The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1876-07-14
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E 81,

On, uear. Nndltffei u klfc-ii7N ~ uO-
ing dull, old lesson5tt this hot weather ?''
Here came a long yarn and stretch, and
longing glance of the drowsy blue eyes
toward the playhouse in the corner !;
and then once more the inky little fn-
ger begans their weary journey over the
eopy-book.
"' Delays are dangerous, d. d. ], ,, 8,
a. wish Miss Bruce would not set such
dull copies, ard put in those stupid fig
ures at the end to fill up the line Thin
up strokes, thick down strokes, dot your
is and cross your t's-' Delays are ~
blot-sputter. Aud then somehow or
other the words in Rosie's copy turned
into "Dolls are delightful" ard some
body called out, Come along, Rosie
Tn off to Toy Town"
Rosie had never heard of Toy Town be
fore; but, strange to say, she did not feel
at all surprised, but jumped up in a great
hurry, saying. q Yes, I'll come it's not
very far, is it? Nurse is so cross if I am
late for tea, and 1 do hate being soolded"
Soon they were jogging along the road
together, and Rosie found out that her
companions name was Goodchild, and
that she was the youngest ofa large family
of little girls and boys, who had all setOfi
to go to Toy Town, but had never got
there and had come home disappointed.
There were Miss Giddy and Miss Idle and
Master Jack Dawdle and little Wilfl
and Ned Obstinate; but none of them
had ever got to Toy Town.
Why not?' inquired Rosie.
ooh, because they wouldn't go the
right way, you know. There's only one
way to Toy Town; but it's rathera long
way, and they all got tired But l mean
to go on to the end so have put on
my plodding shoes, and aunt Industry
has given me nice strong stick called
Paying Attention., to help me over
the gates and stiles"
Rosie thought italI sounded very nice. |
md resolved to 90 on to the end too
and as they went along, GOOdchild told
ler about Toy Town and its pleasures.
= ICs all games and fun and holidays
here" she said and it's all toys every
where, and you can play from morning
i'll night. All the trees are Christmas
rees, and the houses are baby-houses and
Soah's arks and the carts are musical
arts, with red wheels and spotted horses,
md little sacks in them full of red coal
md the trains go by clock-work, and
nave white wool coming out of the en-
zines to look like smoke. Boys generally
ike Rocking-hor road the best, because
t is near where the soldiers live-tin
,nes, you know. Real soldiers live in
but the toy ones have box,
because its a shorter word but it's very
grand all the same, with a glass top, and
hey march about all in one position to
he sound of penny trumpets and whis-
les and drums, with sugar plums inside.
Then there is Mr.. Jack-in-the-box. He
ives halfway between Punch and Judy
md the baby's part, where yellowplush
parrots, with feathers on their heads and
button eyes, fly up and down on pieces
1f elastic, and make rafting noise inside;
and there are woolly lambs on green
stands, and nice soft dolls that do to be
sucked and can't break. But the best
place for dolls is Skipping Rope square,
after you pass the bricks and picture
books. Some people call it Little Girls
End and that's where / mean to go, il
can. There are several families of dolls.
There's Lady Wax's family. That's the
gtandest of all. Many of them havereal
hair, and eyes to open and shut, and
they wear clothes to take off. Then
there are the Woods and the Rags, and
the Dutches and the Chinas, all of them
very nice in different ways. The Woods
are 50 strong, though they are generally
rather plain. The Chinas are capital
people Tor washing, and many of the
Miss Rags squeak beautifully when they
are pinched."
81 wish we were there - CID Rose.
and just as she spoke, they turned down
a lane, which looked very long.
Is this the way TO Toy Town ?" she
asked; " it looks very dull"
eyes," said Goodchild " this is Les
son-book lane, and Toy town lies at the
other end of it,"
=" Does it take long?'
"That depends upon how fast you go.
and how often you stop" And, as she
spoke, Goodchild began running along
a straight, narrow path, called A. B. G.
and Rosie ran after, finding it easy
enough.
" It's all very well for you and me y
said Goodchild "but | know little
girl called Laura Lazy, who would not
go even this little way; so she had to be
sent to very ugly place, called the Cor
ner,' with no one to speak to but little
Dommy Ounce, who is the stupidest bow
in the world"
Soon they came into a broad place
called Reading Road, and this too Rosie
did not mind much, though she did not
like having to climb over Spelling Stile
which she thought very dull, and could
not see the use of, though Goodcbild
assured her that they would never oet
along Reading Road any other wav
Neither did she like going through
Grammar Gate, all made up of parts Of
speech; and presently they got to an
other stile made of large pieces of slate
called Sum Stile, where poor Rosie
almost stuck fast. Goodchild, however
lent her Aunt Industry's wonderful
stick to help her over, and declared tbo+
they should soon be at Toy Town, and