Truly it was a sad story and Dorothy felt sorry for the poor china doll. The golden wand touched her and she became very lovely, and went to the other side with her happy companions.
Now the third doll in the line was the most disreputable-looking one that Dorothy had ever seen. She was a wax doll with just one spear of hair on the top of her head. Her nose was broken and her front teeth knocked out. She did not have on even a doll’s chemise, and worse than all there was a great hole in her back. Dorothy had been looking at a group of lovely dolls at the other side of the hall who were eating ice-cream when her attention was called by a very familiar name.
“I was a beautiful French doll,” said the third. “I had been well educated and people said that I knew how to talk, I must admit that I was clever and knew when to shut my eyes. My name was Fanchette” (Dorothy gave a start at this name). “Well,” continued Fanchette, “to make a long story short, bad treatment soon reduced me to my present condition, this dreadful hole in my back was made by my cruel little mistress, she said she wanted to see what was inside of me. After that I was cast aside until one day a housemaid threw me into an ash-barrel, which occasioned my death.”
This story was strangely interesting to Dorothy and she watched eagerly to see what the doll would be like when the wand touched her. Imagine Dorothy’s surprise to see her own Fanchette, that Uncle John had brought her from Paris a long time ago. Dorothy could hardly believe her eyes, but there stood Fanchette as dainty and beautiful as ever. She was just going to cry out “Fanchette,” but No. 4 was talking and as she came next she was very attentive. No. 4 was a boy doll. He wore a worsted jacket and said he was German. He did not have any broken limbs, but seemed very much shrunken. He had fallen into a tub of water, he said, and had been drowned. When the queen touched him he went off smiling and happy with some other boy dolls.
Now it was Dorothy’s turn, how she got up to the throne she did not know. She thought of her poor bald head and her sad appearance.
“Excuse me,” said Dorothy, “I haven’t a leg to stand on.”
The queen smiled sadly at her and then arose from the throne tall and beautiful, saying:—
“I cannot hear any more sad stories to-day, but you may all file up and I will make you beautiful.” She touched Dorothy lightly on the head with the golden wand and the little girl became her own dear self again. She felt so happy she wanted to jump for very joy. She ran off with some beautiful dolls, her brown curls brushing her smiling face and her eyes sparkling with merriment. Down the beautiful hall she tripped and just as she reached the door that led into a golden room, she looked back. The queen was just in the act of touching the last one of the poor broken dolls. Dorothy entered the golden room and found herself amid a scene of fairy splendor with the beautifullest dolls in the world.
There were big dolls and little dolls, dolls in silks and satins, and sweet tidy dolls in cap and apron who were maids to wait upon them. Some dainty little dolls were dancing with handsome boy-dolls, and others were sitting about in groups laughing and talking. Dorothy passed through the golden room and out into a garden. Here there were more dolls, some of them swinging in snug little doll-hammocks, others were gathering flowers, and on a fine stretch of lawn was the dearest little party playing croquet. Dorothy walked through the garden and came to a pond. There were pretty boats on it and a little doll man, dressed like a sailor, stepped up and touched his cap, at the same time asking Dorothy if she would take a sail.
“With pleasure, thank you,” answered Dorothy and she stepped into a boat and began to sail around the pond. She was so happy and felt so comfortable that she just fell back on the soft cushions of the boat and closed her eyes. It was all so soft and dreamy that she drifted into a sound sleep. When she awoke where do you think she found herself?