, and had gone home to lie down.
-He said that his uncle had told him nothing about any ladies being
-with Selim. He had talked to him in a room alone. In fact, Lieutenant
-Napoleon was surprised to hear that there were any ladies there at all,
-and still more surprised to hear that one of them was Queen Rosebud.
-He had known by this time that she was alive, and that Selim was a
-usurper, but not that he had tried to run away with her.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span></p>
-
-<p>“We ought to find them at once,” he said. “I am in command here as long
-as uncle is lying down, and I shall be pleased to put myself at your
-disposal.”</p>
-
-<p>They went first of all to the Busby Arms. The gate of the courtyard was
-still shut, and Lieutenant Napoleon banged on it with the hilt of his
-sword, and called out that if it was not opened at once he would give
-orders for it to be blown up with gunpowder.</p>
-
-<p>“You had all better take shelter,” he said, as he was waiting for a
-reply. “They might try sniping at us. I don’t mind for myself, but I
-shouldn’t like to see any of you hit.”</p>
-
-<p>So they went behind a wall, all except Colonel Jim and the Colonel of
-Lancers and Captain Louisa, who, being soldiers, scorned to shelter
-themselves, and waited with Lieutenant Napoleon.</p>
-
-<p>But there was no occasion for alarm. The gate was soon opened by the
-innkeeper, who had been terrified by the bombardment of the fort,
-especially as one of the cannon balls had fallen into the garden behind
-the inn and broken a cucumber frame.</p>
-
-<p>The innkeeper was as shocked as all the rest when he heard how wicked
-Selim had really been, and very surprised at being told that one of the
-ladies who had come in the carriage with him was Queen Rosebud.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span></p>
-
-<p>“She must have been the one they said was ill,” he said. “Her head was
-all covered up when they brought her in. They asked for a cup of tea
-for her, so I went down into the kitchen myself, because, you see, the
-girl what——”</p>
-
-<p>“Never mind about all that,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Where are they
-now? Take us to them at once.”</p>
-
-<p>But alas! the innkeeper could only tell them that they had gone.</p>
-
-<p>“The King,” he said—“well, I suppose I mustn’t call him that now—but
-Selim, he went out with the General when the firing began, and soon
-after he’d gone the ladies must have slipped off. That’s how I think
-it must have happened. Anyhow, when I went up to tell them about my
-cucumber frame they’d gone, and I haven’t set eyes on them since.”</p>
-
-<p>They did not waste much more time at the inn. They set out to make
-a thorough search of the houses in the fort, under the direction of
-Lieutenant Napoleon, who now showed himself very zealous on the scent.</p>
-
-<p>There were not, after all, a great many hiding places. It was only in
-the lower streets of the fort that there were shops and houses. Above
-that there were only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span> barracks and defence works, and the citadel at
-the top of all.</p>
-
-<p>None of the soldiers whom Lieutenant Napoleon questioned had seen
-anything of Selim since the taking of the fort. Up to that time he had
-been with General Wellington-Vera, overlooking the defence, and many of
-them had seen him. Of the Queen, and the other lady dolls, nobody had
-seen anything, from first to last.</p>
-
-<p>“The only thing left is to search the citadel,” said Lieutenant
-Napoleon. “I don’t suppose they are there, but I don’t see where else
-they can be.”</p>
-
-<p>So they set out, and climbed the steep streets up to the top of the
-fort.</p>
-
-<p>As they went up, they met a lot of female dolls coming down with pails
-and mops and brooms. These were the char-dolls who had been cleaning up
-the citadel, and it speaks well for their sense of duty that they had
-not left off their work during the bombardment. But they were all wives
-of soldiers, and had been trained to do their duty, whate’er befell.</p>
-
-<p>Peggy was interested in these dolls, who were chattering away at a
-great rate, and anxious to know what had been happening while they were
-busy. But, being wives of soldiers, they were too well disciplined to
-ask<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span> questions of the officers, and nobody took much notice of them
-except Peggy.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img59">
-<img src="images/img59.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">They were mostly dressed in print gowns, but some of them wore big
-cloaks, because the evening was beginning to get a trifle chilly. Peggy
-noticed in the crowd of them two who had the hoods of their cloaks
-right over their heads. One of them was very tall, but was bent, as if
-she had rheumatism. She had the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span> arm of the other one, who was carrying
-a pail, and they were talking with their heads close together, but not
-speaking to anybody else.</p>
-
-<p>They had just passed, rather quickly, when an idea suddenly sprang into
-Peggy’s mind. She clutched at Wooden’s arm, and said, “Look at those
-two! I believe they are disguised.”</p>
-
-<p>It was the remembrance of Colonel Jim’s cloak when he had got in to
-them in the House of Cards that had made the idea come into her head.
-And perhaps the same connection of ideas made Colonel Jim himself
-sharper than he generally was; for the moment Peggy had spoken he
-called out to the char-dolls to stop.</p>
-
-<p>Most of them, being well disciplined, stopped at once, at the word
-of command, but the two in cloaks went on, as if they had not heard,
-slightly quickening their pace, but not running.</p>
-
-<p>That was enough for Teddy. He sprang after them. “Here, you two!” he
-said. “Let’s have a look at your faces. I’m sure you’ve no reason to be
-ashamed of them.”</p>
-
-<p>They began to run. But Teddy ran after them, and put his foot in front
-of the tall one, who tripped and fell sprawling in the road. Teddy tore
-off the cloak,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span> and disclosed, not an inoffensive char-doll like the
-rest, but the gross form and sinister features of the rascally Selim.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img60">
-<img src="images/img60.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="XX">XX
-<br />
-<span class="center vsmall">THE LAST</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2">There lay the villain who had worked such mischief among the simple and
-generous inhabitants of Toyland, and, above all, to their noble Queen,
-who had loaded him with benefits. He lay on the muddy road, blinking
-and scowling at his captors, well knowing that his game was up and his
-doom would soon fall. He was a sorry spectacle, in his discovery and
-disgrace. It was checkmate for him finally, and no further move was
-left to him.</p>
-
-<p>As for the chief partner in his crimes, who had tried to escape with
-him—the renegade Composition doll Rose, who had so completely failed
-to obey the natural instincts of upright dollhood—it was easy enough
-to recognize her in the other cloaked figure, when once Selim’s
-disguise had been torn from him. It was Wooden’s aunt who sprang
-forward and snatched the cloak away from Rose. “So here you are, my
-beauty!” she exclaimed exultantly. “Got you at last! And if you try to
-get away I’ll scratch your eyes out.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span></p>
-
-<p>But Rose made no effort to get away. She did not cower before them, as
-the wretched Selim did. He made no effort even to rise from the ground
-until Lieutenant Napoleon called up two soldiers to seize him and hold
-him fast. But Rose drew herself up to her full height, and flashed
-scorn upon her captors from her dark eyes. There was something grand
-in her, in spite of the wickedness of her behaviour, but it was not
-the sort of grandeur that it does anybody any good to admire. The only
-thing that can be said about her is that with such a bold character
-it is a pity that she had not used her powers to do right instead of
-wrong. Then they might have led her to great heights. As it was, they
-had brought her down to ruin.</p>
-
-<p>They questioned her as to what had been done with the Queen and the
-other dolls who had been carried off; but she would answer them
-nothing. Her contemptuous look seemed to say, “You may do what you like
-with me, and I shall only go on despising you. But you will get nothing
-out of me, so it is waste of time to try.”</p>
-
-<p>The wretched Selim, however, was more amenable to pressure. “If you
-will let me free to go away,” he whined, “I will tell you everything.”</p>
-
-<p>“Give him a twist of the arm,” said Lieutenant Napoleon,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span> “and see if
-that will make him tell us. He isn’t going to be let free.”</p>
-
-<p>One of the soldiers screwed Selim’s arm, not very hard, because it
-wasn’t necessary. Directly he felt the slightest pain, Selim gave way
-at once. “Oh, don’t hurt me!” he cried out—the wretched, cowardly
-creature! “They are in the citadel—quite safe and comfortable. I might
-have executed them all, but I haven’t touched a hair of their heads.”</p>
-
-<p>“Bring the prisoners along with us,” said Lieutenant Napoleon. “We will
-go up to the citadel at once.”</p>
-
-<p>They mounted to the top of the fort. The citadel was a great barrack
-of a place, with one fine hall, and a regular hive of smaller rooms,
-besides the fortified works. 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.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span></p>
-
-<p>He had locked the door, and thrown away the key out the window, as he
-was obliged to confess, but it did not take long to break it open.
-Colonel Jim, who was the biggest and strongest of them all, and who
-was very anxious to rescue Lady Grace as quickly as possible, put his
-shoulder to the door and gave one mighty push, and it flew open.</p>
-
-<p>The room was very small. It had a narrow, barred window, and the only
-furniture in it was a low bed and a wooden chair. It was, in fact, a
-prison cell, used for locking up soldiers who had committed offences.
-And this was the place in which Selim had locked up the unfortunate
-Queen, and the other two dolls, without any food or even water.
-Supposing he had escaped, as he had hoped to do! They would have stayed
-there all night, and could only have been released if they had managed
-to attract the attention of the char-dolls who would come to the
-citadel the next morning.</p>
-
-<p>Colonel Jim was not very quick at understanding things, as we have
-seen, but he understood this directly his eyes took in what was inside
-the door he had burst open. He turned round and gave Selim a violent
-buffet on the side of his face, which made the miserable creature cower
-away and cry out. He had still to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span> punished for his crimes, but this
-first instalment of his punishment made everybody feel better.</p>
-
-<p>Queen Rosebud was sitting on the chair with her hands on her lap,
-the picture of stately patience; Lady Grace and Wooden’s mother were
-sitting on the bed, and it was evident that Lady Grace had been crying.</p>
-
-<p>The Queen rose slowly from her chair. “I wish to be taken away from
-this place,” she said.</p>
-
-<p>She was very royal, even under the dreadful circumstances in which she
-found herself, and after all she had gone through. The Lord Chancellor
-advanced towards her and bowed very low. “If your Majesty will deign to
-lead your loyal subjects to the great hall,” he said, “justice can be
-done at once on these malefactors, and in the meantime preparations can
-be made for your Majesty’s convenience for the night. It will be too
-late to go back to your Majesty’s Capital until tomorrow.”</p>
-
-<p>The Queen simply said, “Come, Lady Grace,” and walked out of the
-cell. The wretched Selim tried to draw her attention to himself with
-a whining prayer for mercy, as she passed him. But she took not the
-smallest notice. She did, however, make a slight inclination of the
-head towards Peggy, as she passed her; and Peggy felt proud and
-honoured, just as if<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span> it had been a real Queen who had taken notice
-of her. But it cannot be too often repeated that Queen Rosebud was
-<em>like</em> a real Queen, in all her ways and in all her deeds.</p>
-
-<p>They went into the great hall, and a seat was brought for the Queen at
-the top of it. All the rest of them stood. Selim, between two soldiers,
-and Rose, between two others, were brought up before her.</p>
-
-<p>The Lord Chancellor cleared his throat, as if it lay with him to open
-the proceedings, but he was a very different Lord Chancellor before
-Queen Rosebud from what he had been in the Hall of Audience before
-the usurping Selim. When the Queen held up her hand he stopped his
-preparations for speech at once, and listened respectfully to what she
-had to say.</p>
-
-<p>She spoke slowly, in a low musical voice, and every word she said could
-be heard plainly by everybody in the great hall.</p>
-
-<p>“King Selim is to be taken at once to the coast,” she said, “and put
-into a boat, with oars and a sail, and enough food for several days. He
-is to row or sail away from my kingdom, and never to come back here. If
-he does so, he is to be executed. Take him away.”</p>
-
-<p>That was all, and she waited for her commands to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span> be carried out before
-speaking again. She had given the miserable creature his title. He was
-a King, though not King of Toyland. He had been cast on the shores of
-her island destitute and solitary, and had been right royally treated.
-And he had repaid her as we have seen. But she made no accusation
-against him. He was simply to be sent away.</p>
-
-<p>The wretched being was led off by the two soldiers who had guarded him.
-He went without a word. He knew that his life had been most mercifully
-spared, for he could row or sail to land in a few hours, or be picked
-up by a ship. Let us hope that he felt some compunction for his many
-crimes. He passed out of the hall between the two guards, the great
-door clanged after him, and he was seen no more.</p>
-
-<p>The Queen’s face changed as she turned towards Rose. Selim was a
-foreigner, and in getting rid of him she had done all that she needed
-to do. But Rose was her own subject, and must be dealt with in a
-different fashion.</p>
-
-<p>“As for you,” she said, “you must stand your trial according to the
-laws of the land. If you choose to stand it now, with me for your
-judge, you may do so. Say whatever you please in your own defence, and
-I will listen to you. If not, I wash my hands of you,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span> and you will be
-sent to prison to await your trial by jury.”</p>
-
-<p>It was an extraordinary act of clemency for the Queen to deal with
-Rose’s case herself, and no doubt Rose knew that she would get more
-merciful treatment than if her crimes were left to the judgment of a
-jury of dolls, who could not help being furious with her for what she
-had done.</p>
-
-<p>But all she said, in a voice of scorn, was, “Oh, try me now, and finish
-it. I have done what I have done, and I wish I had succeeded. As I’ve
-failed, do what you like with me.”</p>
-
-<p>The Queen looked at her with her calm, steady gaze, and Rose’s eyes
-dropped before it. “I am more sorry for you than you are for yourself,”
-the Queen said. “I know that you have been led away by spite and
-jealousy, and those are feelings that cause great unhappiness to
-whoever possesses them. It is your misfortune that you have those bad
-qualities, but it is in your power to conquer them. It is my hope that
-you will succeed in doing so. Go! You are free.”</p>
-
-<p>The guards on either side of Rose fell away from her. She stood staring
-at the Queen with wide eyes, as if she could hardly believe what had
-been said to her. Then she realized that she was free, to go where<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span> she
-liked, and that she was not to be punished at all. She covered her face
-with her hands and burst into tears, and then hurried away out of the
-hall. Her proud and rebellious spirit would not have quailed before any
-punishment that might have been meted out to her, but the punishment
-would have left her no better than she had been before. But the free
-pardon, which she could never have expected, had broken her down. It
-was to be hoped that she would really repent of her bad ways now, and
-be a better doll than she had ever been before.</p>
-
-<p>When Rose had left the hall, the Queen’s face lightened. “All that is
-left for me now,” she said, “is to thank such of my subjects as have
-been so active and successful in setting me free from the plots that
-have surrounded me. And first of all, I must thank the dear little
-girl who is not my subject, but has come here on a visit to find us in
-trouble that is now at an end. She must come again. That is the only
-way in which I can reward her.”</p>
-
-<p>She smiled graciously and sweetly at Peggy, who felt extraordinarily
-pleased.</p>
-
-<p>Then she turned to Wooden. “You have always had my respect and
-liking,” she said, “and I had intended to have appointed you today to
-a post of honour<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span> about my person. I do so now, under the title of
-Lady-in-Waiting in Ordinary, and Extra Bed-doll of the Royal Chamber.
-Your duties will bring you into constant relationship with me, and I
-look forward with pleasure to making you my friend.”</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img61">
-<img src="images/img61.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span></p>
-
-<p class="p2">It was most graciously said, and Wooden was so overcome with pride and
-pleasure that she could only stammer out her thanks, and promise to
-perform her duties as well as ever she could.</p>
-
-<p>The Queen then called for a sword. Colonel Jim handed her his, and to
-his great surprise she knighted him with it, and then conferred the
-same honour upon Teddy, who was even more surprised, as he was the
-first bear in Toyland who had ever received it.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img62">
-<img src="images/img62.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-<p class="center caption">She conferred the same honour upon Teddy</p>
-
-<p class="p2">When she had done this, she rose from her seat, and intimated that she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span>
-wished to retire for the night, but before doing so she said a few
-gracious words to all who were in the hall. She said with a smile to
-Colonel Jim that she hoped soon to know him under the title of Sir Jim
-Lady-Grace, which was a happy way of saying that she would forward a
-marriage between him and her favourite lady-in-waiting. And she told
-Teddy, who was so overcome with the honour that had been conferred on
-him that his customary flightiness had departed for the moment, that
-she thought he ought to get married too, and she should always be
-pleased to welcome to her Court Sir Teddy and Lady Bear-Wooden’s-Aunt.</p>
-
-<p>It may readily be guessed into what a flutter this suggestion put
-Wooden’s aunt. While the Queen was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span> talking to her, and hearing about
-her having been tied up to the tree by Selim and Rose, she was quiet
-and respectful. But directly the Queen’s back was turned, and Teddy
-came up to her with a grin to see whether she liked the idea of
-marrying him, she cut a caper, and Teddy cut another, so that Wooden’s
-mother had to remind them both that they would belong for the future to
-the Upper Ten Thousand, and must learn to behave themselves.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The shades of evening were beginning to close in as the Queen left the
-hall, and suddenly Peggy began to feel as if she had had a very long
-day, and would like to go to sleep in her own little bed at home, if
-only she could get there. She began to wonder if it would be necessary
-to go over again all the long journey between Toyland and her home, and
-turned to ask Wooden how they were to get back.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>But as she turned, the hall and all the dolls in it seemed to be fading
-away, and as she opened her mouth to speak——</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>She awoke, to find herself lying in her own little white bed, with dear
-Wooden in her arms, and Teddy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span> with his impudent face lying on the
-pillow, pointing one paw towards the open window, into which the happy
-morning sun was shining.</p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img63">
-<img src="images/img63.jpg" class="w50" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="endimage">
-<img src="images/endimage.jpg" class="w100" alt="" />
-</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter transnote">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_Note">Transcriber’s Note:</h2>
-
-<p>Minor errors and omissions in punctuation and spelling have been fixed,
-otherwise the text has been left in original condition, except for the
-below</p>
-
-<p><a href="#Page_126">Page 126</a>: “to use pass-word” changed to “to use the pass-word”</p>
-</div>
-<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEGGY IN TOYLAND ***</div>
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author	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-02-02 21:23:59 -0800
committer	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-02-02 21:23:59 -0800
commit	af1e68a98c3b1d504022e7d903ff280ad0a34a2b (patch)
tree	f5c84fac9a10e77c2a42d0bf5d2d1a672077025a
parent	be64a9d19ebb16d1251ea7c613442aecd16a1e55 (diff)