When Marggy told her Mama that the Raggedys were going to search for
her Daddy she was very happy.
“I tell you what let’s do,” said Raggedy Ann. “Let’s take a ball of
your Mama’s darning cotton and make a wish that the cotton will roll in
front of us until it comes to where your Daddy is.”
Even Marggy’s Mama thought this would be lots of fun, so she got a ball
of red cotton and Raggedy Ann made the wish. “Now we will follow the
pretty red ball until it rolls to your Daddy,” said Raggedy Ann.
“I believe we had better take some cream puffs and doughnuts with us,”
Marggy’s Mama said. “For we may get hungry.” So she filled a basket
with doughnuts and cream puffs, then they all followed the red ball as
it rolled through the woods.
After the red ball had rolled along for almost a mile our friends came
to a little house beside the path and just as the red ball came to the
front door, a funny little old woman ran out and caught it.
“Oh my!” Raggedy Ann said. “You mustn’t pick up the little red ball! We
are following it!”
Then the funny little old woman made a face at Raggedy Ann. “I found
it!” she cried. “I need some red cotton to mend my red stockings!”
“Oh dear! What shall we do?” Marggy’s Mama asked.
“There isn’t anything you can do!” the funny little old woman replied.
“The red cotton is mine now!” And with this, she started into the house
with the little red ball.
Now maybe you don’t know it, but when Raggedy Ann made the wish for
the red ball to roll in front of them, this made the little red ball
a magical ball, so when the funny little old woman tried to take the
ball into her house, the magic ball pulled just as hard in the opposite
direction.
My! How the funny little old woman tussled. She pulled and the ball
pulled until finally the ball pulled the hardest and it pulled the
funny little old woman right down the path in front of our friends.
“If you do not let go of the little red ball, you will wear all the
soles off your shoes,” Raggedy Ann said.
“I will never, never let go!” cried the funny little old woman.
The funny little old woman was very determined and she held on to the
little red ball, even when it pulled her along and made her feet slide
over the gravel. “You will wear out your nice shoes,” Marggy’s Mama
said.
“I don’t care!” cried the funny little old woman. “You will have to buy
me new ones!”
“Did you ever hear the like!” Raggedy Andy exclaimed. “Here the funny
little old woman tries to take our magical ball and when she can’t take
it, she blames us if she wears out her shoes scuffing along!”
The funny little old woman held her feet out in front of her and just
slid along the path, and this held the little red ball back just enough
so that Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy and Marggy and her Mama had to
walk real slow or else step upon the funny little old woman’s heels.
“I guess we’ll have to help the little red ball,” Raggedy Andy said.
“It has a hard time pulling the funny little old woman along. I’ll
help the ball by pushing the funny little old woman.”
But when Raggedy Andy helped the little red ball by pushing on the
funny little old woman, she slid over the gravel in the path so fast,
it made her feet burn, so she sat right down plunk in the path and
wouldn’t budge a speck.
“Now what shall we do?” Raggedy Andy asked as he scratched his head.
“I shan’t budge!” the funny little old woman cried. “This little red
ball is mine and I shall take it home!”
“I feel like boxing her ears,” Marggy’s Mama cried. “The funny little
old woman is just like a spoilt child, and it would teach her a lesson
if some one paddywhacked her.”
“Maybe after she rests awhile she will stand up again,” said Raggedy
Andy. “Then the little red ball will pull her along.”
So while they waited for the funny little old woman to stand up,
Marggy’s Mama got out the cream puffs and doughnuts.
“We’ll give you a doughnut, if you’d like one,” Raggedy Ann said to the
funny little old woman. But the funny little old woman just shook her
head and held tightly to the little red ball.
“I shall hang on to the little red magic ball until I can take it home
with me,” the funny little old woman said. “I need some red yarn to
darn my stockings with.”
“But if you do not let go of the little red magic ball, you will wear
the soles off your shoes scuffing along,” said Raggedy Andy. “Then
you’ll have to go to the shoe maker and have new soles put on your
shoes.”
“Maybe when we come to a brook, the little red ball will pull the funny
little old woman right into the water,” Marggy said.
But even when they came to a little brook, the funny little old woman
held to the little red magic ball. It pulled her right through the
water so she was wet up to her knees.
“Dear me,” Raggedy Ann said. “We will never find Marggy’s Daddy if the
funny little old woman keeps holding the magic ball back all the time!
We would have been miles farther if the ball had been allowed to roll
along as fast as it started.”
“Maybe if I carried the funny little old woman she wouldn’t pull back
on the magic ball all the time,” said Raggedy Andy.
So Raggedy Andy picked up the funny little old woman and started to
carry her the way the little red magic ball wanted to go, but she
kicked and twisted and wiggled and scolded so hard, she knocked Raggedy
Andy right over backwards. And when Raggedy Andy fell down, the funny
little old woman bumped her head on a stone so hard, she forgot all
about holding the little red magic ball and held her head instead.
“It was all your fault!” she cried to Raggedy Andy. “If you had not
tried to carry me, I would not have bumped my head!”
“I’m sorry,” Raggedy Andy said, for he would not have had the funny
little old woman bump her head on purpose. “But now you have let go of
our little red magic ball and we can follow it and find Marggy’s Daddy,
I will give you a nice big ball of red cotton.”
The funny little old woman was so pleased she dried her tears and ran
right home.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]