RAGGEDY ANN AND THE PAINTER
When housecleaning time came around, Mistress' mamma decided that shewould have the nursery repainted and new paper put upon the walls. Thatwas why all the dolls happened to be laid helter-skelter upon one of thehigh shelves.
Mistress had been in to look at them and wished to put them to bed, butas the painters were coming again in the early morning, Mamma thought itbest that their beds be piled in the closet.
So the dolls' beds were piled into the closet, one on top of another andthe dolls were placed upon the high shelf.
When all was quiet that night, Raggedy Ann who was on the bottom of thepile of dolls spoke softly and asked the others if they would mindmoving along the shelf.
"The cotton in my body is getting mashed as flat as a pancake!" saidRaggedy Ann. And although the tin soldier was piled so that his foot waspressed into Raggedy's face, she still wore her customary smile.
So the dolls began moving off to one side until Raggedy Ann was free tosit up.
"Ah, that's a great deal better!" she said, stretching her arms and legsto get the kinks out of them, and patting her dress into shape.
"Well, I'll be glad when morning comes!" she said finally, "for I knowMistress will take us out in the yard and play with us under the trees."
So the dolls sat and talked until daylight, when the painters came towork.
One of the painters, a young fellow, seeing the dolls, reached up andtook Raggedy Ann down from the shelf.
"Look at this rag doll, Jim," he said to one of the other painters,"She's a daisy," and he took Raggedy Ann by the hands and danced withher while he whistled a lively tune. Raggedy Ann's heels hit the floorthumpity-thump and she enjoyed it immensely.
The other dolls sat upon the shelf and looked straight before them, forit would never do to let grown-up men know that dolls were really alive.
"Better put her back upon the shelf," said one of the other men. "You'llhave the little girl after you! The chances are that she likes that oldrag doll better than any of the others!"
But the young painter twisted Raggedy Ann into funny attitudes andlaughed and laughed as she looped about. Finally he got to tossing herup in the air and catching her. This was great fun for Raggedy and asshe sailed up by the shelf the dolls all smiled at her, for it pleasedthem whenever Raggedy Ann was happy.
But the young fellow threw Raggedy Ann up into the air once too oftenand when she came down he failed to catch her and she came down_splash_, head first into a bucket of oily paint.
"I told you!" said the older painter, "and now you are in for it!"
"My goodness! I didn't mean to do it!" said the young fellow, "What hadI better do with her?"
"Better put her back on the shelf!" replied the other.
So Raggedy was placed back upon the shelf and the paint ran from herhead and trickled down upon her dress.
After breakfast, Mistress came into the nursery and saw Raggedy allcovered with paint and she began crying.
The young painter felt sorry and told her how it had happened.
"If you will let me," he said, "I will take her home with me and willclean her up tonight and will bring her back day after tomorrow."
So Raggedy was wrapped in a newspaper that evening and carried away.
All the dolls felt sad that night without Raggedy Ann near them.
"Poor Raggedy! I could have cried when I saw her all covered withpaint!" said the French doll.
"She didn't look like our dear old Raggedy Ann at all!" said the tinsoldier, who wiped the tears from his eyes so that they would not rundown on his arms and rust them.
"The paint covered her lovely smile and nose and you could not see thelaughter in her shoe-button eyes!" said the Indian doll.
And so the dolls talked that night and the next. But in the daytimewhen the painters were there, they kept very quiet.
The second day Raggedy was brought home and the dolls were all anxiousfor night to come so that they could see and talk with Raggedy Ann.
At last the painters left and the house was quiet, for Mistress had beenin and placed Raggedy on the shelf with the other dolls.
"Tell us all about it, Raggedy dear!" the dolls cried.
"Oh I am so glad I fell in the paint!" cried Raggedy, after she hadhugged all the dolls, "For I have had the happiest time. The paintertook me home and told his Mamma how I happened to be covered with paintand she was very sorry. She took a rag and wiped off my shoe-button eyesand then I saw that she was a very pretty, sweet-faced lady and she gotsome cleaner and wiped off most of the paint on my face.
"But you know," Raggedy continued, "the paint had soaked through my raghead and had made the cotton inside all sticky and soggy and I could notthink clearly. And my yarn hair was all matted with paint.
"So the kind lady took off my yarn hair and cut the stitches out of myhead, and took out all the painty cotton.
"It was a great relief, although it felt queer at first and my thoughtsseemed scattered.
"She left me in her work-basket that night and hung me out upon theclothes-line the next morning when she had washed the last of the paintoff.
"And while I hung out on the clothes-line, what do you think?"
"We could never guess!" all the dolls cried.
"Why a dear little Jenny Wren came and picked enough cotton out of me tomake a cute little cuddly nest in the grape arbor!"
"Wasn't that sweet!" cried all the dolls.
"Yes indeed it was!" replied Raggedy Ann, "It made me very happy. Thenwhen the lady took me in the house again she stuffed me with lovely nicenew cotton, all the way from my knees up and sewed me up and put newyarn on my head for hair and--and--and it's a secret!" said Raggedy Ann.
"Oh tell us the secret!" cried all the dolls, as they pressed closer toRaggedy. "Well, I know you will not tell anyone who would not be glad toknow about it, so I will tell you the secret and why I am wearing mysmile a trifle broader!" said Raggedy Ann.
The dolls all said that Raggedy Ann's smile was indeed a quarter of aninch wider on each side.
"When the dear lady put the new white cotton in my body," said RaggedyAnn "she went to the cupboard and came back with a paper bag. And shetook from the bag ten or fifteen little candy hearts with mottos on themand she hunted through the candy hearts until she found a beautifulred one which she sewed up in me with the cotton! So that is thesecret, and that is why I am so happy! Feel here," said Raggedy Ann. Allthe dolls could feel Raggedy Ann's beautiful new candy heart and theywere very happy for her.
After all had hugged each other good night and had cuddled up for thenight, the tin soldier asked, "Did you have a chance to see what themotto on your new candy heart was, Raggedy Ann?"
"Oh yes," replied Raggedy Ann, "I was so happy I forgot to tell you. Ithad printed upon it in nice blue letters, 'I LOVE YOU.'"