[Illustration]

[Illustration]

RAGGEDY ANN’S TRIP ON THE RIVER

When Marcella had a tea party out in the orchard, of course all of the dolls were invited.  Raggedy Ann, the tin soldier, the Indian doll and all the others—­even the four little penny dolls in the spool box.  After a lovely tea party with ginger cookies and milk, of course the dolls were very sleepy, at least Marcella thought so, so she took all except Raggedy Ann into the house and put them to bed for the afternoon nap.  Then Marcella told Raggedy Ann to stay there and watch the things.

As there was nothing else to do, Raggedy Ann waited for Marcella to return.  And as she watched the little ants eating cookie crumbs Marcella had thrown to them, she heard all of a sudden the patter of puppy feet behind her.  It was Fido.

The puppy dog ran up to Raggedy Ann and twisted his head about as he looked at her.  Then he put his front feet out and barked in Raggedy Ann’s face.  Raggedy Ann tried to look very stern, but she could not hide the broad smile painted on her face.

“Oh, you want to play, do you?” the puppy dog barked, as he jumped at Raggedy Ann and then jumped back again.

The more Raggedy Ann smiled, the livelier Fido’s antics became, until finally he caught the end of her dress and dragged her about.

This was great fun for the puppy dog, but Raggedy Ann did not enjoy it.  She kicked and twisted as much as she could, but the puppy dog thought Raggedy was playing.

He ran out the garden gate and down the path across the meadow, every once in a while stopping and pretending he was very angry.  When he pretended this, Fido would give Raggedy Ann a great shaking, making her yarn head hit the ground “ratty-tat-tat.”  Then he would give his head a toss and send Raggedy Ann high in the air where she would turn over two or three times before she reached the ground.

By this time, she had lost her apron and now some of her yarn hair was coming loose.

As Fido neared the brook, another puppy dog came running across the foot-bridge to meet him.  “What have you there, Fido?” said the new puppy dog as he bounced up to Raggedy Ann.

“This is Raggedy Ann,” answered Fido.  “She and I are having a lovely time playing.”

You see, Fido really thought Raggedy enjoyed being tossed around and whirled high up in the air.  But of course she didn’t.  However, the game didn’t last much longer.  As Raggedy Ann hit the ground the new puppy dog caught her dress and ran with her across the bridge, Fido barking close behind him.

In the center of the bridge, Fido caught up with the new puppy dog and they had a lively tug-of-war with Raggedy Ann stretched between then.  As they pulled and tugged and flopped Raggedy Ann about, somehow she fell over the side of the bridge into the water.

The puppy dogs were surprised, and Fido was very sorry indeed, for he remembered how good Raggedy Ann had been to him and how she had rescued him from the dog-pound.  But the current carried Raggedy Ann right along and all Fido could do was to run along the bank and bark.