[Illustration]

After breakfast, Mistress came into the nursery and saw Raggedy all
covered with paint and she began crying.

The young painter felt sorry and told her how it had happened.

"If you will let me," he said, "I will take her home with me and will
clean her up tonight and will bring her back day after tomorrow."

So Raggedy was wrapped in a newspaper that evening and carried away.

All the dolls felt sad that night without Raggedy Ann near them.

"Poor Raggedy! I could have cried when I saw her all covered with
paint!" said the French doll.

"She didn't look like our dear old Raggedy Ann at all!" said the tin
soldier, who wiped the tears from his eyes so that they would not run
down on his arms and rust them.

"The paint covered her lovely smile and nose and you could not see the
laughter in her shoe-button eyes!" said the Indian doll.

And so the dolls talked that night and the next. But in the daytime
when the painters were there, they kept very quiet.

The second day Raggedy was brought home and the dolls were all anxious
for night to come so that they could see and talk with Raggedy Ann.