A NICE LITTLE GIRL
Everybody had been so happy and jolly in the toy shop, and there was so
much fun going on, that when the China Cat acted so oddly and mewed so
loudly, there was great excitement for a time.
"Don't tell me there is a fire!" cried a little Ballet Dancer, whose
skirts of tissue paper and tulle would be sure to flare up the first
thing in case of a blaze.
"No, there isn't a fire," said a toy Policeman. "If there was I should
turn in an alarm."
"But what is the matter?" asked the Talking Doll. "Did that crazy
Jumping Jack again step on the China Cat's tail?"
"Indeed I did not," answered the Jumping Jack.
And all this while the China Cat kept mewing.
"Take her away! Don't let her come near me! The black will rub off, I'm
sure, and I shall be ruined and damaged. Oh, take her away, Soldier
Captain!" and the China Cat, in her white coat, snuggled as close as she
could to the brave officer with his shiny sword.
"What is the matter? Who is black? Please tell me what to do so I can
help you," begged the Captain.
"Why, don't you see!" exclaimed the China Cat. "That black doll is
coming to play tag with us! She belongs on the other side of the store,
among the Hallowe'en novelties! If she rubs up against me she'll get me
all black, and I can't stand it to be dirty!"
All the other toys glanced toward the toy at which the China Cat pointed
with one paw. Walking along the edge of the shelf was a fuzzy-haired
black Doll, her face as shiny as the stove pipe. She was called a Topsy
Doll.
"Whut's de mattah heah?" asked Topsy, talking just as a colored doll
should talk. "Don't yo' all want fo' me to come an' play tag wif yo'?"
"We'd love to have you," said the Jumping Jack, who, being all sorts of
colors, did not mind one more. "But our China Cat is afraid some of your
black might rub off on her."
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed Topsy. "Dat suah am funny! Why, my black doesn't
come off! I spects maybe I's white inside, but de black on de outside
don't come off! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"Really, doesn't it? Won't you smut me all up?" asked the China Cat.
"No, I won't! Hones' to goodness I won't!" promised the Topsy Doll.
"Some folks do say I's terrible mischievous but I can't help it. I
growed up dat way, I reckon!"
With that Topsy bent over and pulled one of the ears of Tumbling Tom.
"Hey there! Stop it!" cried that toy, and he leaned over to tickle
Topsy, but he leaned too far and down he fell.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed the black Doll. "Golly, I's mischievous; but mah
black won't rub off! Look!"
Topsy took up from the shelf a piece of the white paper Mr. Mugg used to
wrap up the toys when they were purchased. Topsy rubbed this piece of
paper on her black, shiny cheek as hard as she could rub it. Then she
held it out to the China Cat. The paper was as white as before.
"See!" cried Topsy. "Mah black won't rub off! Now can't I play tag wif
yo' all?"
"Oh, yes, let her; do!" begged the Talking Doll. "She's so cute!"
"Of course she may play if she will not smut me," said the China Cat.
"Please don't believe I'm fussy," she went on; "but I shall never be
sold if I do not keep myself white and clean. I thought at first that
Topsy had been down in the coal bin."
"No'm," answered that colored Doll. "I's awful mischievous, but I don't
play in no coal. No indeedy!"
"I'm glad of that," said the China Cat. "Now I'll be it, and see if I
can tag any of you. Look out! I'm coming!"
With that the white Cat began chasing about on the shelves, trying to
tag the other toys, who, you may be sure, kept well out of her reach.
"No fair tagging with your tail--that is so long!" called the Talking
Doll, as she dodged around the corner of the Jack in the Box, who could
not get loose to join the fun. "You must tag us with your paws."
"Yes, I'll do that," agreed the China Cat. "I'll only tag you with my
paws. And I think I'll tag you right now!" she called to the Topsy Doll.
"Oh, ho! Yo' all here has got to be mighty lively to tag me!" the black
toy laughed, and, just as the China Cat was about to touch her, Topsy
dodged to one side and the China Cat nearly slipped off the shelf.
"Oh, my dear! you must be careful," cried the Talking Doll. "Think what
would happen if you hit the floor!"
"Oh, I don't dare think of it!" mewed the China Cat, with a shudder. "I
should be broken to bits!"
So after that the Cat did not run quite so fast. Topsy was a very lively
little doll. She skipped here and there, and kept the other toys
laughing at her funny tricks and the queer way her kinky hair bobbed
about her head.
So the game went on, and at last the China Cat managed to touch the
Jumping Jack with her paw.
"Tag! You're it!" cried the China Cat. "Now it's your turn to do the
chasing, Mr. Jack!"
The game went on faster than ever, and such jolly fun as there was you
never would have dreamed could happen in a toy shop, unless you could
have seen it yourself. But of course that is not allowed. If you had so
much as peeked in with one eye, all the toys would have become as quiet
as a chocolate mouse.
At last they grew tired of such exciting fun. One after another had
taken a turn at being it for tag.
"I know what let's do," suggested the Soldier Captain, after they had
rested. "Let's have some riddles."
"Hi!" cried Topsy, "am riddles good to eat?"
"No, indeed," answered the Talking Doll. "Riddles are something you have
to guess."
"Den I mus' be a riddle!" said the colored Doll.
"What makes you think so?" asked the China Cat.
"'Cause some ob de toys in mah pa't of de store says as how I kept 'em
_guessin'_," was the answer. "Dey done say dey nebber know whut I'm
gwine to do nex'. I suah mus' be a riddle."
"Oh, no, that isn't a riddle," the Soldier Captain explained. "A riddle
is like a puzzle. For instance, I ask you what has four legs, and yet
can't walk?"
"Hu! Dey ain't _nothin'_ whut has fo' legs an' can't walk!" declared
Topsy. "Dat's silly! I's got only _two_ legs, but I can walk when nobody
looks at me. An' dat Noah's Ark Elephant, he's got _fo'_ legs, an' he
can walk. What is dat has fo' legs an' can't walk I axes yo', Mr.
Soldier Captain?"
"A table has four legs and yet it can't walk," laughed the wooden
officer. "That's a riddle, Topsy. Now see if you can tell one."
So the Topsy Doll and the other toys began to think of riddles, asking
them of one another. But, somehow or other, the China Cat was very still
and quiet. She did not enter into this fun as she had into the game of
tag.
"What's the matter?" asked the Jumping Jack, when he had guessed a funny
riddle about a little green hen. "Are you watching for mice, China Cat?
There are some little ones, made of cloth and wood over in the novelty
department where Topsy came from."
"No, I am not thinking of mice," answered the China Cat. "To tell you
the truth, Mr. Jumping Jack, I was thinking of the Nodding Donkey. He
came back here, you know, to have his leg fixed, and he spoke about how
happy he was with the little lame boy, who, I'm glad to know, is lame no
longer. I was just wondering if I would go to a nice home such as he
has."
"I suppose all us toys will be sold, one after another," said the
Jumping Jack. "But it is so nice here that I dread to think of going
away."
"Yes, it is nice in Mr. Mugg's store," the China Cat agreed. "But I
suppose we must do as we are told. Dear Nodding Donkey! How I should
like to see him again. I wonder--"
"Hush! Quiet, everybody! Back to your shelves!" suddenly cried Tumbling
Tom. "Morning is about to come and Mr. Mugg and his daughters will soon
be here. They must never catch us moving about!"
Such a scramble as there was! The China Cat, the Talking Doll, the
Trumpeter, the Policeman, the Fireman, the Jumping Jack, Tumbling Tom
and Jack Box all made haste to get on the shelves where they belonged.
The Topsy Doll, with her kinky hair, darted toward the novelty
department.
"I's glad yo' all let me play wif yo'," she said in her queer talk. "An'
I didn't get any black on yo'; did I, Miss China Cat?"
"No, indeed. You were very nice," was the answer. "Come and play with us
again."
Then it was time for the toys to be very still and quiet, for the door
of the store opened, and in came Mr. Mugg.
"Ah, this is going to be a lovely day!" said the jolly toy-shop man. "I
shall do a good business to-day!"
A little later in came his daughters, Geraldine and Angelina. They began
dusting and setting the store to rights for the day's business.
"Oh, my dear! look at this," said Angelina to her sister.
"What is the matter?" asked Geraldine, pausing with a feather duster
under her arm.
"Why, the lovely white China Cat has a speck of dirt on her back," said
Angelina. "I must have forgotten to dust her yesterday."
"Oh, my!" thought the China Cat, who heard what was said, though she
could not turn around to lick off the speck with her red tongue, "some
black must have come off Topsy after all."
"Oh, no, it isn't dirt," said Angelina, as she took the Cat down to look
more closely at her. "It's just a little speck of black feather from my
duster. It must have just got on."
"Oh, I'm so glad of that!" thought the white Cat. "I wouldn't want to
think that Topsy's black rubbed off."
Soon the store was in readiness for customers, and among the first to
enter that morning was a little girl. She was with a lady, who was the
little girl's aunt.
"Now, Jennie," said the aunt, as Mr. Mugg came forward to wait on them,
"what present would you like? You may pick out anything you please."
"Oh, Aunt Clara! How lovely of you!" cried Jennie Moore, for that was
her name. "Let me see now. What would I like best?"
While Jennie was looking along the shelves of toys her aunt said in a
low tone to Mr. Mugg:
"Jennie has been such a good girl, helping her mother who was ill, that
I promised her any toy she wished."
"That is very kind of you, I am sure," said Mr. Mugg, rubbing his hands
and looking over the tops of his glasses. "We have many toys here for
good little girls, and for good boys, too. Not long ago I sold a Nodding
Donkey to a lame boy, and, would you believe me; that boy isn't lame at
all now," and Mr. Mugg laughed, and Aunt Clara laughed also.
But Jennie was looking along the shelves of toys. The China Cat looked
down, and when she saw what a nice little girl Jennie was, so neat and
clean, the China Cat thought to herself:
"If I have to be taken away and belong to some child, I think I should
like to go to Jennie's house. I'm sure she would be kind to me and love
me, and I would love her."
Jennie seemed to be thinking the same thing about the China Cat, for
suddenly she reached up and took down the white toy.
"Here, Aunt Clara, this is what I would like," said Jennie.
She walked toward her aunt and Mr. Mugg with the China Cat in her hand,
but, just before she reached them, Jennie tripped over a velocipede on
the floor, and seemed about to fall.
"Oh, Jennie, don't drop that China Cat, whatever you do!" cried her
aunt.