“I hope none of the pins or needles come out and stick me,� thought the Doll, as she looked at them. “If I get a hole in me all my sawdust will run out, and that would be dreadful.�
Dorothy’s new toy, lying on a table near the pin-cushion in a side room, could hear the joyous shouts and laughter of the children at the birthday party. She could hear the rattle of spoons and of the ice-cream dishes.
All of a sudden, when it was very still and quiet in the room where the Sawdust Doll was lying, there came a growling noise.
“Gracious me!� thought the Sawdust Doll, “I wonder if that is Buster the Bear whom Jack was telling me about. I wonder!�
She started to rise and look around, but she was afraid to do this for fear some prying boy or girl might be looking. And the toys never dare move if any one looks at them.
Then, after the growl, there came a bark—a loud bark.
“That can’t be a bear!� thought the Sawdust Doll. “Bears don’t bark—they growl. But I remember there was a Fuzzy Dog in Toy Town. He used to growl and wag his tail when he was wound up. I wonder if the Fuzzy Dog could be here? I wish I dared look.�
And then something dreadful happened. At least it was dreadful to the Sawdust Doll. For a shaggy dog, one she knew was real and not a toy, rushed up to her, growling and barking. And the next moment the Sawdust Doll was caught up in the dog’s mouth, dragged from the table and carried away!
CHAPTER VI
IN THE DOG HOUSE
Carlo, the shaggy dog, who lived in the same house with Dorothy and Dick, was not a bad dog. But he liked to find new things to pick up in his teeth, shake, and then carry off. Sometimes he hid the things he carried off in this way, and they were not found for a long time afterward. Often he would take the ball Dick played with and run off with that. But when Dick saw Carlo doing this he chased the dog and got back the ball.