_Ellen._ Oh! mamma, I am so sorry! Look at my poor doll. I let baby play
with it, and she has thrown it upon the floor, and broken its nose.
[Illustration: MAMMA'S DOLL]
_Mamma._ Poor doll! You do look a sad figure, indeed.
_Ellen._ I did not like to be unkind to baby, you know, mamma, and so I
gave it to her for a little while, when she held out her hands to take
it. But I did not think she would throw it upon the floor.
_Mamma._ Do not cry, my dear. Come and sit upon my knee, and I will tell
you a story. I hope you were not very angry with baby. She is too young
to know that a doll is not to be thrown upon the floor.
_Ellen._ No, mamma, I was not angry. Baby did not know any better. But I
cannot help crying for my pretty doll.
_Mamma._ Let me wipe away that tear. Now hear my story. I am going to
tell you about my doll, when I was a little girl.
_Ellen._ Oh! mamma, had you a doll, once? And was it as large as mine?
Was it a wax doll, mamma?
_Mamma._ It was a large wax doll much larger than yours; and it had blue
eyes and dark brown hair. When I was a little older than you are, I went
with my mamma and my aunt to spend some weeks in a fine old city; and
one day while we were there, my mamma took me into a shop, and bought
this doll for me. She said I must dress it myself, and my aunt showed me
the proper way to make its frocks. With this help I was able to dress it
very nicely. And my mamma said to me, "This is the last doll that I
intend to buy for you; for, if you take care of it, it will not spoil
like your other dolls."
_Ellen._ And did you take care of it, mamma?
_Mamma._ Yes, for my mamma taught me to be neat, and to keep everything
in order, as I try to teach you. So at the end of a year, my doll looked
just as good as new. I used to play with it very often, and I called it
by the name of Jessie. I had a little sister, as you have, whom I loved
very much, and when she was a baby I used to nurse her, and kiss her
little soft cheeks. But when she was two or three years old, she was
taken very ill, and could no longer play about the nursery. She grew
pale and thin, and used to lie all day in the nurse's arms, or in her
little cot. She was too ill to play with any of the toys that she had
been fond of before. But one day I took my doll to the side of her
little cot, where she was lying, and then she gave a very faint smile;
so I laid it by her side, and that seemed to please her. After that,
when she was lying in her cot, the doll always lay there too, for it was
the only thing which seemed to please her, all the time that she was
ill.
[Illustration]
One day, when I wanted to go into her room as I had been used to do,
they told me she was dead. I saw her when she was laid in her little
coffin. She was pale, and so very cold. There were some flowers lying on
her pillow, and a rose-bud in each little hand. The soul of the dear
baby was gone to God; and her body was laid in a grave, under the yew
tree in the churchyard.
_Ellen._ Oh! dear mamma, how sad you must have felt! What should I do if
our dear baby were to die?
_Mamma._ I did indeed feel sad, and after that time I could never bear
to play with my pretty doll, for the sight of it seemed to bring back my
grief again. So my mamma put it by with great care, and all the frocks
and other things that I had made. But only think, Ellen, what pain I
should have felt, if I had been unkind to my little sister when she
wished to have my doll. Should not all little girls try to be kind to
each other?
_Ellen._ I will try, mamma; and I am glad that I was not cross with
baby when she threw my doll upon the floor.
_Mamma._ I have not yet done with the story about my doll. It was put by
safe in a drawer, and lay there a great many years, and when I was grown
up, I used to look at it now and then. My mamma never gave it away. Can
you guess where it is now? And should you not like to see my pretty
Jessie?
_Ellen._ Yes, mamma, I should like to see her, indeed.
_Mamma._ Then after dinner we will take a walk, and pay a visit to
grandmamma, and we will ask her to show us the doll that came from the
fine old city so many long years ago.
_Ellen._ Thank you, mamma, that will be very nice. And may I play with
Jessie a little while, and walk with her round grandmamma's garden?
_Mamma._ You may, my love. And since baby, who did not know any better,
has broken your doll's face, it shall be put among her toys for her to
play with. And we will ask grandmamma to let Jessie come home with us.
You have been a kind little girl; and so, as I like to see you happy,
you shall have her for your own.