legs. Katy placed her on a table one day, and either
because the height from the floor made her dizzy, or because she
was laid too near the edge, she had tumbled off, and one leg was so
badly broken that neither a wooden nor a cork one could be fastened
in its place.
Therefore Miss Mary could not walk about the room, and never went
anywhere, except when she was carried. But she was not half so
badly off as Miss Susie, who had broken her neck, and lost off her
head. The head was tied on with a string, but it kept falling off
while the family were at play; but Miss Susie did not seem to mind
it at all.
She got along a great deal better without her head than you or I
could without ours. Indeed, she wore the same smile upon her face
whether the head was on or off--which teaches us that we ought
always to be cheerful in misfortune.
Besides these fine young ladies there were two or three rag babies;
but as you could not tell by the looks of them what they were
thinking about, I will not say anything about them. They had no
virtues worth telling; they never ate soup with a fork, or gave
money to the poor.
Some of my readers may not think much of this family of dollies,
but I am sure Katy and Nellie had fine times with them. They used
to spend hours together with them, and the dollies used to do
everything that anybody could do.
Miss Fanny used to visit a great deal, in spite of her dirty,
ragged clothes; so did Miss Lucy, with two holes in her head, and
Miss Mary, with her broken leg, and Miss Susie, with her broken
neck. All of them used to go a-visiting, except Miss Dinah, and
she, being a black girl, had to do the sweeping and tend the door.
These ladies were all of them so bashful that they would not speak
in company, and Katy and Nellie had to do all the talking for them.
But they used to "make believe" the dollies talked, and this did
just as well. They used to say just such things as the ladies did
who called on Mrs. Green, and never left without being urged to
stay longer, and also to call again; which they always promised to
do.
On the whole, they were very wonderful dollies; at least they were
until Lady Jane came, and she was such a fine lady, with her white
silk dress and her _real_ hair, that none of them could shine after
that.
[Illustration: Miss Fanny and others.]
II.
One day Flora Lee came to see Nellie Green, and to spend the
afternoon with her.
It was in the month of No
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