white tassels in their throats. I had been gazing at it some time in
silent and self-reproachful admiration, when I became aware that the
business of this strange court was proceeding, and that the other toys
were pronouncing sentence against me.

"'Tie a string round her neck and take her out bathing in the brooks,'
I heard an elderly voice say in severe tones. It was the Dowager Doll.
She was inflexibly wooden, and had been in the family for more than one
generation.

"'It's not fair,' I exclaimed, 'the string was only to keep you from
being carried away by the stream. The current is strong and the bank
steep by the Hollow Oak Pool, and you had no arms or legs. You were old
and ugly, but you would wash, and we loved you better than many waxen
beauties.'

"'Old and ugly!' shrieked the Dowager. 'Tear her wig off! Scrub the
paint off her face! Flatten her nose on the pavement! Saw off her legs
and give her no crinoline! Take her out bathing, I say, and bring her
home in a wheelbarrow with fern roots on the top of her.'

"I was about to protest again, when the paint-box came forward, and
balancing itself in an artistic, undecided kind of way on two
camel's-hair brushes which seemed to serve it for feet, addressed the
Jack-in-a-box.

"'Never dip your paint into the water. Never put your brush into your
mouth--"

"'That's not evidence,' said the Jack-in-a-box.