blyton enid tales about toys 1950 little book no 1

7/28/2019 Blyton Enid Tales About Toys 1950 Little Book No 1

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I

Sheila's Dolls' House

Sheila had a dolls' house. It really belonged

both to her and to Benny, her brother, because he

had made it for Sheila. But Benny said that a dolls'house was a toy for a girl, and not for a boy, so he

said it was Sheila's.

All the same, he played with it sometimes

because it was really rather exciting arranging the

furniture in the little bedrooms, and pretending to

cook on the stove in the kitchen, and making thedolls receive visitors in the sitting-room.

It was made out of a box, and Benny had

cleverly made a slanting red roof, and had nailed

chimneys on. He had made a big front, with

windows and a door, so that Sheila could open the

front of the house and play with the rooms inside.

Sheila thought it was a lovely house. She had

seen some dolls' houses in a shop, and one had

electric light in each of the bedrooms,

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and even had water running out of the little tap

in the kitchen. But Benny said he couldn't possibly

put electric light in the house, he wouldn't knowhow to. And as for water running out of a tap, to

begin with there wasn't a tap and to end with there

wasn't any water !

Anyway, Sheila thought the house was simply

lovely, and she played with it every day. She made

curtains for the windows and carpets for the floors.All her pocket-money went on buying little pieces

of furniture for the house. It really did look very

nice indeed.

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The front door had a tiny brass knocker that

Sheila polished once a week. It really did knock

a very tiny rat-a-tat-tat.

One day Lula came to tea. She saw the dolls'

house in the corner, and how she loved it! Lula

hadn't a dolls' house, though she had nearly every

other kind of toy, for her parents spoilt her, and

gave her a great many presents.

"Oh ! What a lovely house !" cried Lula, andswung open the front of it. "Ohlook at the rooms

! Two bedroomsa kitchen with a stoveand a

sitting-room with a sofa and chairs and tableand

a tiny bookcase full of books, too ! And look at the

dolls !"

"Be careful, Lula," said Sheila, alarmed at theway Lula took hold of the tiny pieces of furniture

and the little dolls. "Oh, do be careful. Don't move

the kitchen stove. It fits so nicely into that corner."

But Lula paid no attention. She wanted to play

with that dolls' house, and whatever Sheila said she

didn't hear. Soon she dropped one of the tiny dollsand its arm came off.

Sheila was upset. "Oh, Lulalook what you've

done ! That's a doll called Melia, and

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she's such a good doll, she makes the beds

each day, and now she won't be able to because

you've broken her arm !"

"I'll buy you another doll," said Lula, picking

up Melia.

"Yes, but another doll won't be Melia, and

Melia doesn't like having her arm broken," said

Sheila, crossly. "Ohnow you've broken the dear

little clock I had on the mantelpiece."By the time Lula had finished playing with the

dolls' house, not only had Melia's arm been broken,

and the clock, but one of the curtains had been

torn, and the bedroom wardrobe had one of its

doors loose. It was very upsetting. Sheila was glad

when Lula went home."I'll never, never let her play with our dolls'

house again," she told Benny, and he agreed.

Now a week later, Lula didn't come to school,

and Sheila wondered why. Mummy told her, and

she looked rather grave.

"Poor Lula is terribly ill. You must put her intoyour prayers tonight."

So the children did. Lula was no better

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for a day or two, and then Mummy told them she

was not nearly so ill.

"She will soon be sitting up in bed !" said

Mummy. "You can send her some sweets and

some fruit, and perhaps buy her a little toy or a

book."

So Benny and Sheila bought some sweets, and

some oranges and grapes, and a book and a little

doll, all for poor Lula, and sent them to her. Theyfelt very sorry for her. Now she would not be able

to come to school and join in all the jolly lessons

and games for a long time.

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Then Mummy came to Sheila and asked her a

very hard thing. "Sheila, darling, Lula is sitting up

each day now, and she is very bored. She keeps

asking to play with your dolls' house. Shall I take it

round and lend it to her?"

"Oh, no, Mummy !" cried both Sheila and

Benny at once.

"She broke Melia's arm and it isn't mended yet,

and lots of other things," said Benny. "Sheila wassad."

"She'd break everything!" said Sheila. "She

isn't careful with her toys as we are. She doesn't

love them."

"She has too many," said Mummy. "But,

Sheila, dearthis would be such a kind thing todo. Lula's mother says Lula keeps on and on

asking for the dolls' house. She cries about it, and

frets. Her mother has tried to buy her one, but there

isn't one to be had !"

"Mummy, I don't want to be kind over this,"

said Sheila, almost in tears. "I don't really. Bennymade me the house, and I love it, and I don't want

Lula to spoil it."

"Very well," said Mummy. "It is your house,

and I shall certainly not force you to lend it to

Lula."

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Mummy looked a bit sad about it. Sheila knew

she looked sad, not because she couldn't take the

dolls' house round to poor Lula, but because she

thought she had a selfish, unkind little girl, and that

is enough to make any mother very sad indeed.

So Sheila, who was really very kind-hearted,

suddenly changed her mind. "You can take the

dolls' house round to Lula," she said. "But

Mummy, do, do ask her to look after it well,please."

So Mummy, looking pleased and happy, took

the dolls' house round. Lula's daddy opened the

door, and he was delighted to see the house. "Ah

this will make our little Lula feel much better," he

said. "It really will cheer her up. How kind ofSheila and Benny to lend it."

"Wellthey didn't want to at first," said

Mummy, "because they love their dolls' house very

muchBenny made it, you know. Ask Lula to be

very careful with it, won't you?"

Lula was simply delighted with the house. Sheplayed with it very carefully. Her daddy mended

the loose door of the wardrobe in

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the bedroom. He bought a little bath with taps

and put it into a corner of the bedroom. It looked

fine.

"Oh, Daddyif only, only I could light the

rooms at night !" said Lula. "If only I could turn on

the little bath-taps and fill the bath. That would

make me so happy."

Well, the doctor had said that Lula must be

kept cheerful and happy if possible, so her daddyset to work. He was very clever with his hands

and before two days had gone, he had put batteries

at the back of the house, with wires that ran inside

to little lamps in each room. When Lula pressed a

switch, the

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lights came onand there was each room

brightly lighted as if it was real !

Then he put a tin in the roof, filled it with

water, put tiny pipes leading down to the bath,

fixed them to the tapsand, lo and behold, when

Lula turned them on, water came out and filled the

bath !

Oh, how pleased she was ! She played with the

house all day long, and was very sad when the timecame for her to give it back.

Sheila saw Lula's daddy carrying it up her

front path. She spoke to Benny. "I expect it's all

battered and broken ! I shall hate opening the front

and seeing all that Lula has done to it."

But, dear me, what a wonderful surprise thetwo children had when they did open the front !

There were new curtains. There was the bath in the

bedroom. Melia's arm was mended and so was the

clock. And there were little lamps in each room !

"Look," said Benny, in great excitement, and

he pressed a switch. "All the lamps light ! Oh,Sheila, the house looks so real, all lighted up. Let's

shut the front and see the light showing through the

windows."

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After that they discovered that when they

turned on the bath-taps, water came out and filled

the bath. Sheila could hardly believe her eyes ! The

children spent the whole evening filling the bath

over and over again, and switching the lights on

and off !

When Mummy came in, they ran to her in joy.

"Come and see ! Our dolls' house has come back

far better than it went. Just see !"Mummy was so pleased. "You deserve a little

reward," she said. "You didn't want to lend your

housebut you were unselfish enough to be kind.

Well, it isn't always that kindness is rewarded so

well as this !"

The lights still go on and off and the bath-tapsstill run water and fill the bath. I've seen them.

Wouldn't you love to see them, too?

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II Old Black Face

When the black doll came to the nursery to live,the other toys didn't like him.

"What are you?" said the teddy bear. "Are you a

golliwog without proper hair?"

"No. I'm a doll," said the black doll.

"But you've got a black face," said the

clockwork clown. "Dolls don't have faces likeyours."

"Well, I'm just a black doll," said the black doll.

"I'm called Sambo. All black dolls are called

Sambo."

"We don't like you," said the golden-haired doll.

"We shall call you Black-Face. Old Black-Face !"

Sambo didn't like that. He couldn't help his

black face. He tried to scrub it white, but it stayed

black. He did wish the toys wouldn't call him Black-

Face.

They weren't at all kind to him. They wouldn't

let him join in their games. The

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golden-haired doll was really rude. She turned

her back on him, whenever he came near.

The black doll was a friendly fellow. He loved

to chatter and laugh and make jokes. But how

could he chatter if people wouldn't talk to him? He

didn't feel like making jokes or laughing either. He

felt very miserable. Not even the teddy bear was

nice to him.

"Here's old Black-Face," he would say, as soonas Sambo came up. "Trying to push himself in as

usual. Go away, Black-Face."

Sambo soon didn't smile any more. He kept in

a corner, and didn't try to join in the others' games.

He wished he hadn't come to this nursery. But

someone had given him to Peter, the boy whobelonged to that nursery, so Sambo couldn't help

coming.

One day something strange happened. A lot of

black stuff suddenly fell down into the hearth ! It

was soot. The toys didn't know this. They ran over

to the hearth and looked at all the black stuff.Suddenly some more fell down the chimney

andoh dearit fell all over the toys ! In a trice

the teddy bear was black, the golden

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haired doll was black, and so was the clock-

work clown. Only the golliwog looked no

different, and Sambo, of course.

The toys were full of horror and dismay. They

stared at one another and squealed.

"Oh ! We've got black faces ! Oh, how

dreadful we look !"

The golden-haired doll cried. Her tears made a

little passage down the black of her cheeks, andthis made her look queerer than ever. Sambo was

very sorry for her.

He ran over to all the frightened toys. "Come

away from that stuff," he said. "I'll make you right

again. Don't you worry ! Come into the bathroom

with me."So they all went into the bathroom with him,

and little black Sambo put one after another into

the bath, and ran warm water in.

Then he took Peter's flannel, and rubbed soap

on it. He washed the face of the golden-haired doll

first of all. It came pink in no time !"You look quite all right now," the teddy bear

said to her. "Do me next, Black-Face. I can't bear

being black like this."

It took quite a long time to get the bear

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brown again, because the soot had covered him

from head to foot. But the black doll worked hard,

and at last the bear was clean."Go and sit in the sun," said Sambo. "Then you

will soon dry. You mustn't get a cold."

How black Sambo worked to get the toys all

clean again ! He even scrubbed the clockwork

mouse with the nail-brush, right down to the very

tip of his tail. The mouse was very grateful."Thank you," he said. "I look better now, don't

I? I'll go and join the bear in the sunshine."

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After he had cleaned all the toys, and washed

away every bit of soot from them, the black doll

cleaned the bath. It was dreadfully sooty. He didn't

want Peter's mother to find it like that, and to

blame Peter.

He was tired when he had finished. He came

into the nursery, and sat down in his lonely corner.

He fell fast asleep.

The toys looked at him. For the first time theysaw the kindness in that little black face. They saw

the tiredness too, and the loneliness.

"I feel ashamed of myself," said the bear to the

clown. "We've been so unkind to Sambo that you

might think he'd be glad when the soot made us

black too, and would refuse to help us. But heworked hard and got us all clean and nice again."

"We laughed at him for being black, but he

didn't laugh at us. He worked hard and helped us,"

said the mouse. "Now he's gone back to his lonely

corner again. He doesn't expect us to like him,

even after all he has done.""Well, I do like him," said the golden-haired

doll. "I like him very much. I'm going over to sit

beside him."

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"So am I," said the bear, and the mouse and the

other toys said the same. So they all went over to

Sambo's lonely corner and sat by him.

He was most surprised to see them there when

he woke up. The golden-haired doll slipped her

fingers into his.

"We want to be friends with you, Sambo," she

said. "We like you. Will you play with us:

Well ! What a question to ask ! Sambo grinnedall over his black face, and began to chatter and

laugh and make jokes at once. How happy he felt!

Now the toys like Sambo better than any other

toy. Wasn't it a good thing he gave them kindness

instead of unkindness, when they were all as black

as he was? Good old Sambo !

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III The Clown's Little Trick

In John's nursery were all kinds of toys, from

the big rocking-horse down to the tiny clockworkmouse. They lived together happily and were kind

and good to one another, just as John was kind to

them.

But one day the fat little toy elephant wasn't so

good after all. John had some little chocolate

sweets and he seemed to enjoy them very much.The toy elephant watched him and wished he could

taste one.

"Don't eat any more, John," said his mother.

"You must make them last all the weekthree a

day, I should think."

John put them away on the bottom shelf of hislittle book-case. The toy elephant saw exactly

where he put them. And that night, in the dark, he

left the toy cupboard, walked across the strip of

linoleum, over the carpet, to the little book-case.

He felt about with his trunk and found the paper

bag.

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He put his trunk inside and felt the little

chocolates there. He got hold of one with his trunk

and popped it into his mouth.

"Myit's good !" he whispered to himself.

"Very, very good. I like it. Tomorrow night I'll

fetch another."

He went back to the toy cupboard, stood

himself in a corner and finished eating the sweet.

All night long he felt the taste of it, and was happy.He didn't think how bad of him it was to take it.

The next night he did the same, putting his

little trunk into the bag and pulling out a sweet. He

ate it, and then he took another. Nobody saw him.

He just stood there in the dark and enjoyed

himself.But John soon found that someone was taking

his sweets. He looked sternly at his toys.

"Toys," he said, "it's very sad, but one of you

is taking my sweets at night. Don't do it. It's very,

very wrong."

The toys were dreadfully upset. They looked atone another when John had gone out for a walk.

"Can one of us be so horrid?" they said. "Who

is it? Let him own up at once !"

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But the fat little elephant said nothing. He

didn't even go red. He wasn't a bit ashamed of

himself. And that night he crept off to the paper

bag and took two more sweets ! He really did.

John was very sad the next day. He looked at

the teddy bear, the golliwog, the clockwork clown,

the mouse, the monkey, the elephant, the pink cat,

the black dog, and all the rest of them.

"If it happens again I am afraid I shall have tolock the toy cupboard door, so that none of you can

get out at night," he said.

This was a horrid threat. The toys did so love

to get out of the cupboard and play around

sometimes when John was in bed. When the moon

shone in at the window they often had a dance. Itwould be dreadful if John really did lock the

cupboard.

When John had gone out of the room the

clockwork clown stood up. "We simply must find

out who is the thief," he said. "I am not going to let

us allbe punished for something that only one ofus does ! Let that one own up now before it is too

late. For I warn him, I shall find him out."

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The toy elephant didn't say a word. The clown

frowned. "Very well," he said. "It will be very,

very bad for the thief when I find him out."Now, that night the clown did a funny thing.

He crept into the nursery larder and found the pot

of honey there. He dipped in a paint-brush and

hurried down to the floor again. He carefully

painted the bit of shiny linoleum outside the toy

cupboard with the honey on the brush. It made itvery sticky indeed.

Then the clown went to the breadboard in 27

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the nursery cupboard and collected all the

crumbs he found there. He took them to the little

book-case and scattered them just in front of the

place where the paper sweet-bag was kept.

Then he hurried back to the toy cupboard, and

sat down beside the golliwog. He didn't tell anyone

at all what he had done.

The toys were tired that night. John had played

with them a lot that day. They fell asleep and sleptsoundly, all but the fat little elephant, who was

waiting to go and get another sweet. When he was

sure everyone was asleep, he crept out of the

cupboard as usual. His four feet stepped on the

honey. Then, with sticky feet, he padded over to

the book-case and put out his trunk to the sweet-bag.

He trod on the scattered crumbs. They stuck to

his feet, but he didn't know it. He took a sweet and

padded back to the toy cupboard. He spent a long

time enjoying the little chocolate.

Now, just at dawn, when a silvery light wascoming in through the window, the clockwork

clown woke all the toys up. "Wake

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up," he said, and his voice sounded so stern

that the toys were alarmed.

" W hat's the matter?'' they said.

"I am going to show you who the thief is," said

the clown. "I myself don't know who it is yet, but I

soon shallknow ! Everyone sit down, please, and

show me the underneath of their feet !"

In great surprise all the toys did as they were

told, and the clown looked at their feet quickly.And, of course, when he came to the elephant's

feet, he saw the little crumbs sticking there, and

smelt the honey on them, too !

"Here is the thief!" he cried. "Bad little

elephant ! Look, toys, he has crumbs stuck to his

feet! You see, I spread honey just outside thecupboard, and scattered crumbs in front of the

book-case ! And the elephant walked over the

honey and the crumbs stuck to his feet! So now we

know who the thief is ! Bad little elephant!"

The toys were angry with the elephant. They

turned him out of the toy cupboard. They madehim go and stand in front of the sweet-bag, so that

John would know who the thief was, when he

came in.

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And he did, of course. "So you were the bad

little thief!" he said. "I'm ashamed of you. You

must be spanked !"

And he spanked the fat little elephant so hard

that he cried tears into the brick-box at the back of

the toy cupboard, and made quite a puddle there.

"Serves you right," said the clown. "We shan't

play with you for a night or two. Perhaps you will

think twice the next time you want to take things

that don't belong to you !"

It was a clever trick of the clown's, wasn't it?

I'm sure I should never have thought of it !

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IV

Good Gracious Me!

It all happened in such a hurry ! Leslie was

going along the path in the wood on his scooter,

thinking of what he would spend his Saturdaypenny on. He was wishing he could save up

enough money to buy a hooter to put on the handle

of his scooter.

"Sometimes I go almost as fast as a motorcar,

and I really oughtto have a hooter to warn people

to get out of the way !" thought Leslie.Just then somebody rushed by him, almost

knocking him over. Leslie was cross. "Hi ! Don't

go rushing about like that !" he shouted. Then he

stared in surprise.

The person who had nearly knocked him over

was the longest-legged man he had ever seen !Leslie stared after him. He had long, spidery legs,

long arms, and a long neck on which sat a big head

with pointed ears !

"He must be a gnome or a pixie or something!"

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said Leslie. And just as he was thinking that,

he heard shouts behind him. "Stop him! Stop thief!

Hi, can't you stop him?"

Then all round Leslie rushed two or three very

small men. He thought they must be goblins. They

looked very cross and impatient.

"Why didn't you stop him? Didn't you see

Long-Legs rushing by? He's taken a bag of magic

spells from us !""Oh," said Leslie, in surprise. " Well, I didn't

know that. Anyway, he's gone. You'll never catch

him, he's got such long legs !"

"Lend us your scooter !" said one of the

goblins, and caught hold of it. "Come on! Lend it

to us ! We can go fast on this.""No," said Leslie, who felt sure he would never

see his nice new scooter again if he let the little

men have it.

"Yes!" said the little men, and they all jumped

on the scooter at once, with Leslie in the middle of

them, and then they pushed off with all their littleleft legs ! The scooter simply shot through the

trees!

"Hi, stop ! We'll have an accident!" said

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Leslie. But he might as well have spoken to the

moon. The little men used their left feet all in timewith one another, and the scooter went faster and

faster. They held on to Leslie and to each other. It

must have been a funny sight to see them tearing

along at top speed through the wood !

"There he is ! Go on, faster, faster !" yelled the

little man who was right in front.And faster they went, till Leslie could hardly

breathe! Then CRASH! They bumped into a tree

and all of them fell off. The front wheel of the

scooter looked a little

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bent. But the little men took no notice of that!

No, up they all jumped again, nearly leaving

poor Leslie behind this time, and off they went

again, with Leslie clinging to the handle for all he

was worth.

"I can see him! I can see Long-Legs !" yelled

the front goblin. "He's going to the goblin market.

That's where he's going ! He means to sell our

spells there ! Hurry !"They left the path in the wood and came out on

a main road. Leslie knew he had never been there

before ! It was crowded with all kinds of fairy folk!

How he stared !

" We shall knock people over. Look out !" he

shouted. "We're going too fast.""Sound your hooter, then; blow it, blow it!"

yelled the little men.

"I haven't got one !" said Leslie. "Oh, do be

careful. You nearly knocked over that pixie."

"We'd better stop and buy a hooter," said the

little man at the front. "We don't want an accident."So they stopped at a fine shop and bought a

most wonderful hooter. It looked like silver to

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Leslie, and the rubber part was painted blue.

They fixed it on to the handle.

Then on they tore again, this time hooting for

all they were worth. "Hoot-toot-toot! Hoot-toot-

toot!"

People hopped out of the way at once. The

scooter raced on as fast as an express train. Leslie

couldn't help enjoying it, especially as he was the

one to sound the hooter !"There's Long-Legs again !" yelled the little

men. "Faster, faster !"

"Hoot-toot-toot! Hoot-toot-toot!" On they

went, and, just as they reached the crowded

market, they caught up Long-Legs. In fact, they

ran right into him, and knocked him over !Everyone fell off the scooter, and then goblins

swarmed over the groaning Long-Legs like ants.

They took away his bag of spells, and tied his

hands behind him, and began to march him away.

"Hi!" called Leslie." Tell me the way home!"

The goblins stopped. They seemed to haveforgotten about Leslie. "Oh, don't you know it?"

they called. "Well, never mind, your scooter does.

Just hop on and it will take you back to the path in

the wood."

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Leslie was rather doubtful about this. He hadn't

noticed that his scooter was very clever before.

"Well, what about your hooter?" he called. "Don't

you want it?""Oh no. You can have it in return for letting us

borrow your scooter !" called back the goblins.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye," said Leslie, and looked at his new

hooter in delight. Goodness, what would Mother

say?He got on his scooter, and pushed off. To his

surprise and delight it raced along by itself, and he

didn't even need to put his foot

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down again until he reached the path that he

knew, in the middle of the wood.

There was no one about, of course, but Leslie

couldn't help sounding his hooter. "Hoot-toot-toot!

Hoot-toot-toot!" And all the rabbits scuttled out of

the way at once.

He got home at last, feeling quite tired. When

he told Mother how he got his new hooter, she

didn't believe him."All rightI'll take you to the marketplace,

and you'll see all I saw !"

But isn't it a pity?he can't find the way again

now. Still, perhaps he will some day.

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V

Grandma's Doll

Grandma had a very old doll. She had had it

when she was a little girl, and she had never given itaway.

When Winnie went to see Grandma she always

asked to see the old doll. Her name was Tabitha

Jane.

She was a queer-looking doll, dressed in funny

old-fashioned clothes. Her hair was very fuzzy, andat the back it had come off a little and she was bald

there.

She had bright blue eyes that didn't shut, and a

round fat face made of china. She smiled and

showed a set of white teeth. Her

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arms and legs wouldn't move very much, so

she was rather a stiff sort of doll, and not very

cuddlesome.

But there was one nice thing about her, and

that wasshe could say "Mamma, Mamma,

Mamma !"

Winnie thought that was wonderful. It is true

that Tabitha Jane wouldn't say "Mamma" unless

you pulled a string in her back, but still she alwaysspoke when you did that.

"You see, when I was small, little girls called

their mothers 'Mamma' instead of 'Mummy',

Winnie," said Grandma. "So that is why Tabitha

Jane says 'Mamma' to me instead of 'Mummy'."

"Grandma, why didn't you ever give TabithaJane away?" asked Winnie. "You gave all your

other toys away. I've got a rocking-horse you used

to have. And Derek has all your bricks. But you

have never given Tabitha Jane away. I wish you

would give her to me. You don't want her now, do

you?""Well, I feel I can't give Tabitha away because

she once did a very fine thing for me," said

Grandma, and she looked rather mysterious. "She

is a very special doll."

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"What was the fine thing she did for you?" said

Winnie, surprised.

"I can't tell you," said Grandma. "Nobody hasever believed it, so I never tell anyone now. I told

lots of people when I was a little girl, but nobody

believed me."

"I would believe you," said Winnie. "I would,

really, Grandma. Please do tell me."

"Well, I willtell you," said Grandma. "Listen !It's a very queer tale really, but it will help you to

know why I have never given Tabitha Jane away.

"Once," went on Grandma, "when I was

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quite small, smaller than you, Winnie, I put

Tabitha Jane to bed for the night. She had a bed in

the day nursery, and I always used to undress her

and put her to bed before I got undressed myself.

"I slept in the night nursery, with my little

sister Mary. That night I popped Tabitha Jane

down in her little bed, kissed her goodnight and

left her. Very soon I was in my cot, and Mary, my

little sister, was in hers. My mother, who was yourgreat-grandmother, blew out our candle, and left

us.

"Mary and I went to sleep. We slept until about

midnight. When I woke up, I could hear

something."

"What could you hear?" said Winnie, lookingat Grandma with wide-open eyes.

"I could hear a voice saying 'Mamma !

Mamma ! Mamma !' " said Grandma. "Yes, you

may well look surprised, Winnie ! I was surprised,

too. I knew the voice of Tabitha Jane very well,

and I felt sure it was my doll calling out 'Mamma !Mamma !' to me."

"What did you do?" said Winnie. "Oh,

Grandma, this is lovely. I love hearing this."

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"Well, I sat up in bed, and I listened. And

again I heard Tabitha Jane calling out. 'Mamma !'

she called. 'Mamma ! Mamma !'

"So I jumped out of bed and ran into the day

nursery. It should have been dark there, but it

wasn'tbecause part of the nursery was on fire !"

"Oh, Grandma-how dreadful !" cried

Winnie.

"A hot coal had shot out of the fire and landedon the rug. It had set light to it, and the flames

from the rug were burning the wooden chair

standing there !" said Grandma. "The smell was

horrid.

"I stood at the door, full of horror, and all the

time could hear that anxious little voice, 'Mamma !Mamma ! Mamma !' "

"Oh," said Winnie, "how wonderful of Tabitha

Jane, Grandma ! She warned you of the fire. Dear

Tabitha Jane, I shall love her twice as much after

this."

"Well, I was very frightened," said Grandma."And I ran at once to my own mother's room, and I

heard my voice too crying 'Mamma! Mamma!

Mamma!' I woke my mother and father and they

ran to the

nursery, threw water on the flames and put out

the fire."

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"Oh, Grandmawhat a lovely story !" said

Winnie. "Didn't your mother and father think

Tabitha Jane was a marvellous doll?"

"They didn't believe me when I told them that

Tabitha Jane had wakened me by calling

'Mamma !' " said Grandma. "That made me very

sad. They wouldn't even let me take her to bed at

night, to reward her for being so good. I still had to

leave her in her little bed in the day nursery.""Poor Tabitha Jane," said Winnie. "If

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you'll just lendher to me one night, Grandma,

I'll cuddle her into bed with me. I'd love to. My

Mummy lets me have just one toy in bed."

Grandma pulled the string. Tabitha Jane at

once said "Mamma !" Winnie hugged the old doll.

"Grandma,Ibelieve every word of your story.

You can tell Tabitha Jane is a doll like that, just by

looking at her darling face. Every time I come to

see you, you must tell me the story of why youhave never given Tabitha Jane away. You couldn't

possibly give away a doll like that."

"Well," said Grandma, looking pleased, "if

ever I do give her away, you shall have her,

Winnie. I think you would love her as much as I

did.""And she might call me one night !" said

Winnie. "Oh, Ishouldlike that!"

"Mamma !" said Tabitha Jane, as Winnie

pulled her string. "Mamma !"

Wouldn't you love to hear her She has such a

dear little voice !

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Enid Blyton

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blyton enid tales about toys 1950 little book no 1

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