This seemed such an extraordinary order for him to have received that the three dolls in the carriage began to suspect that there was something wrong, especially as they had now been driving for a long time, and when Wooden’s aunt had put her head out of window she had seen that they were getting near the hills, which she recognized. It was not exactly observant of them not to have suspected something before, but, as you know by now, dolls are apt to take everything that happens as a matter of course.
Well, by the time the carriages had reached the top of the hill, the three dolls had come to the conclusion that they were being run away with. Wooden’s aunt said she wasn’t going to stand that, and was going to ask Selim what he meant by it. She said she would jump out of the carriage as it was going, and run forward to the first carriage. The others said that the coachman would hit her with his whip, but she said she would run the risk of his missing her.
Well, as the carriages came to the top of the hill, she opened the carriage door quickly and jumped out, and ran forward to the first carriage. The driver shouted at her, and gave her a great cut with his whip, which unfortunately did not miss her, but hit her in the face, where there was still an ugly-looking mark. But she hardly felt it at the time, and ran forward to the first carriage, shouting out, “Hi, you there, Selim! Come out and show your ugly face!”
Oh, there was no doubt about the pluck of Wooden’s aunt, in spite of the numerous faults of her character.
The rest was soon told. Selim had been furious with her, and he and Rose had dragged her into the wood and tied her to the tree, and then they had gone off. But before they had left her, Rose had stood in front of her and laughed her scornful laugh, and said, “That’s for calling me Sawdust. Perhaps you’ll be sorry now for crossing the path of Rose, who never forgets and never forgives.”
This was one more thing against Rose.
The Lord Chancellor asked Wooden’s aunt if she had any idea where the carriages were going, and told her they could not see them on the straight road to Dollport. This was the name of the little town by the sea, where the dolls landed from “over there.”
“Well, silly,” said Wooden’s aunt, “if they ain’t on that road, of course they’re on the other one. It don’t take a pair of specs to see that.”
The Lord Chancellor, slightly annoyed at being addressed in this fashion, said stiffly, “I should have thought of that if I had been given time. We have delayed long enough. Let us at once take the road to Dollfort.” Now, Dollfort was the place in which the wooden soldiers of Toyland were trained. If Selim had gone there, it looked as if he expected the wooden soldiers to be on his side.
