The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-17
Come Dollr 0 That l Have Known
By FRANCES NIMMO GREENE. Montgomery

, heavy enough to tighten the little mothers heart. S- Then there was a doll cadet that I knew-a wax-faced, 1ight-headed fel- low (with apologies to the University.D His mama spanked him one day. till his head rolled off. He was hardly missed. I want to explain right here that I don't wish to be mistaken as
 meaning that cadets. generally. would be the better. for such punishment. or
 that they would hardly be the worse for the loss of their heads.
 A few years later than this met my first big wax doll companion. and re- member now all the joy and the pain of that experience. I am convinced Tn spirit still that there Is no glory like that of pink tarleton and gold beads, for early impressions are deep. Min nie Merlin's" brief and brilliant career went out in the cruelest tragedy that could scar a childish, heart. We left her before the fire one day while we went out to play. Then we came back and-but there are some things too horrible to tell! Minnie Merlin's little mama screamed herself into a spasm. Oh. grown-up people. remember that little tragedies are great to little hearts.
 The most interesting doll of my ac- quaintance, however. does not belong to the past. She is living now. at this blessed moment. in Canebrake town on the banks of the Warrior river. and her name is Trilby Wragge. The name of Rag is well known, but this partic- rlar scion of that prolific family Is dis tinguished from her class by the addi- tion of letters three.
 Her ancestors were plain but honest people who were not ashamed of be : ing homemade. rightly believing that loyalty and faith are worth more than bisque heads, fiaxen wigs. and kid bodies. Stout of heart and hand. no accident of scissors-thrust or gaping side-seam had ever been known to cause flow of gory sawdust from the heart of a Rag!
 Early in life Trilby was adopted by a real, sure-enough lady, and went to live in a big house and a big heart that had been empty till her coming. Dignity was added to her name and state by the addition of a w" "Ci' and a final "E;" and a wardrobe in keeping with this aristocratic name was soon completed for her. Her trunk was filled to the top with beautiful dresses that would button and unbut- ton, shoes and stockings. and hats and bonnets, and a whole world of dainty etceteras. It was just like having fairy godmother, and the little orphan
 
 this sweet new life should fade away.
 Sometimes Trilby's mama invites the little girls of the town to a sewing bee. When the happy seamstresses ar rive, equipped with all the implements of the trade, such a fashioning of gar ments takes place as was never before seen outside of Santa Clauss work shop. The doll submits to being laid on the floor for pattern to be cut by the line of her figure, and the innum- erable fittings that follow, with a for titude and grace that her friends would do well to copy.
 If a little neighbor gets sick, and frets over the tedious hours of conva- lescence, the doorbel1 rings and a maid appears with Trilby Wragge and her trunk. and leaves them to comfort the small invalid. No pen can depict the joy of these visits, or the grief ex- pressed when the postman brings a let ter addressed to Miss Trilby wragge." informing her that he has stayed long enough, and must come home.
 In the realms of childhood the im- portance that attaches to the celebra- tion of natal days Is second only to the yearly visits of a certain fat party who comes down the chimney. Great therefore, is the excitement In the Town- by the river. when numberless little white messages futter around hearing invitations to Trllby's birth day party. They are always written in a most fetching style. and at the bottom left-hand corner, in letters plain enough for any sprinter to read Is the word. PRESENTS"
 The mother-love that could so en-