sed her to leave it alone, for that she
would only break my feet. But Rose would not be dissuaded, and began
boring.

It was on this occasion that I most peculiarly felt the advantage of
that insensibility to pain which distinguishes my race. What mortal
could have borne such an infliction without struggling and screaming? I,
on the contrary, took it all in good part, and showed no signs of
feeling even at the fatal moment when my foot snapped in two, and Rose,
with a face of utter dismay, held up my own toes before my eyes.

'Oh, my poor Seraphina!' she exclaimed, 'what shall we do?'

'Glue it on again,' said Willy. 'You had better have taken my advice at
first, but now you must make the best of it. Glue is your only friend.'

So Rose glued the halves of my foot together, lamenting over me, and
blaming herself so much all the time, that it seemed rather a comfort to
her when Margaret, coming into the room, agreed with her that she had
been foolish and awkward. Margaret said that ribbon might have been tied
over my feet from the first, without using glue or gimlet either; and
Rose called herself more stupid than ever, for not having thought of
such an easy contrivance.

My foot was glued, and for the purpose of standing, answered as well as
ever; and Rose sewed me up in a pair of blue silk boots, and declared
that I was prettier than before; and my misfortune was soon forgotten by
every body but myself. I, however, could not but feel a misgiving that
this was the first warning of my share in the invariable fate of my
race. For I had already lived long enough to be aware that the existence
of a doll, like that of every thing else, has its limits. Either by
sudden accidents, such as loss of limbs, or by the daily wear and tear
of life, decay gradually makes its progress in us, and we fade away as
surely as the most delicate of the fragile race of mortals.

Though the fracture of my foot was my own first misfortune, I had had
opportunities of remarking the casualties to which dolls are liable. For
it is not to be supposed that our devotion to human beings precludes us
from cultivating the society of our own species. Dolls will be dolls;
and they have a natural sympathy with each other, notwithstanding the
companionship of the race of man. Most little girls are aware of this
fact, and provide suitable society for their dolls. I myself had a large
circle of silent acquaintances, to whom I was introduced by Rose's
kindn