The first thing that happened to her was that she underwent an operation for restoring the limbs that were lost. It was a serious operation, and she was under chloroform for about a week. The chauffeur, whose name was Herbert, performed the operation, and when it was over Wooden had two arms and two legs just like everybody else. One of the legs sometimes came off at the knee, and both arms at the elbows. But Herbert, accustomed to making quick repairs, was always ready to perform other minor operations, and Wooden was seldom without her full number of limbs for long together.
Wooden went through the usual illnesses, and was carefully nursed by Peggy. Perhaps she suffered rather more than most dolls, but Peggy’s father was a doctor, and there was always help at hand if anything serious happened. And of course Peggy knew more about cases, and nursing, than other little girls whose fathers were not doctors. Wooden had whooping-cough, croup, mumps, scarlet-fever, chicken-pox, measles, German-measles, swollen glands, general debility, bronchitis, typhoid, and lung trouble, all in the ordinary way. For some little time she was a spinal case, and had to be kept on her back. But she was always good and uncomplaining through her ailments, and Peggy loved her more because she was a trifle delicate than if she had always been in robust health.
In fact, the longer Peggy had Wooden the more she loved her. She played with her more than with her other dolls, and Wooden was always the one she took to bed with her. Peggy had a large Teddy bear, which she also loved and took to bed with her. But there could be no jealousy between Wooden and Teddy, because they were so different. If Peggy sometimes dressed Teddy up in a jacket and skirt belonging to Wooden, it was always treated as a joke. As a rule he went about with nothing on but his own thick fur.
Peggy had a large Teddy bear
Wooden had all the clothes of Peggy’s dolls’ wardrobe to wear, if they fitted her, and was better dressed than most dolls. And as everybody liked her when they once came to know her, she had plenty of things given her as time went on. When Miss Clay came to the house for a week or two to sew, she would generally make something for Wooden out of the material left over. Once she made her a purple velvet jacket, and once a tailor-made skirt. As for nightgowns, and petticoats, and things like that, trimmed with lace, and sometimes with pink and blue ribbon, Wooden was so well supplied that Peggy’s father said her laundry bill was becoming quite a serious item. So it will be seen that Wooden was very much better off than when she had belonged to Mabel, and had only had one red flannel dress.
We now come to the other doll of Peggy’s, of whom mention has been made.
Her name was Lady Grace. She came on Peggy’s eighth birthday, and was really a beautiful doll, as everybody who saw her bore witness. She had been born in France, although she herself was English, and the clothes that came with her were finer than any of Wooden’s. Her face was wax, and she had beautiful hair. Her eyes opened and shut, and she had the sweetest little hands and feet, with pink toes and fingertips.
Peggy loved her at once. This was not altogether because of her beauty, for Rose had been beautiful—though not so beautiful as Lady Grace—and Peggy had never been able to love Rose at all. There was something about Lady Grace which made Peggy feel that she must look after her and pet her. And she never felt, as she had felt with Rose, that all her petting was of no use. Lady Grace might not say much, but she showed that she was grateful to Peggy for all the care she took of her by being always sweet and good; though she was, as I have said, rather helpless.
Now, although Peggy loved Lady Grace from the first, it must not be supposed that she loved Wooden any the less. It was just as it is with children. When a new baby comes, the mother adores it, but she loves her other children just as much as she did before.