cher's shop, outside of which a large crowd was
gathered.

"Well," he said with a smile to the Clown who headed the crowd; "well,
and what is the ladies' opinion about my beauty?"

"The ladies have decided," said the Clown, nodding his head and speaking
very rapidly, "the ladies have all decided--mind you, _all_
decided--that you _are_ a hansom man. And so say I."

The Hansom-driver climbed down from his seat.

"Shake hands," he said. "One doesn't find a fellow of sense like you
every day."

The Clown shook hands, then turned a somersault and grinned from ear to
ear.

"Handsome," he said slowly, "but _without_ the _d_ and the _e_. Mark
that, my child. No _beauty, but a hansom man_. Ho-la! What's the time
of day? Time to go away?"

For the Hansom-driver had mounted to his seat, and, whipping up his
horse, was driving off as fast as he could.

CHAPTER VII

"That was very funny," said the little girl; "it made me laugh very
much."

"It made all the Toys laugh," said the Marionette--"except the
Hansom-driver himself. And, perhaps, he might be excused for not doing
so."

"He _was_ a vain thing," said the little girl.

"He was," the Marionette agreed. "However, we must not be too severe on
him. He had his good points after all. He was not bad-tempered, for
example, like poor Claribelle, who at one time was quite unbearable, and
made herself disliked by everyone. Though in the end, poor creature, she
became, it is true, an altered character."

"'Poor Claribelle!' Who was she?"

"A young lady doll whose bad temper, unfortunately for her, brought her
great sorrow.

"I should like to hear about her," said the little girl.

The little Marionette mused a moment. "I should not do wrong to tell
you," she remarked. "The story of this poor, proud creature may perhaps
serve as a lesson and warning to some other haughty and fanciful young
lady. Yes, you shall hear to-morrow evening of Claribelle." And so the
next evening, in a grave voice that befitted the tale, she told the
story of "Proud Claribelle."

PROUD CLARIBELLE

Claribelle was a very haughty doll. She was very beautiful, with great
brown eyes and a mass of dark hair that fell to her waist. She had fine
clothes, too; a pink silk dress, a large straw hat trimmed with lace and
pink roses, pink silk stockings and bronze shoes, and round her neck a
string of pearls, which were the envy of every lady doll in the
toy-shop.

She held her head