. Why, _there_ she is!" she exclaimed
suddenly.

And she hurried up to the little Marionette, who, half-concealed by a
big Drum, lay on the ground beside a Puzzle.

"You are not very kind," remarked the little girl reproachfully. "I
asked you to be early, and you never came at all."

"I am very sorry," answered the little Marionette in a tired voice.

Then she sat up, and the little girl saw with much sorrow and surprise
that she was quite disfigured. Her nose was broken, her eyes were
crooked, and her face was quite knocked about. All the little girl's
annoyance vanished, and her heart was full of pity.

"Oh, you poor dear little dolly!" she cried; "what _has_ happened to
you?"

"I have hurt myself," was the answer. "I tripped up over this Puzzle."

"I am sorry. Are you very badly hurt?" asked her little friend with
pity.

"Never mind me. I promised to tell you one more story, and I shall do
so," answered the little Marionette.

She spoke very sadly, and the little girl picked her up and kissed her.

"Would you not like to put off telling me a story to-day?" she asked.

"No. I should like to do so," the Marionette answered, "for it is our
last meeting. Put me back on the counter and I will tell it to you."

"Shall I put you back where I found you?"

"No, take me back to our old place. I am tired of this Puzzle."

So the little girl took her to the Noah's Ark, and placed her with her
back to it.

"What is your story about, dear?" the little girl asked, drawing her
chair close to the counter, and bending her head close to the little
Marionette, the better to hear her small voice--weaker and more tiny
that evening than usual.

"About a little Marionette like myself, whose best and dearest friend
left her and thought she didn't mind. And all the while she minded so
very much! More than she knew how to say!"

"Poor little Marionette!" said Molly.

"It _was_ sad, for it was only a mistake, wasn't it?" said the little
Marionette lady with a sigh. "But you shall hear all about it. Listen
whilst I tell you the story of: 'The Last Performance.'"

THE LAST PERFORMANCE

The two little Marionette dolls had just finished their dance before an
admiring throng of Toys, and the curtain had, that moment, fallen upon
their last performance.

"So now," sighed the little lady Marionette to her partner; "so now the
play is over. We shall never act together again. I heard the woman who
owned the shop say th