either side of the river were rows of houses in which the poorer
dolls, mostly wooden and rag, lived. The weather was warm, and many of
the fronts of the houses stood wide open, showing the inside of the
four rooms into which each of them was divided. There were generally
a kitchen and a dining-room on the ground floor, and a drawing-room
and a bedroom above. None of these houses had staircases, and it was
puzzling to think how the dolls could get into the upstairs rooms.
Wooden explained, when Peggy asked her, that the dolls either climbed
in through the windows, or, if the house-front was open, put a kitchen
chair on the kitchen table, and scrambled up somehow. Those who were
not strong enough to do so had to spend the night sitting on chairs in
the kitchen or dining-room.
“Isn’t that rather uncomfortable for them?” asked Peggy.
“Well, dear, perhaps it is rather,” said Wooden. “But, you see, we’re
not so particular as you are, so we don’t feel it so much.”
“But didn’t you say there wasn’t any night in Toyland?” asked Peggy.
“Perhaps, I did, dear. I say so many things in the course of time that
I can’t possibly remember all of them. But there is one thing I should
never do, and that is tell a lie.”
Peggy looked at her quickly, fearing that she might be offended, but
her face still wore its amiable sweet-tempered expression, and when
Peggy gave her a kiss, just in _case_ she might have said something to
hurt her, she kissed her back, and called her a precious lamb.
Some of the dolls’ houses that they were passing were quite well
furnished. Others had furniture a good deal too large for the rooms,
but the dolls seemed all to be of one size, and Wooden told Peggy that,
however large or small a doll might be in the nursery, when it got home
to Toyland it became as large as life.
All the inhabitants of these small houses came thronging down to the
banks of the river to see the procession of animals, and to cheer
the royal ark as it passed along. Peggy noticed that the wooden
dolls cheered more heartily than the wax dolls and china dolls and
composition dolls. In fact one party of Dutch dolls became so excited
as the ark passed that they all fell into the river, and had to be
rescued by Mr. Noah’s youngest son, who was attending to the elephants.
All were got safely to land, except the father of the Dutch doll
family, who swam out and clung to the ark, and was dragged on board by
Mr. Noah himself.
Just at the moment when this was happening Wooden’s aunt came out of
the saloon, and seemed highly delighted at the scene. She bent down
and slapped her knees with both her hands, and then threw her head
back and roared with laughter.
“Lawks! I wouldn’t have missed that for anything,” she said, when the
Dutch doll had been led below. “Well, I’ve had a nice little nap,
girls, and now I’ve come to cheer you all up a bit.”
[Illustration]
“Then behave yourself, do, Polly,” said Wooden’s mother severely, “and
don’t let’s have any more of your carryings on.”
When the Dutch doll was quite dry he insisted upon being led into the
presence of “the company.” Mr. Noah had lent him his second-best yellow
robe, in which he looked rather funny, as it was too long for him. He
came up the steps from the saloon, and, tripping over the skirt of the
robe, fell flat at the feet of Wooden’s aunt, who roared with laughter
at him again.
So far from getting up again as quickly as possible, the Dutch doll
remained where he was, rubbing his forehead on the deck of the ark.
“Get up, man,” said Wooden’s mother sharply, “and don’t stop lying
there like a silly.”
The Dutch doll got up, looking foolish, and bowed low to Wooden’s aunt.
“I hope your Majesty is quite well,” he said. “I am very pleased to see
your Majesty.”
“Lawks! he calls me ‘your Majesty!’” said Wooden’s aunt. “Well, I
never! I shall die of laughing if this goes on.” And indeed it seemed
likely that she would.
“The man’s silly,” said Wooden’s mother. “His ducking has turned his
head. The Queen isn’t here. We’re only the party that the royal ark has
been sent down for.”
But still the Dutch doll kept on bowing to Wooden’s aunt, and calling
her your Majesty; and Wooden’s aunt enjoyed it.
Lady Grace intervened in her polite and aristocratic manner. “Don’t you
know Queen Rosebud by sight?” she asked. “In calling this lady your
Majesty you are coming very near to telling a story.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that, my lady,” said the Dutch doll, much shocked.
“Queen Rosebud is dead, you know.”
“I feared it,” said Wooden. “It is very sad.”
Lady Grace turned pale. “She was a loving mistress and a great Queen,”
she said.
Wooden’s mother said, “Yes, she was. But crying out about it won’t
bring her to life again, poor thing!” And Wooden’s aunt had the grace
to leave off with her nonsense, and say, “I’m sure I’m sorry to hear
the news. Then who is going to be Queen now?”
“You are, your Majesty,” said the Dutch doll, bowing to her again.
“King Selim is going to marry you.”
“What, marry me!” exclaimed Wooden’s aunt, forgetting to be vulgar
for once, in her surprise. “Well, I never! Why, I hardly know the
gentleman.”
“Surely you are making some mistake,” said Lady Grace.
The Dutch doll looked offended. “Do you think I’d tell you a lie?” he
asked.
“Oh, no, of course he wouldn’t do that,” said Wooden hastily. “If he
says so, of course it is so. But you’re not Queen yet, aunt.”
“No, nor never will be, if you don’t learn to behave proper,” said
Wooden’s mother. “If I was you I should keep quiet till the wedding
ceremony.”
Wooden’s aunt seemed to think this was good advice, for she gave no
more trouble till the ark drew up at the royal quay in the middle of
Dolltown.
[Illustration]
V
ARRIVAL AT THE ROYAL PALACE OF DOLLTOWN
The Royal Quay was a great open space carpeted with red felt, and
decorated with palms and flowers. Wooden soldiers were standing all
round the square, and inside it was a royal carriage with six wooden
horses, and servants in scarlet liveries. A little troop of lead
soldiers on black horses was drawn up by the carriage, and looked very
gallant with their scarlet tunics, silver breastplates and helmets and
waving plumes. Lady Grace blushed when she saw that the head of the
troop was Colonel Jim, and said to Peggy, “The rather nice-looking
officer is a friend of mine, dear. I will introduce him to you when I
get an opportunity.”
Behind the wooden soldiers was a great crowd of dolls, all cheering
themselves hoarse as the royal ark was being tied up by the quay, and
the bridge was being run out. Peggy noticed that there were no wax
dolls among them, and rather wondered at this, but had not time to ask
about it in the excitement of the moment.
Just by the landing stage was a little group of gentlemen dolls. The
most important person in it was an old gentleman doll of patriarchal
aspect. He had no beard, but his head was completely bald, and he was
dressed in a long gown of black velvet. As soon as the bridge between
the quay and the ark was put into position, he came forward with his
party on to the platform of the ark, and bowed low before Wooden, who
happened to be standing a little in front of the rest.
[Illustration: He had no beard, but his head was completely bald]
“Welcome, your Majesty,” he said, “to the Capital of your kingdom of
Toyland. I will explain why I thus address you later.”
Wooden was quite taken back, and could only stammer out, “But
Mr.--Mr.--I don’t know your name, but----”
“My name is Norval,” said the old gentleman doll. “And I am the Lord
Chancellor of your Majesty’s kingdom.”
“But why do you call me your Majesty, Mr. Norval?” asked Wooden.
“_Lord_ Norval, at your Majesty’s pleasure,” corrected the Lord
Chancellor. “I address you as a Queen because King Selim, successor
to our late lamented Queen Rosebud, has intimated his intention of
marrying you, and in these matters I feel that one cannot begin too
soon. Besides, it is his Majesty’s pleasure that you should be paid
every possible honour, as his highly respected bride to be.”
“But Lord Noodle!” stammered Wooden, getting his name a little wrong in
her perplexity, “this gentleman said that it was my aunt here that the
king wanted to marry.”
She indicated the Dutch doll, and the Lord Chancellor looked at him in
anger. “Did you say that?” he asked.
Wooden’s aunt broke in before the Dutch doll could speak. “Yes, he did
say it,” she said. “And I ain’t going to give up my Selim for nobody.
Him and me has always been friendly like, and I wasn’t a bit surprised
to hear he wanted to marry me. Why should he want to marry a young
thing like Wooden, I should like to know? Why she’s like a kid beside
of him! It’s me that’s going to be Queen, not her.”
“Captain Cook,” said the Lord Chancellor to a lead soldier of his
party, “arrest this Dutchman for telling a lie, and arrest this woman
for telling another.”
“What, me!” cried Wooden’s aunt. “How dare you accuse me of telling a
lie, you old creature with a head like an egg? How dare you? What lie
have I told?”
“Arrest her again for insulting the Lord Chancellor,” said Lord Norval.
“You said you were going to be Queen, and that’s a lie. King Selim
wouldn’t look at you. He has confided to me that he has been in love
with--with--I suppose I had better say _Princess_ Wooden, for some
time, and has reason to believe that she is not indifferent to him.”
“Well, he has looked at me sometimes,” said Wooden, “but I’m sure I
never gave him any encouragement. I don’t like him very much, Lord
Noodle. He’s a foreigner, you see, and I don’t like foreigners.
Couldn’t it be arranged for him to marry my aunt, as she’s ready for
him! I’d rather it was her than me.”
The Lord Chancellor looked muddled. “I couldn’t say anything without
consulting his Majesty,” he said. “He _might_ consent; but then again
he might not. The best way will be for us all to go up to the Palace,
as already ordered, and ask him. I am sorry your aunt will have to
appear there under arrest, but as she has committed a crime, or rather
two crimes, that can’t be helped.”
The situation was certainly awkward. Nobody quite seemed to know what
to do about it. But Peggy, who had been listening with great interest
to what had been said, ventured to make a suggestion. “If Wooden’s
aunt _does_ marry the King,” she said, “then she wouldn’t have told a
story, would she?”
Everybody brightened up, and the Lord Chancellor said, “That is one of
the cleverest things I ever heard said. But who is this ingenious and
attractive-looking young lady, may I ask?”
Wooden explained to him who Peggy was, and he bowed low to her, and
said he was proud to make her acquaintance. “Well, after what you have
pointed out,” he said, “I have no difficulty in unarresting this lady
for telling a lie. But she has also insulted a high official. She said
that my head was like an egg. It may be or it may not be, but nobody
could say that it was a polite thing to point out.”
He looked at Peggy as if he expected her to make another suggestion,
and would not be sorry if she made it.
Peggy could think of nothing better to say than, “I like eggs myself,
especially if they are new-laid.”
The Lord Chancellor caught at this instantly. “Did you have a new-laid
egg in your mind when you referred to my head, Madam?” he asked of
Wooden’s aunt.
Wooden’s aunt, who was looking much more subdued than usual, standing
by the officer who had arrested her, said, “Well, there’s one thing I
never would do, and that’s tell a lie. I can’t rightly say that I had
a new-laid egg in my mind, because I won’t deceive you, I don’t know
where my mind is. I went to sea early, and never had much schooling,
and never learnt no physiognomy. There may be a new-laid egg in my
mind, or there may not. I wouldn’t like to say.”
“What I would suggest to you, madam,” said the Lord Chancellor, “is
that in likening my head to an egg you didn’t mean an old-laid egg, or
an addled egg, or a bad egg, or anything of that sort. If it is like an
egg at all, it was a fresh egg you meant.”
“Oh, lawks, yes,” said Wooden’s aunt. “I’d never be one for insulting a
gentleman. I know what’s due to myself and my family better.”
“Then that is quite enough for me,” said the Lord Chancellor, evidently
greatly relieved. “Captain Cook, unarrest this lady completely.”
“And the Dutch doll, too,” said Peggy, pleased at having succeeded so
well.
“And the Dutch doll, too, of course, Captain Cook,” said the Lord
Chancellor. “And my advice to you, sir, is to make yourself scarce. You
have had a narrow escape, and let it be a lesson to you.”
[Illustration]
The Dutch doll, whose knees had been knocking together with fright,
picked up the skirts of Mr. Noah’s second-best yellow robe, and ran
away as fast as he could. He poked in between two of the wooden
soldiers guarding the quay, and was lost in the crowd. But he was
an honest doll, for the next morning Mr. Noah received back his
second-best robe by parcel’s post, with a note of thanks, which he
could not read, as it was written in double-Dutch.
The party was now ready to land and get into the royal carriage, but
just as they had stepped off on to the red carpet on the quay, the Lord
Chancellor’s eyes fell upon Lady Grace, whom he seemed not to have
noticed before.
His face darkened, and he said, “Why, what is this? A wax doll
at large, after the royal proclamation that all Waxes are to be
imprisoned! Captain Cook, do your duty instantly.”
Captain Cook stepped forward to arrest Lady Grace, who shrank away from
him, while Wooden and her mother and aunt began to protest volubly
against such an outrage, for they were all friendly to Lady Grace, who
had always treated them with perfect politeness.
Peggy felt dreadfully frightened at the moment at all the hubbub, and
at the idea of poor Lady Grace being taken off to prison; but just
as she was trying to think what she could do to stop it there was
an unexpected diversion. Colonel Jim, the officer in charge of the
Lifeguards standing by the royal carriage, rode forward with a clatter
of harness and accoutrements, and said in a loud voice, “Unhand that
lady!”
There was a moment’s pause. Then the Lord Chancellor said, “Colonel
Jim, you are taking a great deal upon yourself. You know what the royal
proclamation was. All Waxes are to be arrested and sent to prison.”
“What for?” asked Colonel Jim, with soldierly brevity.
“The general charge against them,” said the Lord Chancellor, “is giving
themselves airs.”
“Has Lady Grace ever given herself airs?” asked Colonel Jim.
“No, that she never has,” said Wooden’s mother indignantly. “I will say
this for her, Wax or no Wax, that a nicer-spoken or nicer-behaved lady
never stept.”
“And she was a great favourite of Queen Rosebud’s, besides,” said
Wooden. “She thought the world of her.”
And even Wooden’s aunt showed up well in the emergency. “If I’m to be
Queen,” she said, “I shall have Lady Grace as my own lady-in-waiting.
She shall put in my hairpins for me, which I never could do rightly
myself. And how’s she to do that if she’s in prison?”
Colonel Jim rode back to his troop without saying another word. But
his interference had been successful, for the Lord Chancellor said,
“Under the circumstances, I will not have Lady Grace arrested now. She
can come with us to the Palace, and we will see what the King has to
say about it.”
Then Wooden and her mother and aunt, and Lady Grace and Peggy got into
the royal carriage, and the Lord Chancellor and his suite got into two
other carriages. Colonel Jim and his Life Guardsmen formed themselves
on either side, and with a clash and a glitter, the little procession
started. The wooden soldiers all presented arms, and made a way through
for them, and they drove off the quay and into the streets of Dolltown.
Peggy had been rather surprised that the dolls had not shown more grief
at the sudden death of the Queen, though all of them had certainly
spoken very nicely about it when the news had first come to them, and
were evidently sorry that she had died. But she now began to understand
that dolls do not take things in quite the same way as human beings.
For one thing, there were no signs of mourning in the streets, but on
the other hand there were flags on some of the houses, and all the
people seemed to be out of doors watching for the royal procession,
and when it appeared they cheered heartily, and seemed as happy and
pleased as possible. This was all the more remarkable because, if what
the Lord Chancellor had said was true, which of course it was, as he
would never have told a lie, all the wax dolls in the place had already
been sent off to prison, and you might have thought that that would
have sobered the rest. But even the four dolls in the carriage seemed
to have forgotten it, and also the unpleasant episode of Lady Grace
nearly being taken off to prison, too. They were all anxious to point
out to Peggy the interesting sights to be seen on either side of them,
and had nothing to say about anything else, not even about what might
happen when they arrived at the royal palace. And as they seemed able
to forget everything but the pleasure and interest of the moment, Peggy
was able to do so, too.
What she saw of Dolltown enchanted her. It was like all the toys
she had ever had, and her friends had had, and she had seen in
shop-windows, all become real, and not only that, but of a size to
be used. All little girls know what it is to wish that they could
sometimes live in their own dolls’ houses, especially in the big
ones, where there are staircases that they could go up and down if
only they were of the right size, and all sorts of nice furniture,
and dinner-sets and tea-sets, and other things which they would like
to use themselves and not always be making believe with. Well, in
Dolltown, and in fact in the whole of Toyland, there was no making
believe. Everything was as real as real, even the smallest things for
the smallest dolls. Peggy could have used everything she saw herself,
and it was really quite thrilling and delightful to feel that she could
pretend to be a doll if she wanted to, and have all the fun for herself
that little girls give to their dolls.
Just outside the royal quay was a large station, with platforms and
signal boxes and bridges and lines of rails all complete, and a train
waiting there with a bright green clockwork engine, ready to go off
into the country. One of Peggy’s boy cousins had collected a splendid
railway plant--his relations always gave him things for it at Christmas
and on his birthdays--and Peggy had often wished she could go for a
ride in it all round his playroom floor, and be shunted and go under
the little tunnels, and stop at the stations, just as the tin soldiers
he put into the carriages did. Well, it would be just as much fun going
in this railway system, and she could get into the toy carriages just
as easily as her cousin’s tin soldiers.
They crossed over the river on one of those suspension bridges that
you see in shop-windows, and then climbed a hill into the town. At the
beginning of the hill was a large toy fort, crammed with tin soldiers,
who were looking over the parapet and cheering them as they passed.
Then they went through a street of shops, and the joints of meat
hanging in the butchers’ shops, and the fish lying on the slabs of the
fishmongers’ shops, and the stores in the grocery shops were all real;
and specially attractive were the highly-coloured fruits.
As for the shops where they sold the baby-clothes, they were too
delightful. But the first one they passed brought a most disturbing
thought to Peggy. She turned to Wooden and said, “Oh, Wooden, dear,
where are all the long-clothes babies! Surely they haven’t been cruel
enough to send them to prison, too!”
“Oh, no, dear,” said Wooden decidedly. “Nobody is cruel in Toyland.”
Peggy did not feel quite so sure of that, considering that Lady Grace
had nearly been sent to prison already for being wax; and of course
most long-clothes babies are wax, or composition. “Then where are
they!” she asked.
“They are all having their morning sleep, dear,” said Wooden’s mother,
and Peggy had to be content.
When they reached the more important streets of Dolltown, most of
the houses were built of wooden or terra-cotta bricks, and very fine
some of them were. But this part of the town _was_ rather silent and
deserted, for the owners of most of the fine houses were wax, and they
had all been taken off to prison.
At last they reached the royal palace. It was a most gorgeous building,
built of ivory, with windows made of enormous diamonds and rubies and
emeralds and sapphires, all glittering in the sun.
The carriages drew up underneath an ivory porch. The Lord Chancellor
was at the door of the royal one as soon as it was opened. “I will
conduct you straight to his Majesty,” he said.
[Illustration]
VI
KING SELIM HOLDS AN AUDIENCE
They were led through several magnificent ivory halls, with a great
many looking-glasses in them but scarcely any furniture, and into the
great Hall of Audience, where there was a lovely ivory throne on a daïs
at one end, and on either side of the Hall a row of ivory chairs.
Here Peggy had two great surprises.
The first surprise was the new King, who was sitting on the throne.
Directly she saw him, Peggy exclaimed, “Why, he’s a White Chess King!”
[Illustration: “He’s a White Chess King!”]
And so he was, though none of the dolls seemed to know it. His crown
was on his head, and he had a face underneath it, which chess kings
don’t have, and, although he was wood himself, his robes did not appear
to be. But there was no doubt about his being a chess king, in spite
of these differences, and the moment she saw him Peggy had the feeling
that he ought not to be King of Toyland, for he wasn’t a real doll that
children play with, but only part of a game for grown-ups.
The King was sitting on his throne when they came into the Hall, and
standing by his side on the daïs was a lady doll. And this was Peggy’s
second surprise. For the lady doll was no other than Rose, who had
once been her own doll--the one she had given to Mabel in exchange for
Wooden.
Now, as we know, Peggy had never really loved Rose; she had tried to,
but had not succeeded. But she had not come to _dis_like her in any
way, and had kissed her affectionately when she had given her up to
Mabel, and told her that she would come to see her sometimes. And she
had done this now and then, until Mabel’s father had left the village
shortly afterwards, and taken Mabel and Rose with him.
But now, directly she set eyes on Rose again, and recognized her, Peggy
felt that she did dislike her. She looked very proud, for one thing,
and pride is not a quality that becomes anybody, least of all dolls,
who are generally free from it. She also looked bad-tempered, and that
again is a fault from which dolls are usually free. The only point to
admire about her was her good looks, but as Peggy had never been able
to love her because of them when she had been her own doll they did
not recommend her now. Peggy felt once for all that she had been quite
right in not liking Rose, and also felt that it would be impossible
ever to like her.
But we must get on. Directly the party introduced by the Lord
Chamberlain made its appearance at the door of the Hall of Audience,
the King rose from his throne. As they advanced up the Hall, he
stepped down from the daïs, and approaching Wooden, bowed to her in a
stately but somewhat foreign fashion, and took her hand. Then he said
with great respect, “Madame, our wedding will take place in half an
hour, and our coronation half an hour after that. I wish to get both
ceremonies over before tea-time.”
He spoke in an imperious way, and although there was a sort of smile on
his face as he looked at Wooden, showing that she was dear to him, it
was not altogether a pleasant smile; nor did King Selim seem to Peggy
an agreeable person. He was tall and fat and ugly, and looked as if he
ate and drank too much.
Wooden was taken aback by the suddenness of the proposal. And no
wonder! It must be remembered that she hardly knew King Selim, and had
had no idea until half an hour before of anything in the nature of
a marriage with him. And, although he had smiled at her, he had not
uttered a word of love, nor even asked if she wanted to marry him or
not. No lady would like a gentleman simply to tell her that he was
going to marry her in half an hour, even if the gentleman _was_ a King.
“I don’t know, your Majesty,” she said hesitatingly. “Of course it’s a
great honour you’re doing me. But I haven’t thought of such a thing,
and--and----”