“You smile at everything,” he said “Nothing troubles you much.”
“It troubles me that you should be going away; away from me into the wide world,” she said.
“It will trouble you for half an hour, not longer,” said he. “Only half an hour, that’s all. I must leave you now.”
“Don’t,” said she. “Stay.”
“I can’t,” said he. “Good-bye.”
And he went straight away without another word.
“He does not know how dear he is to my heart or he would not leave me so,” said the little Marionette to herself after he had left.
Then she threw herself down on the counter and cried as if her heart were breaking. She threw herself down so violently that she broke her nose and knocked her eyes awry. But she was too miserable to care. She lay still and cried on.
At last a friend of hers came along—a friend who was a Doll of common sense and practical ways.
“What is all this about?” she asked. “Why are you crying?”