"I know how we can have a whole lot of fun!" Raggedy Andy said to the
other dolls. "We'll have a taffy pull!"
"Do you mean crack the whip, Raggedy Andy?" asked the French doll.
"He means a tug of war, don't you, Raggedy Andy?" asked Henny.
"No," Raggedy Andy replied, "I mean a taffy pull!"
"If it's lots of fun, then show us how to play the game!" Uncle Clem
said. "We like to have fun, don't we?" And Uncle Clem turned to all the
other dolls as he asked the question.
"It really is not a game," Raggedy Andy explained. "You see, it is only
a taffy pull.
"We take sugar and water and butter and a little vinegar and put it all
on the stove to cook. When it has cooked until it strings 'way out when
you dip some up in a spoon, or gets hard when you drop some of it in a
cup of water, then it is candy.
"Then it must be placed upon buttered plates until it has cooled a
little, and then each one takes some of the candy and pulls and pulls
until it gets real white. Then it is called 'Taffy'."
"That will be loads of fun!" "Show us how to begin!" "Let's have a
taffy pull!" "Come on, everybody!" the dolls cried.
"Just one moment!" Raggedy Ann said. She had remained quiet before, for
she had been thinking very hard, so hard, in fact, that two stitches had
burst in the back of her rag head. The dolls, in their eagerness to have
the taffy pull, were dancing about Raggedy Andy, but when Raggedy Ann
spoke, in her soft cottony voice, they all quieted down and waited for
her to speak again.
"I was just thinking," Raggedy Ann said, "that it would be very nice to
have the taffy pull, but suppose some of the folks smell the candy while
it is cooking."
"There is no one at home!" Raggedy Andy said. "I thought of that,
Raggedy Ann. They have all gone over to Cousin Jenny's house and will
not be back until day after tomorrow. I heard Mama tell Marcella."
"If that is the case, we can have the taffy pull and all the fun that
goes with it!" Raggedy Ann cried, as she started for the nursery door.
After her ran all the dollies, their little feet pitter-patting across
the floor and down the hall.
When they came to the stairway Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, Uncle Clem and
Henny threw themselves down the stairs, turning over and over as they
fell.
The other dolls, having china heads, had to be much more careful; so
they slid down the banisters, or jumped from one step to another.
Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, Uncle Clem and Henny piled in a heap at the
bottom of the steps, and by the time they had untangled themselves and
helped each other up, the other dolls were down the stairs.
To the kitchen they all raced. There they found the fire in the stove
still burning.
Raggedy Andy brought a small stew kettle, while the others brought the
sugar and water and a large spoon. They could not find the vinegar and
decided not to use it, anyway.
[Illustration: They threw themselves down the stairs]
Raggedy Andy stood upon the stove and watched the candy, dipping into it
every once in a while to see if it had cooked long enough, and stirring
it with the large spoon.
At last the candy began to string out from the spoon when it was held
above the stew kettle, and after trying a few drops in a cup of cold
water, Raggedy Andy pronounced it "done."
Uncle Clem pulled out a large platter from the pantry, and Raggedy Ann
dipped her rag hand into the butter jar and buttered the platter.
The candy, when it was poured into the platter, was a lovely golden
color and smelled delicious to the dolls. Henny could not wait until it
cooled; so he put one of his chamois skin hands into the hot candy.
Of course it did not burn Henny, but when he pulled his hand out again,
it was covered with a great ball of candy, which strung out all over the
kitchen floor and got upon his clothes.
Then too, the candy cooled quickly, and in a very short time Henny's
hand was encased in a hard ball of candy. Henny couldn't wiggle any of
his fingers on that hand and he was sorry he had been so hasty.
While waiting for the candy to cool, Raggedy Andy said, "We must rub
butter upon our hands before we pull the candy, or else it will stick to
our hands as it has done to Henny's hands and have to wear off!"
"Will this hard ball of candy have to wear off of my hand?" Henny asked.
"It is so hard, I cannot wiggle any of my fingers!"
"It will either have to wear off, or you will have to soak your hand in
water for a long time, until the candy on it melts!" said Raggedy Andy.
"Dear me!" said Henny.
Uncle Clem brought the poker then and, asking Henny to put his hand upon
the stove leg, he gave the hard candy a few sharp taps with the poker
and chipped the candy from Henny's hand.
"Thank you, Uncle Clem!" Henny said, as he wiggled his fingers. "That
feels much better!"
Raggedy Andy told all the dolls to rub butter upon their hands.
"The candy is getting cool enough to pull!" he said.
Then, when all the dolls had their hands nice and buttery, Raggedy Andy
cut them each a nice piece of candy and showed them how to pull it.
"Take it in one hand this way," he said, "and pull it with the other
hand, like this!"
When all the dolls were supplied with candy they sat about and pulled
it, watching it grow whiter and more silvery the longer they pulled.
Then, when the taffy was real white, it began to grow harder and harder,
so the smaller dolls could scarcely pull it any more.
When this happened, Raggedy Andy, Raggedy Ann, Uncle Clem and Henny, who
were larger, took the little dolls' candy and mixed it with what they
had been pulling until all the taffy was snow white.
[Illustration: The taffy pull]
Then Raggedy Andy pulled it out into a long rope and held it while Uncle
Clem hit the ends a sharp tap with the edge of the spoon.
This snipped the taffy into small pieces, just as easily as you might
break icicles with a few sharp taps of a stick.
The small pieces of white taffy were placed upon the buttered platter
again and the dolls all danced about it, singing and laughing, for this
had been the most fun they had had for a long, long time.
"But what shall we do with it?" Raggedy Ann asked.
"Yes, what shall we do with it!" Uncle Clem said. "We can't let it
remain in the platter here upon the kitchen floor! We must hide it, or
do something with it!"
"While we are trying to think of a way to dispose of it, let us be
washing the stew kettle and the spoon!" said practical Raggedy Ann.
"That is a very happy thought, Raggedy Ann!" said Raggedy Andy. "For it
will clean the butter and candy from our hands while we are doing it!"
So the stew kettle was dragged to the sink and filled with water, the
dolls all taking turns scraping the candy from the sides of the kettle,
and scrubbing the inside with a cloth.
When the kettle was nice and clean and had been wiped dry, Raggedy Andy
found a roll of waxed paper in the pantry upon one of the shelves.
"We'll wrap each piece of taffy in a nice little piece of paper," he
said, "then we'll find a nice paper bag, and put all the pieces inside
the bag, and throw it from the upstairs window when someone passes the
house so that someone may have the candy!"
All the dolls gathered about the platter on the floor, and while Raggedy
Andy cut the paper into neat squares, the dolls wrapped the taffy in the
papers.
Then the taffy was put into a large bag, and with much pulling and
tugging it was finally dragged up into the nursery, where a window faced
out toward the street.
Then, just as a little boy and a little girl, who looked as though they
did not ever have much candy, passed the house, the dolls all gave a
push and sent the bag tumbling to the sidewalk.
The two children laughed and shouted, "Thank you," when they saw that
the bag contained candy, and the dolls, peeping from behind the lace
curtains, watched the two happy faced children eating the taffy as they
skipped down the street.
When the children had passed out of sight, the dolls climbed down from
the window.
"That was lots of fun!" said the French doll, as she smoothed her skirts
and sat down beside Raggedy Andy.
"I believe Raggedy Andy must have a candy heart too, like Raggedy Ann!"
said Uncle Clem.
"No!" Raggedy Andy answered, "I'm just stuffed with white cotton and I
have no candy heart, but some day perhaps I shall have!"
"A candy heart is very nice!" Raggedy Ann said. (You know, she had one.)
"But one can be just as nice and happy and full of sunshine without a
candy heart."
"I almost forgot to tell you," said Raggedy Andy, "that when pieces of
taffy are wrapped in little pieces of paper, just as we wrapped them,
they are called 'Kisses'."
[Illustration: All sitting together]
[Illustration: Fido in a basket]
[Illustration: Raggedy Andy and Fido]