So Raggedy Ann was pinned to the clothes-line, out in the bright sunshine, where she swayed and twisted in the breeze and listened to the chatter of the robins in a nearby tree.

[Illustration]

Every once in a while Dinah went out and rolled and patted Raggedy until her cotton stuffing was soft and dry and fluffy and her head and arms and legs were nice and round again.

Then she took Raggedy Ann into the house and showed Marcella and Mamma how clean and sweet she was.

Marcella took Raggedy Ann right up to the nursery and told all the dolls just what had happened and how sorry she was that she had been so cross and peevish when she dressed them.  And while the dolls said never a word they looked at their little mistress with love in their eyes as she sat in the little red rocking chair and held Raggedy Ann tightly in her arms.

And Raggedy Ann’s remaining shoe-button eye looked up at her little mistress in rather a saucy manner, but upon her face was the same old smile of happiness, good humor and love.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

RAGGEDY ANN AND THE KITE

Raggedy Ann watched with interest the preparations.

A number of sticks were being fastened together with strings and covered with light cloth.

Raggedy Ann heard some of the boys talk of “The Kite,” so Raggedy Ann knew this must be a kite.

When a tail had been fastened to the kite and a large ball of heavy twine tied to the front, one of the boys held the kite up in the air and another boy walked off, unwinding the ball of twine.

There was a nice breeze blowing, so the boy with the twine called, “Let ’er go” and started running.

Marcella held Raggedy up so that she could watch the kite sail through the air.

How nicely it climbed!  But suddenly the kite acted strangely, and as all the children shouted advice to the boy with the ball of twine, the kite began darting this way and that, and finally making four or five loop-the-loops, it crashed to the ground.

“It needs more tail on it!” one boy shouted.

Then the children asked each other where they might get more rags to fasten to the tail of the kite.

“Let’s tie Raggedy Ann to the tail!” suggested Marcella.  “I know she would enjoy a trip ’way up in the sky!”

The boys all shouted with delight at this new suggestion.  So Raggedy Ann was tied to the tail of the kite.

This time the kite rose straight in the air and remained steady.  The boy with the ball of twine unwound it until the kite and Raggedy Ann were ’way, ’way up and far away.  How Raggedy Ann enjoyed being up there!  She could see for miles and miles!  And how tiny the children looked!

Suddenly a great puff of wind came and carried Raggedy Ann streaming ’way out behind the kite!  She could hear the wind singing on the twine as the strain increased.