THE DOLL AND ALL HER MISTRESSES.
"Oh," said the Doll, "can you not excuse me? My poor little story is so
very dull and flat after all we have heard, and, indeed, I am afraid I
have not strength or vivacity enough to carry it through to the end!"
"No, indeed," replied the Ball, "we are not going to let you off. We are
all of us taking our turns, and you must bear your share like the rest."
"I am sure," said the Kite, in a pacifying manner, "our fair friend will
be only too happy to do her part in this pleasant task; she merely feels
an amiable modesty, and undervalues her own charming powers."
"You flatter me too much," replied the Doll, "in all respects but one.
But you are right in believing I am anxious to oblige every one, for
that is the case really. And so now I will do my best, only prefacing my
humble story by saying that I really know nothing of my origin, or where
I was made. My first conscious remembrance was that of lying on a
beautiful carved table in the midst of a quantity of silk and lace. Two
or three gay girls were sitting round the table and gossiping merrily,
while their busy fingers flew at their pretty work. They were dressing
myself and one or two of my sisters for their Christmas tree.
"'That is a piece of the first silk dress I ever had,' said
bright-haired Madeline, the eldest of them; 'I remember how proud I was
of it, and how I enjoyed its rustle. It was short, you know, Laura, for
I was a little girl then.'
"'You don't care so much about silk dresses now, Maddy,' replied Laura;
'I think a new riding habit is your present ambition, isn't it?'
"'This piece will make the doll a very grand bodice,' said Edith; 'the
pale blue suits her complexion, don't you think so, Maddy? That is a
piece of my last year's sash.'
"And so they chatted and worked, till I was attired in a very tasteful
and fashionable manner. For though, alas! there are now no remains of my
former charms, I was reckoned a great beauty in my day, and was indeed
quite one of the belles of the season. I had real hair, very soft and
flaxen, and what is more, real eyelashes and eyebrows! You can see no
trace of them now, for reasons I will relate presently. But without
vanity, I may say I was charmingly pretty in those days, for I was the
real model of a sweet fat baby child of about two years old. My face,
neck, arms and feet had all the pretty wrinkles and dimples that adorn
that age; and the soft pink wax, delicately coloured, gave a very fair
notion of the tender pinky skin. So with very good taste my lady
milliners dressed me in a short full white India muslin frock over a
pale blue silk slip, trimmed the bodice and sleeves lavishly with
sashes, bows, and loops of the same, and tied a pretty blue ribbon
carelessly through my very natural curls. My attire was completed by
white open work socks, and blue kid shoes; but Maddy crowned all her
work by her last addition. Running hastily upstairs, she brought down a
little box of small pearl beads, and after being seated at a remote
table by herself for half an hour, while her friends were busily
employed in giving the finishing touches to another of our company, who
was attired as Red Riding Hood, she came suddenly forward, saying
gaily,--
"'I think I have added a last grace to _my_ doll that ought to be
irresistible, and make her the admired of all beholders.'
"And she showed on the tip of her finger a dainty little straw hat,
coquettishly trimmed with a band of blue velvet, with a drooping fringe
of blonde round the rim, having pearl drops to each point of the lace.
"I was duly admired, and on the eventful evening was considered the
prettiest doll on the tree, and many a little childish face cast longing
eyes upon me, vainly hoping I might fall to her lot. But mine was a
different destiny--a far higher one, as I imagined then! A dainty,
lace-bordered ticket on my skirt showed that I was intended for Lady
Alicia Wentworth, the little god-daughter of the lady of the house.
After the festive evening was over, with all its glare of bright lights,
and sounds of young voices and gay music, I was taken down from my proud
position, which had not been free from peril, owing to the dangerous
neighbourhood of the lighted tapers to my flimsy skirts. Little Lady
Alicia lived too far off, and was too fully engrossed with the gaieties
of her own immediate surroundings, to come to the party; and therefore I
was most carefully packed in silver paper and wool, and sent to her.
"My first little mistress was not by any means a very engaging child.
She was very sickly, which perhaps rendered her more fretful than she
would otherwise have been; but she would not have been so peevish,
except for the fact that, as an only child, she had been spoiled and
indulged to such an extent, that she could neither be happy nor
contented herself, nor allow any one near her to be so either. When the
lid of the box was opened, she, with a little momentary eagerness for
the new toy, pulled off the silver paper and wool, and brought me out of
my travelling box.
"'It's a horrid Baby Doll,' she exclaimed, in a loud tone of angry
disappointment, 'a stupid, old-fashioned, ugly Baby Doll! and I hate
them, horrid, stupid things; what did they send me that for?' and she
burst into a roar of passionate ill-temper. In vain did governess and
maid try to pacify her; she screamed and pouted till her foolish, doting
mother was obliged to sacrifice some visits she was going to make in
order to drive in with her spoiled child to the nearest toy-shop, to
purchase an expensive and more gaily-attired doll.
"'I can't think what Mrs. Levesque could have been thinking of,' she
murmured, pettishly, as she got into the carriage again, 'to send Alicia
such a foolish thing, after making such a fuss about it too! It has
vexed the poor little thing so, and upset her too much, which Dr. Blueby
says is _so_ bad for her!'
"So when they returned home, Alicia went off with her new purchase, for
a few hours of good humour and peace, while her ladyship desired the
governess to pack me up in the box, and send me down with her
compliments to the Rectory, to Dr. Stewart's little daughter, Flora. I
found my new home much more to my taste; for, although also an only
child, this little maiden was of a very different mind to the other. She
was more delicate in health than the young lady at the Castle, for from
a serious weakness of the spine she was obliged to lie down for many
hours in the day, and was not able to run about and enjoy herself in the
garden, as she often wished to do. But she was a naturally even-tempered
child, and although she had long been motherless, her wise father had
been a tender and judicious guardian, and her old nurse, who had watched
over her from babyhood, loved her as a child of her own.
"I was amply repaid for the slights and affronts I had experienced from
Lady Alicia, when I was carried in my box to the reclining board where
Flora was then lying, for her father, delighted enough to bring his
patient little girl a new pleasure, carried me in himself, saying,--
"'Flora, here is a New Year's gift for you from the Castle. It is very
kind of Lady Ennismore to remember my little girl. I am almost inclined
to think it is a doll, my dear,' he added, as Flora sat up and took the
box, her thin hands trembling with eager joy, and her sallow face
flushing at the sight. When I was revealed to her, she gave one
rapturous exclamation, and hugged me affectionately to her.
"'O Papa, a doll, a real Baby Doll, and dressed in such lovely clothes!
Did you ever see anything so beautiful! Oh, how kind of Lady Ennismore.
I suppose she had some down for Lady Alicia to choose from.'
"'It was very thoughtful and kind of her to remember you, Flora, and I
must go and thank her for the great pleasure she has given you.'
"Then nurse was summoned, and expected to go over all the beauties of
the new doll half a dozen times at least; my hair, my eyelashes, and my
dimpled neck and arms received their full share of admiration. Nothing
could have more enraptured Flora, for she was the greatest baby
worshipper in the parish, and many a poor little nursling owed most of
its occasional treats to the petitions of Flora. And so now my happy
life began. I was carefully nestled up every night on a soft pillow,
covered with a fine pocket-handkerchief, and only handled and nursed in
the most careful way in the world. I lived with little Flora Stewart for
six years, and was in nearly as good condition at the end of the time as
at first. It is true, my complexion was somewhat tarnished by the air
and dust, and my hair had become a little thinner, but no careless
scratch defaced my countenance, or awkward fracture had injured my frail
limbs. My fine muslin frock, indeed, had been frequently washed, and my
hat cleaned and re-trimmed, while a pretty silk mantle added to my
wardrobe, hid a good deal of the faded hue of my azure decorations. But
for the last two years I had been laid away carefully in a drawer, for
Flora had long ceased playing with me, and valued me more as a treasure
of her childish days than anything else. She was now a tall, slender
girl of nearly eighteen, having by the aid of all the watchful care
spent on her earlier years quite outgrown the tendency to disease that
had so threatened her childhood. She had grown up with the same sweet,
unselfish nature though, and old affection for little children that had
been so remarkable even in her early years; only that now she was able
to be out among them all, and she might frequently be seen, the centre
of a group of eager school children, all striving for her notice, while
the babes in the cottages, who could not speak yet, would greet her with
a crow and a spring as they were taken in her gentle arms. I have never
seen my dear second mistress since our parting; but I have heard that
she has little ones of her own now to love and care for, although they
do not engross all her thoughts, for the little dark-skinned Hindoos
will run to meet her as eagerly as her old school-class used to do; for
she married a clergyman, who went out to India, and she has never
returned home since. Dr. Stewart died long before her departure, and the
old Rectory home was broken up; and when that happened, Flora gave me to
a little child friend of hers, called Christie Johnson.
"My third mistress was the greatest trial I had; for though she loved me
dearly in a hasty sort of way, she was such a Tomboy, and so
thoughtless, that under her charge I fell into numberless sad scrapes
and accidents. Once I was dropped in the bath by Harold, her little
brother, thereby losing what colour remained to me; and another time I
was run over by a waggon, having been dropped out of the baby's
perambulator, where I had been hastily placed, while Christie ran off to
look for a bird's nest in a thorn bush. Under the awful crushing
progress of that broad wheeled waggon both my wax arms and one of my
legs were hopelessly smashed flat in the dusty road, my head and chest
escaping by a miracle. Christie was terribly vexed at the catastrophe,
but that did not mend my legs and arms, and I have therefore ever since
led a miserable maimed existence. And the worst of it was that Alan and
Willie had lost all respect for me, and never thought it necessary to be
even commonly civil to me, now that my wax arms and legs were gone. I
say _legs_ purposely, for my sole remaining limb came to pieces by a
fall down stairs. From that time my degradation commenced, and my daily
existence was a miserable series of petty tortures, such as the
ingenuity of a boy could alone devise. I was now the helpless and
defenceless prey of those foes of our race; for Christie, although she
occasionally rescued me from utter destruction, was too much of a romp
herself, and too careless to look after my welfare thoroughly!
"And so I found myself now continually reduced to becoming a frequent
and convenient missile to the boys during their incessant wars and
struggles. The stumps of my legs and arms were so very convenient to lay
hold of, as they swung me round their heads, before sending me whirling
through the air, or as they more forcibly than eloquently expressed
it,--
"'Christie's torso of a doll is such a jolly thing to chuck at a fellow,
when you can't hit him!'
"Even little Harold, the two-year-old baby, who could not achieve such
feats as these, could drag me about, as he did, by my poor stumps of
legs, and cry, 'Who buy ducks? I dot ducks a sell!'
"The life I led in that riotous nursery was indeed an ordeal, and during
its course not only my few remaining charms were obliterated, like my
eyes, which were perseveringly rattled into the back of my head by
Ethel, but my wardrobe also vanished piecemeal. First my shoes went one
by one, and the socks followed, no one knew how or where, but they were
most probably dropped out of doors somewhere, like my hat, which took
flight in a rough wind at the seaside! For Christie's mode of carrying
me when she took me out for a walk was original certainly, but not a
model to be recommended to mothers of live dolls. She would tuck me
roughly under one arm, without taking any trouble to see whether my head
or my feet were uppermost, and would then set off at the round trot for
which she was famous, and that had earned from her brothers her
nickname, "the postman."
"The fictitious illnesses I have gone through would have furnished
patients for the largest hospital in the world, but my last
indisposition was of a character that made a more permanent alteration
even in me. Now measles of a very malignant kind were at that time
raging in the neighbourhood, and Christie's mother was very particular
in keeping her children as much as possible out of the infection. Ethel,
Christie's youngest sister, a child of about six years of age, had heard
this talked over in parlour and nursery, and had imbibed a secret terror
of this mysterious sickness which seemed so much dreaded by mother and
nurse. And if mothers and nurses only suspected how _very_ long the ears
of little pitchers really are, and how much more they are inclined to
take in all that _should_ not concern them, I think they would be as
careful as the House of Commons in sending out all intruders when
serious questions were debated in committee. I am only a doll, and have
therefore no vote in the matter, or else if I _had_ a voice in the
counsels of Home Government, I would suggest that the little ears which
take in lessons and let them out again on the other side, and which have
yet the power of catching and retaining all matters _not_ necessary to
their instruction, should be excluded from all graver deliberations.
"But this is a digression, and as it is one that belongs to a world
beyond our little kingdom, it is perhaps not quite my business to enter
on it at all. Where was I in my story? I am quite ashamed of trespassing
so on your patience; but time and hard usage have so enfeebled my poor
broken memory, that I almost forget all I am doing or saying!"
"You were mentioning a serious illness that occurred to you," suggested
the Humming Top, very gravely; "pray relieve our minds as to its
symptoms and duration!"
"Oh yes," resumed the Doll, languidly; "I was telling you how I really
had the measles when they were so prevalent in our neighbourhood. Ethel,
as I said before, was terribly alarmed at the vague disease; and not at
all pleased with Baby Harold, who trotted soberly about the nursery,
singing in his fashion,
"'I dowing a have a measoos a morrer!' till Ethel got hold of him, and
drew such an awful picture of what she imagined they must be, including
a plentiful allowance of powders, currant jam, and castor oil, that he
roared in terror.
"'What's the row here?' asked Alan, lounging in at the time, and
throwing himself full length on the hearth rug.
"'I dowing a have a measoos, and Efel says I sail be sick--so bad--and
Smif dive me powders!' sobbed Harold, dolefully.
"'What rubbish!' growled Alan; 'you're _not_ going to have them, Harold;
you can't till Ethel has had them first herself; you daren't, you know;
don't you recollect what Nurse says when you want to be helped to
pudding before her,--"Age before honesty, Master Harold;" and so Ethel
shall have the measles first too!'
"'I won't, Alan,' whined Ethel; 'if you say such horrid things, I'll
tell Mamma. I shan't have the measles, shall I Nurse?'
"'I hope not, from my heart,' answered Nurse, very fervently; 'I've
handful enough with you as it is, but goodness forbid you should be all
laid up just now.'
"Next morning, when Ethel was washed and dressed, and went into the day
nursery to breakfast, Alan beckoned her out with a very grave face, and
told her to follow him down to the school-room. She did so, full of
curiosity at the unusual event; but when he opened the door and led her
in, she was still further puzzled. The tablecloth was laid for breakfast
for the elder ones, but the blinds were all down, and on the table lay
something stretched out under a towel.
[Illustration: DOLLY'S ATTACK OF THE MEASLES. _Page 94._]
"'Take it off and look, Ethel,' said Alan; and when she did so, she
started back in horror, for there I lay, with my face and throat all
covered with bright red round spots. 'She has got the measles, Ethel,'
said Alan, going off into roars of mischievous laughter.
"Poor Ethel shrieked and rushed away, sobbing as if her heart would
break, till there was such a commotion that Papa came in to see what was
the matter. He was very angry indeed with Alan, and told him how cruel
it was to frighten a younger child, and a girl too, in this manner; and
Alan's explanation that it was only to punish Ethel for teasing little
Harold did not make matters better.
"'You have no authority to punish any of your brothers and sisters,'
said Mr. Johnson; 'and you have only reduced yourself to the level of
Ethel's childish naughtiness by playing a trick very unworthy of you,
and that might have led to worse results. Frightening any one is the
most cruel sport that exists, and one of the most dangerous. When you
fell out of the boat at Barmouth three months ago, Alan, you would have
thought it very cruel of me to keep you holding on to the side of the
boat, just to laugh at your fright at being so nearly drowned!'
"'But Ethel's fright was so silly and unreasonable,' muttered Alan.
"'So are most alarms, Alan, but they cause the same suffering, and are
sometimes as hurtful in their consequences. Don't let me ever hear of
any thing of the kind again. You are, I know, very fond of all your
brothers and sisters, and would not give them any pain willingly. Now
remember, my boy, in future, that a pain of the mind, such as this
fright, is infinitely worse than a severe blow, and it is not manly to
hurt the weaker ones in any way.'
"Alan was really sorry for the end of his freak, and he kissed Ethel,
and remembered the lesson I have no doubt. But the silly little girl
never liked me again, although Nurse washed me white, in her careful
way, scrubbing off all the red paint with which Alan had so profusely
embellished me. And after a while I had so completely fallen into
oblivion, that I was undisturbed, till one evening, some years after,
when Ethel was fifteen, and had forgotten all about my early
disfigurement, I was fetched out to amuse little Florry Spenser, who
drank tea there, and she cuddled me up so tight, and was so loath to
part with me, that she was allowed to carry me home, and played with me
for some days. My reign, however, did not last very long, for when her
aunt gave her a very grand new wax baby, I was cast aside, and have
lived here ever since in the deepest seclusion, as you are all aware.
And now, my friends, I have done my poor best in your service, and have
finished."
And the Doll sank back with a weary sigh.
The Ball, who, by virtue of having been the first story teller, seemed
to have taken on himself the office of spokesman, made the Doll an
elaborate compliment on her story, and then, as her representative,
requested the Toy Kitchen to take up the next story.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]