istresses
are."

Unc Nunkie nodded approval.

"Good i-dea," he said; and that was a long speech for Unc Nunkie because
it was two words.

"So I cut up the quilt," continued Margolotte, "and made from it a very
well-shaped girl, which I stuffed with cotton-wadding. I will show you
what a good job I did," and she went to a tall cupboard and threw open
the doors.

Then back she came, lugging in her arms the Patchwork Girl, which she
set upon the bench and propped up so that the figure would not tumble
over.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: Ojo]

THE PATCHWORK GIRL

CHAP. THREE

[Illustration]

Ojo examined this curious contrivance with wonder. The Patchwork Girl
was taller than he, when she stood upright, and her body was plump and
rounded because it had been so neatly stuffed with cotton. Margolotte
had first made the girl's form from the patchwork quilt and then she had
dressed it with a patchwork skirt and an apron with pockets in it--using
the same gay material throughout. Upon the feet she had sewn a pair of
red leather shoes with pointed toes. All the fingers and thumbs of the
girl's hands had been carefully formed and stuffed and stitched at the
edges, with gold plates at the ends to serve as finger-nails.

"She will have to work, when she comes to life," said Margolotte.

The head of the Patchwork Girl was the most curious part of her. While
she waited for her husband to finish making his Powder of Life the woman
had found ample time to complete the head as her fancy dictated, and she
realized that a good servant's head must be properly constructed. The
hair was of brown yarn and hung down on her neck in several neat braids.
Her eyes were two silver suspender-buttons cut from a pair of the
Magician's old trousers, and they were sewed on with black threads,
which formed the pupils of the eyes. Margolotte had puzzled over the
ears for some time, for these were important if the servant was to hear
distinctly, but finally she had made them out of thin plates of gold and
attached them in place by means of stitches through tiny holes bored in
the metal. Gold is the most common metal in the Land of Oz and is used
for many purposes because it is soft and pliable.

The woman had cut a slit for the Patchwork Girl's mouth and sewn two
rows of white pearls in it for teeth, using a strip of scarlet plush for
a tongue. This mouth Ojo considered very artistic and lifelike, and
Margolotte was please