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I Sheila's Dolls' House


Sheila had a dolls' house. It really belonged both to her and to Benny, her brother, because he had made it for Sheila. But Benny said that a dolls' house was a toy for a girl, and not for a boy, so he said it was Sheila's. All the same, he played with it sometimes because it was really rather exciting arranging the furniture in the little bedrooms, and pretending to cook on the stove in the kitchen, and making the dolls receive visitors in the sitting-room. It was made out of a box, and Benny had cleverly made a slanting red roof, and had nailed chimneys on. He had made a big front, with windows and a door, so that Sheila could open the front of the house and play with the rooms inside. Sheila thought it was a lovely house. She had seen some dolls' houses in a shop, and one had electric light in each of the bedrooms,

and even had water running out of the little tap in the kitchen. But Benny said he couldn't possibly put electric light in the house, he wouldn't know how to. And as for water running out of a tap, to begin with there wasn't a tap and to end with there wasn't any water ! Anyway, Sheila thought the house was simply lovely, and she played with it every day. She made curtains for the windows and carpets for the floors. All her pocket-money went on buying little pieces of furniture for the house. It really did look very nice indeed.

The front door had a tiny brass knocker that Sheila polished once a week. It really did knock a very tiny rat-a-tat-tat. One day Lula came to tea. She saw the dolls' house in the corner, and how she loved it! Lula hadn't a dolls' house, though she had nearly every other kind of toy, for her parents spoilt her, and gave her a great many presents. "Oh ! What a lovely house !" cried Lula, and swung open the front of it. "Ohlook at the rooms ! Two bedroomsa kitchen with a stoveand a sitting-room with a sofa and chairs and tableand a tiny bookcase full of books, too ! And look at the dolls !" "Be careful, Lula," said Sheila, alarmed at the way Lula took hold of the tiny pieces of furniture and the little dolls. "Oh, do be careful. Don't move the kitchen stove. It fits so nicely into that corner." But Lula paid no attention. She wanted to play with that dolls' house, and whatever Sheila said she didn't hear. Soon she dropped one of the tiny dolls and its arm came off. Sheila was upset. "Oh, Lulalook what you've done ! That's a doll called Melia, and

she's such a good doll, she makes the beds each day, and now she won't be able to because you've broken her arm !" "I'll buy you another doll," said Lula, picking up Melia. "Yes, but another doll won't be Melia, and Melia doesn't like having her arm broken," said Sheila, crossly. "Ohnow you've broken the dear little clock I had on the mantelpiece." By the time Lula had finished playing with the dolls' house, not only had Melia's arm been broken, and the clock, but one of the curtains had been torn, and the bedroom wardrobe had one of its doors loose. It was very upsetting. Sheila was glad when Lula went home. "I'll never, never let her play with our dolls' house again," she told Benny, and he agreed. Now a week later, Lula didn't come to school, and Sheila wondered why. Mummy told her, and she looked rather grave. "Poor Lula is terribly ill. You must put her into your prayers tonight." So the children did. Lula was no better

for a day or two, and then Mummy told them she was not nearly so ill. "She will soon be sitting up in bed !" said Mummy. "You can send her some sweets and some fruit, and perhaps buy her a little toy or a book." So Benny and Sheila bought some sweets, and some oranges and grapes, and a book and a little doll, all for poor Lula, and sent them to her. They felt very sorry for her. Now she would not be able to come to school and join in all the jolly lessons and games for a long time.

Then Mummy came to Sheila and asked her a very hard thing. "Sheila, darling, Lula is sitting up each day now, and she is very bored. She keeps asking to play with your dolls' house. Shall I take it round and lend it to her?" "Oh, no, Mummy !" cried both Sheila and Benny at once. "She broke Melia's arm and it isn't mended yet, and lots of other things," said Benny. "Sheila was sad." "She'd break everything!" said Sheila. "She isn't careful with her toys as we are. She doesn't love them." "She has too many," said Mummy. "But, Sheila, dearthis would be such a kind thing to do. Lula's mother says Lula keeps on and on asking for the dolls' house. She cries about it, and frets. Her mother has tried to buy her one, but there isn't one to be had !" "Mummy, I don't want to be kind over this," said Sheila, almost in tears. "I don't really. Benny made me the house, and I love it, and I don't want Lula to spoil it." "Very well," said Mummy. "It is your house, and I shall certainly not force you to lend it to Lula."

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Mummy looked a bit sad about it. Sheila knew she looked sad, not because she couldn't take the dolls' house round to poor Lula, but because she thought she had a selfish, unkind little girl, and that is enough to make any mother very sad indeed. So Sheila, who was really very kind-hearted, suddenly changed her mind. "You can take the dolls' house round to Lula," she said. "But Mummy, do, do ask her to look after it well, please." So Mummy, looking pleased and happy, took the dolls' house round. Lula's daddy opened the door, and he was delighted to see the house. "Ah this will make our little Lula feel much better," he said. "It really will cheer her up. How kind of Sheila and Benny to lend it." "Wellthey didn't want to at first," said Mummy, "because they love their dolls' house very muchBenny made it, you know. Ask Lula to be very careful with it, won't you?" Lula was simply delighted with the house. She played with it very carefully. Her daddy mended the loose door of the wardrobe in

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the bedroom. He bought a little bath with taps and put it into a corner of the bedroom. It looked fine. "Oh, Daddyif only, only I could light the rooms at night !" said Lula. "If only I could turn on the little bath-taps and fill the bath. That would make me so happy." Well, the doctor had said that Lula must be kept cheerful and happy if possible, so her daddy set to work. He was very clever with his hands and before two days had gone, he had put batteries at the back of the house, with wires that ran inside to little lamps in each room. When Lula pressed a switch, the

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lights came onand there was each room brightly lighted as if it was real ! Then he put a tin in the roof, filled it with water, put tiny pipes leading down to the bath, fixed them to the tapsand, lo and behold, when Lula turned them on, water came out and filled the bath ! Oh, how pleased she was ! She played with the house all day long, and was very sad when the time came for her to give it back. Sheila saw Lula's daddy carrying it up her front path. She spoke to Benny. "I expect it's all battered and broken ! I shall hate opening the front and seeing all that Lula has done to it." But, dear me, what a wonderful surprise the two children had when they did open the front ! There were new curtains. There was the bath in the bedroom. Melia's arm was mended and so was the clock. And there were little lamps in each room ! "Look," said Benny, in great excitement, and he pressed a switch. "All the lamps light ! Oh, Sheila, the house looks so real, all lighted up. Let's shut the front and see the light showing through the windows."

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After that they discovered that when they turned on the bath-taps, water came out and filled the bath. Sheila could hardly believe her eyes ! The children spent the whole evening filling the bath over and over again, and switching the lights on and off ! When Mummy came in, they ran to her in joy. "Come and see ! Our dolls' house has come back far better than it went. Just see !" Mummy was so pleased. "You deserve a little reward," she said. "You didn't want to lend your housebut you were unselfish enough to be kind. Well, it isn't always that kindness is rewarded so well as this !" The lights still go on and off and the bath-taps still run water and fill the bath. I've seen them. Wouldn't you love to see them, too?

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II Old Black Face


When the black doll came to the nursery to live, the other toys didn't like him. "What are you?" said the teddy bear. "Are you a golliwog without proper hair?" "No. I'm a doll," said the black doll. "But you've got a black face," said the clockwork clown. "Dolls don't have faces like yours." "Well, I'm just a black doll," said the black doll. "I'm called Sambo. All black dolls are called Sambo." "We don't like you," said the golden-haired doll. "We shall call you Black-Face. Old Black-Face !" Sambo didn't like that. He couldn't help his black face. He tried to scrub it white, but it stayed black. He did wish the toys wouldn't call him BlackFace. They weren't at all kind to him. They wouldn't let him join in their games. The
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golden-haired doll was really rude. She turned her back on him, whenever he came near. The black doll was a friendly fellow. He loved to chatter and laugh and make jokes. But how could he chatter if people wouldn't talk to him? He didn't feel like making jokes or laughing either. He felt very miserable. Not even the teddy bear was nice to him. "Here's old Black-Face," he would say, as soon as Sambo came up. "Trying to push himself in as usual. Go away, Black-Face." Sambo soon didn't smile any more. He kept in a corner, and didn't try to join in the others' games. He wished he hadn't come to this nursery. But someone had given him to Peter, the boy who belonged to that nursery, so Sambo couldn't help coming. One day something strange happened. A lot of black stuff suddenly fell down into the hearth ! It was soot. The toys didn't know this. They ran over to the hearth and looked at all the black stuff. Suddenly some more fell down the chimney andoh dearit fell all over the toys ! In a trice the teddy bear was black, the golden

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haired doll was black, and so was the clockwork clown. Only the golliwog looked no different, and Sambo, of course. The toys were full of horror and dismay. They stared at one another and squealed. "Oh ! We've got black faces ! Oh, how dreadful we look !" The golden-haired doll cried. Her tears made a little passage down the black of her cheeks, and this made her look queerer than ever. Sambo was very sorry for her. He ran over to all the frightened toys. "Come away from that stuff," he said. "I'll make you right again. Don't you worry ! Come into the bathroom with me." So they all went into the bathroom with him, and little black Sambo put one after another into the bath, and ran warm water in. Then he took Peter's flannel, and rubbed soap on it. He washed the face of the golden-haired doll first of all. It came pink in no time ! "You look quite all right now," the teddy bear said to her. "Do me next, Black-Face. I can't bear being black like this." It took quite a long time to get the bear

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brown again, because the soot had covered him from head to foot. But the black doll worked hard, and at last the bear was clean. "Go and sit in the sun," said Sambo. "Then you will soon dry. You mustn't get a cold." How black Sambo worked to get the toys all clean again ! He even scrubbed the clockwork mouse with the nail-brush, right down to the very tip of his tail. The mouse was very grateful. "Thank you," he said. "I look better now, don't I? I'll go and join the bear in the sunshine."

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After he had cleaned all the toys, and washed away every bit of soot from them, the black doll cleaned the bath. It was dreadfully sooty. He didn't want Peter's mother to find it like that, and to blame Peter. He was tired when he had finished. He came into the nursery, and sat down in his lonely corner. He fell fast asleep. The toys looked at him. For the first time they saw the kindness in that little black face. They saw the tiredness too, and the loneliness. "I feel ashamed of myself," said the bear to the clown. "We've been so unkind to Sambo that you might think he'd be glad when the soot made us black too, and would refuse to help us. But he worked hard and got us all clean and nice again." "We laughed at him for being black, but he didn't laugh at us. He worked hard and helped us," said the mouse. "Now he's gone back to his lonely corner again. He doesn't expect us to like him, even after all he has done." "Well, I do like him," said the golden-haired doll. "I like him very much. I'm going over to sit beside him."

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"So am I," said the bear, and the mouse and the other toys said the same. So they all went over to Sambo's lonely corner and sat by him. He was most surprised to see them there when he woke up. The golden-haired doll slipped her fingers into his. "We want to be friends with you, Sambo," she said. "We like you. Will you play with us: Well ! What a question to ask ! Sambo grinned all over his black face, and began to chatter and laugh and make jokes at once. How happy he felt! Now the toys like Sambo better than any other toy. Wasn't it a good thing he gave them kindness instead of unkindness, when they were all as black as he was? Good old Sambo !

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III The Clown's Little Trick In John's nursery were all kinds of toys, from the big rocking-horse down to the tiny clockwork mouse. They lived together happily and were kind and good to one another, just as John was kind to them. But one day the fat little toy elephant wasn't so good after all. John had some little chocolate sweets and he seemed to enjoy them very much. The toy elephant watched him and wished he could taste one. "Don't eat any more, John," said his mother. "You must make them last all the weekthree a day, I should think." John put them away on the bottom shelf of his little book-case. The toy elephant saw exactly where he put them. And that night, in the dark, he left the toy cupboard, walked across the strip of linoleum, over the carpet, to the little book-case. He felt about with his trunk and found the paper bag.
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He put his trunk inside and felt the little chocolates there. He got hold of one with his trunk and popped it into his mouth. "Myit's good !" he whispered to himself. "Very, very good. I like it. Tomorrow night I'll fetch another." He went back to the toy cupboard, stood himself in a corner and finished eating the sweet. All night long he felt the taste of it, and was happy. He didn't think how bad of him it was to take it. The next night he did the same, putting his little trunk into the bag and pulling out a sweet. He ate it, and then he took another. Nobody saw him. He just stood there in the dark and enjoyed himself. But John soon found that someone was taking his sweets. He looked sternly at his toys. "Toys," he said, "it's very sad, but one of you is taking my sweets at night. Don't do it. It's very, very wrong." The toys were dreadfully upset. They looked at one another when John had gone out for a walk. "Can one of us be so horrid?" they said. "Who is it? Let him own up at once !"

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But the fat little elephant said nothing. He didn't even go red. He wasn't a bit ashamed of himself. And that night he crept off to the paper bag and took two more sweets ! He really did. John was very sad the next day. He looked at the teddy bear, the golliwog, the clockwork clown, the mouse, the monkey, the elephant, the pink cat, the black dog, and all the rest of them. "If it happens again I am afraid I shall have to lock the toy cupboard door, so that none of you can get out at night," he said. This was a horrid threat. The toys did so love to get out of the cupboard and play around sometimes when John was in bed. When the moon shone in at the window they often had a dance. It would be dreadful if John really did lock the cupboard. When John had gone out of the room the clockwork clown stood up. "We simply must find out who is the thief," he said. "I am not going to let us all be punished for something that only one of us does ! Let that one own up now before it is too late. For I warn him, I shall find him out."

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The toy elephant didn't say a word. The clown frowned. "Very well," he said. "It will be very, very bad for the thief when I find him out." Now, that night the clown did a funny thing. He crept into the nursery larder and found the pot of honey there. He dipped in a paint-brush and hurried down to the floor again. He carefully painted the bit of shiny linoleum outside the toy cupboard with the honey on the brush. It made it very sticky indeed. Then the clown went to the breadboard in 27

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the nursery cupboard and collected all the crumbs he found there. He took them to the little book-case and scattered them just in front of the place where the paper sweet-bag was kept. Then he hurried back to the toy cupboard, and sat down beside the golliwog. He didn't tell anyone at all what he had done. The toys were tired that night. John had played with them a lot that day. They fell asleep and slept soundly, all but the fat little elephant, who was waiting to go and get another sweet. When he was sure everyone was asleep, he crept out of the cupboard as usual. His four feet stepped on the honey. Then, with sticky feet, he padded over to the book-case and put out his trunk to the sweetbag. He trod on the scattered crumbs. They stuck to his feet, but he didn't know it. He took a sweet and padded back to the toy cupboard. He spent a long time enjoying the little chocolate. Now, just at dawn, when a silvery light was coming in through the window, the clockwork clown woke all the toys up. "Wake

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up," he said, and his voice sounded so stern that the toys were alarmed. " W hat's the matter?'' they said. "I am going to show you who the thief is," said the clown. "I myself don't know who it is yet, but I soon shall know ! Everyone sit down, please, and show me the underneath of their feet !" In great surprise all the toys did as they were told, and the clown looked at their feet quickly. And, of course, when he came to the elephant's feet, he saw the little crumbs sticking there, and smelt the honey on them, too ! "Here is the thief!" he cried. "Bad little elephant ! Look, toys, he has crumbs stuck to his feet! You see, I spread honey just outside the cupboard, and scattered crumbs in front of the book-case ! And the elephant walked over the honey and the crumbs stuck to his feet! So now we know who the thief is ! Bad little elephant!" The toys were angry with the elephant. They turned him out of the toy cupboard. They made him go and stand in front of the sweet-bag, so that John would know who the thief was, when he came in.

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And he did, of course. "So you were the bad little thief!" he said. "I'm ashamed of you. You must be spanked !" And he spanked the fat little elephant so hard that he cried tears into the brick-box at the back of the toy cupboard, and made quite a puddle there. "Serves you right," said the clown. "We shan't play with you for a night or two. Perhaps you will think twice the next time you want to take things that don't belong to you !" It was a clever trick of the clown's, wasn't it? I'm sure I should never have thought of it !

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IV Good Gracious Me! It all happened in such a hurry ! Leslie was going along the path in the wood on his scooter, thinking of what he would spend his Saturday penny on. He was wishing he could save up enough money to buy a hooter to put on the handle of his scooter. "Sometimes I go almost as fast as a motorcar, and I really ought to have a hooter to warn people to get out of the way !" thought Leslie. Just then somebody rushed by him, almost knocking him over. Leslie was cross. "Hi ! Don't go rushing about like that !" he shouted. Then he stared in surprise. The person who had nearly knocked him over was the longest-legged man he had ever seen ! Leslie stared after him. He had long, spidery legs, long arms, and a long neck on which sat a big head with pointed ears ! "He must be a gnome or a pixie or something!"

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said Leslie. And just as he was thinking that, he heard shouts behind him. "Stop him! Stop thief! Hi, can't you stop him?" Then all round Leslie rushed two or three very small men. He thought they must be goblins. They looked very cross and impatient. "Why didn't you stop him? Didn't you see Long-Legs rushing by? He's taken a bag of magic spells from us !" "Oh," said Leslie, in surprise. " Well, I didn't know that. Anyway, he's gone. You'll never catch him, he's got such long legs !" "Lend us your scooter !" said one of the goblins, and caught hold of it. "Come on! Lend it to us ! We can go fast on this." "No," said Leslie, who felt sure he would never see his nice new scooter again if he let the little men have it. "Yes!" said the little men, and they all jumped on the scooter at once, with Leslie in the middle of them, and then they pushed off with all their little left legs ! The scooter simply shot through the trees! "Hi, stop ! We'll have an accident!" said

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Leslie. But he might as well have spoken to the moon. The little men used their left feet all in time with one another, and the scooter went faster and faster. They held on to Leslie and to each other. It must have been a funny sight to see them tearing along at top speed through the wood ! "There he is ! Go on, faster, faster !" yelled the little man who was right in front. And faster they went, till Leslie could hardly breathe! Then CRASH! They bumped into a tree and all of them fell off. The front wheel of the scooter looked a little

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bent. But the little men took no notice of that! No, up they all jumped again, nearly leaving poor Leslie behind this time, and off they went again, with Leslie clinging to the handle for all he was worth. "I can see him! I can see Long-Legs !" yelled the front goblin. "He's going to the goblin market. That's where he's going ! He means to sell our spells there ! Hurry !" They left the path in the wood and came out on a main road. Leslie knew he had never been there before ! It was crowded with all kinds of fairy folk! How he stared ! " We shall knock people over. Look out !" he shouted. "We're going too fast." "Sound your hooter, then; blow it, blow it!" yelled the little men. "I haven't got one !" said Leslie. "Oh, do be careful. You nearly knocked over that pixie." "We'd better stop and buy a hooter," said the little man at the front. "We don't want an accident." So they stopped at a fine shop and bought a most wonderful hooter. It looked like silver to

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Leslie, and the rubber part was painted blue. They fixed it on to the handle. Then on they tore again, this time hooting for all they were worth. "Hoot-toot-toot! Hoot-toottoot!" People hopped out of the way at once. The scooter raced on as fast as an express train. Leslie couldn't help enjoying it, especially as he was the one to sound the hooter ! "There's Long-Legs again !" yelled the little men. "Faster, faster !" "Hoot-toot-toot! Hoot-toot-toot!" On they went, and, just as they reached the crowded market, they caught up Long-Legs. In fact, they ran right into him, and knocked him over ! Everyone fell off the scooter, and then goblins swarmed over the groaning Long-Legs like ants. They took away his bag of spells, and tied his hands behind him, and began to march him away. "Hi!" called Leslie." Tell me the way home!" The goblins stopped. They seemed to have forgotten about Leslie. "Oh, don't you know it?" they called. "Well, never mind, your scooter does. Just hop on and it will take you back to the path in the wood."

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Leslie was rather doubtful about this. He hadn't noticed that his scooter was very clever before. "Well, what about your hooter?" he called. "Don't you want it?" "Oh no. You can have it in return for letting us borrow your scooter !" called back the goblins. "Goodbye." "Goodbye," said Leslie, and looked at his new hooter in delight. Goodness, what would Mother say? He got on his scooter, and pushed off. To his surprise and delight it raced along by itself, and he didn't even need to put his foot

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down again until he reached the path that he knew, in the middle of the wood. There was no one about, of course, but Leslie couldn't help sounding his hooter. "Hoot-toot-toot! Hoot-toot-toot!" And all the rabbits scuttled out of the way at once. He got home at last, feeling quite tired. When he told Mother how he got his new hooter, she didn't believe him. "All rightI'll take you to the marketplace, and you'll see all I saw !" But isn't it a pity?he can't find the way again now. Still, perhaps he will some day.

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V Grandma's Doll
Grandma had a very old doll. She had had it when she was a little girl, and she had never given it away. When Winnie went to see Grandma she always asked to see the old doll. Her name was Tabitha Jane. She was a queer-looking doll, dressed in funny old-fashioned clothes. Her hair was very fuzzy, and at the back it had come off a little and she was bald there. She had bright blue eyes that didn't shut, and a round fat face made of china. She smiled and showed a set of white teeth. Her

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arms and legs wouldn't move very much, so she was rather a stiff sort of doll, and not very cuddlesome. But there was one nice thing about her, and that wasshe could say "Mamma, Mamma, Mamma !" Winnie thought that was wonderful. It is true that Tabitha Jane wouldn't say "Mamma" unless you pulled a string in her back, but still she always spoke when you did that. "You see, when I was small, little girls called their mothers 'Mamma' instead of 'Mummy', Winnie," said Grandma. "So that is why Tabitha Jane says 'Mamma' to me instead of 'Mummy'." "Grandma, why didn't you ever give Tabitha Jane away?" asked Winnie. "You gave all your other toys away. I've got a rocking-horse you used to have. And Derek has all your bricks. But you have never given Tabitha Jane away. I wish you would give her to me. You don't want her now, do you?" "Well, I feel I can't give Tabitha away because she once did a very fine thing for me," said Grandma, and she looked rather mysterious. "She is a very special doll."

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"What was the fine thing she did for you?" said Winnie, surprised. "I can't tell you," said Grandma. "Nobody has ever believed it, so I never tell anyone now. I told lots of people when I was a little girl, but nobody believed me." "I would believe you," said Winnie. "I would, really, Grandma. Please do tell me." "Well, I will tell you," said Grandma. "Listen ! It's a very queer tale really, but it will help you to know why I have never given Tabitha Jane away. "Once," went on Grandma, "when I was

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quite small, smaller than you, Winnie, I put Tabitha Jane to bed for the night. She had a bed in the day nursery, and I always used to undress her and put her to bed before I got undressed myself. "I slept in the night nursery, with my little sister Mary. That night I popped Tabitha Jane down in her little bed, kissed her goodnight and left her. Very soon I was in my cot, and Mary, my little sister, was in hers. My mother, who was your great-grandmother, blew out our candle, and left us. "Mary and I went to sleep. We slept until about midnight. When I woke up, I could hear something." "What could you hear?" said Winnie, looking at Grandma with wide-open eyes. "I could hear a voice saying 'Mamma ! Mamma ! Mamma !' " said Grandma. "Yes, you may well look surprised, Winnie ! I was surprised, too. I knew the voice of Tabitha Jane very well, and I felt sure it was my doll calling out 'Mamma ! Mamma !' to me." "What did you do?" said Winnie. "Oh, Grandma, this is lovely. I love hearing this."

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"Well, I sat up in bed, and I listened. And again I heard Tabitha Jane calling out. 'Mamma !' she called. 'Mamma ! Mamma !' "So I jumped out of bed and ran into the day nursery. It should have been dark there, but it wasn'tbecause part of the nursery was on fire !" "Oh, Grandma-how dreadful !" cried Winnie. "A hot coal had shot out of the fire and landed on the rug. It had set light to it, and the flames from the rug were burning the wooden chair standing there !" said Grandma. "The smell was horrid. "I stood at the door, full of horror, and all the time could hear that anxious little voice, 'Mamma ! Mamma ! Mamma !' " "Oh," said Winnie, "how wonderful of Tabitha Jane, Grandma ! She warned you of the fire. Dear Tabitha Jane, I shall love her twice as much after this." "Well, I was very frightened," said Grandma. "And I ran at once to my own mother's room, and I heard my voice too crying 'Mamma! Mamma! Mamma!' I woke my mother and father and they ran to the nursery, threw water on the flames and put out the fire."
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"Oh, Grandmawhat a lovely story !" said Winnie. "Didn't your mother and father think Tabitha Jane was a marvellous doll?" "They didn't believe me when I told them that Tabitha Jane had wakened me by calling 'Mamma !' " said Grandma. "That made me very sad. They wouldn't even let me take her to bed at night, to reward her for being so good. I still had to leave her in her little bed in the day nursery." "Poor Tabitha Jane," said Winnie. "If

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you'll just lend her to me one night, Grandma, I'll cuddle her into bed with me. I'd love to. My Mummy lets me have just one toy in bed." Grandma pulled the string. Tabitha Jane at once said "Mamma !" Winnie hugged the old doll. "Grandma, I believe every word of your story. You can tell Tabitha Jane is a doll like that, just by looking at her darling face. Every time I come to see you, you must tell me the story of why you have never given Tabitha Jane away. You couldn't possibly give away a doll like that." "Well," said Grandma, looking pleased, "if ever I do give her away, you shall have her, Winnie. I think you would love her as much as I did." "And she might call me one night !" said Winnie. "Oh, I should like that!" "Mamma !" said Tabitha Jane, as Winnie pulled her string. "Mamma !" Wouldn't you love to hear her She has such a dear little voice !

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Enid Blyton

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