Good evening.
My name is Bill Larson.
I have to begin tonight's story with an apology.
I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted a new story.
Life sometimes takes turns and we all just get a little busy from time to time.
But I have been reading so many wonderful letters and comments about the stories that I read,
Especially the ones that happened right after I posted the first entry for Raggedy Anne.
So many people shared with me stories of how they used to read Raggedy Anne when they were children and how they then in turn read Raggedy Anne to their children and grandchildren.
So in continuing to keep promises that I've made and because I enjoy reading the stories,
I'm going to continue with Johnny Gruel's tellings of the adventures of Raggedy Anne.
Tonight's Story Raggedy Anne and the Washing Why Dinah,
How could you?
Mama looked out of the window and saw Marcella run up to Dinah and take something out of her hand and then put her head in her arm and commence crying.
What is the trouble dear?
Mama asked as she came out the door and knelt beside the little figure shaking with sobs.
Marcella held out Raggedy Anne,
But such a comical looking Raggedy Anne.
Mama had to smile in spite of her sympathy for Raggedy Anne looked ridiculous.
Dinah's big eyes rolled out in a troubled manner for Marcella had snatched Raggedy Anne from Dinah's hand as she cried,
Why Dinah,
How could you?
Dinah could not quite understand and as she dearly loved Marcella,
She was troubled.
Raggedy Anne was not in the least downhearted and while she felt she must have looked very funny,
She continued to smile,
But with a more expansive smile than ever before.
Raggedy Anne knew just how it all happened and her remaining shoe button eye twinkled.
She remembered that morning when Marcella came to the nursery to take the nighties from the dolls and dress them,
She had been cross.
Raggedy Anne thought at the time,
Perhaps she had climbed out of bed backwards.
For Marcella complained to each doll as she dressed them.
And when it came Raggedy's time to be dressed,
Marcella was very cross for she had scratched her finger on a pin when dressing the French doll.
So when Marcella heard the little girl next door calling to her,
She ran out of the nursery and gave Raggedy Anne a toss from her as she ran.
Now it happened Raggedy lit in the clothes hamper and there she lay all doubled up in a knot.
A few minutes afterwards,
Dinah came through the hall with an arm full of clothes and piled them in the hamper on top of Raggedy Anne.
Then Dinah carried the hamper out in back of the house where she did all the washing.
Dinah dumped the clothes into the boiler and poured water on them.
The boiler was then placed upon the stove.
When the water began to warm,
Raggedy Anne wiggled around and climbed up amongst the clothes to the top of the boiler to peek out.
There was too much steam and she could see nothing.
For that matter,
Dinah could not see Raggedy Anne either on account of the steam.
So Dinah,
Using an old broom handle,
Stirred the clothes in the boiler and the clothes and Raggedy Anne were stirred and whirled around until all were thoroughly boiled.
When Dinah took the clothes a piece at a time from the boiler and scrubbed them,
She finally came upon Raggedy Anne.
Now Dinah did not know,
But that Marcella had placed Raggedy in the clothes hamper to be washed.
So she soaked Raggedy well and scrubbed her up and down over the rough washboard.
Two buttons from the back of Raggedy's dress came off and one of Raggedy Anne's shoe-button eyes was loosened as Dinah gave her face a final scrub.
Then Dinah put Raggedy Anne's feet in the wringer and turned the crank.
It was hard work getting Raggedy through the wringer,
But Dinah was very strong.
And of course,
It happened.
Raggedy Anne came through as flat as a pancake.
It was just then that Marcella returned and saw Raggedy.
Why,
Dinah,
How could you?
Marcella had sobbed as she snatched the flattened Raggedy Anne from the bewildered Dinah's hand.
Mama patted Marcella's hand and soon coaxed her to quit sobbing.
When Dinah explained that the first she knew of Raggedy being in the wash was when she took her from the boiler,
Marcella began crying again.
It was all my fault,
Mama,
She cried.
I remember now that I threw dear old Raggedy Anne from me as I ran out the door,
And she must have fallen in the clothes hamper.
Oh dear,
Oh dear.
And she hugged Raggedy Anne tight.
Mama did not tell Marcella that she had been cross and naughty,
For she knew Marcella felt very sorry.
Instead,
Mama put her arms around her and said,
Just see how Raggedy Anne takes it.
She doesn't seem to be unhappy.
And when Marcella brushed her tears away and looked at Raggedy Anne,
Flat as a pancake and with a cheery smile upon her painted face,
She had to laugh.
And Mama and Dinah had to laugh too,
For Raggedy Anne's smile was almost twice as broad as it had been before.
Just let me hang Miss Raggedy on the line in the bright sunshine for half an hour,
Said Dinah,
And you won't know her when she comes off.
So Raggedy Anne was pinned to the clothesline out in the bright sunshine,
Where she swayed and twisted in the breeze and listened to the chatter of the robins in a nearby tree.
Every once in a while,
Dinah went out and rolled and patted Raggedy,
Until her cotton stuffing was soft and dry and fluffy,
And her head and arms and legs were nice and round again.
Then she took Raggedy Anne into the house and showed Marcella and Mama how clean and sweet she was.
Marcella took Raggedy Anne right up to the nursery and told all the dolls just what had happened and how sorry she was that she had been so cross and peevish when she dressed them.
And while the dolls said never a word,
They looked at their little mistress with love in their eyes as she sat in the little red rocking chair and held Raggedy Anne tightly in her arms.
And Raggedy Anne's remaining shoe button eye looked up at her little mistress in rather a saucy manner,
But upon her face was the same old smile of happiness,
Good humor,
And love.
And now for our second Raggedy Anne story of the evening,
Raggedy Anne and the Kite.
Raggedy Anne watched with interest the preparations.
A number of sticks were being fastened together with strings and covered with light cloth.
Raggedy Anne heard some of the boys talk of the Kite,
So Raggedy Anne knew this must be a Kite.
When a tail had been fastened to the Kite and a large ball of heavy twine tied to the front,
One of the boys held the Kite up in the air and another boy walked off,
Unwinding the ball of twine.
There was a nice breeze blowing,
So the boy with the twine called,
Let her go,
And started running.
Marcella held Raggedy up so that she could watch the Kite sail through the air.
How nicely it climbed!
But suddenly the Kite acted strangely,
And as all the children shouted advice to the boy with the ball of twine,
The Kite began darting this way and that,
And finally making four or five loop-the-loops,
It crashed to the ground.
It needs more tail on it,
One boy shouted.
Then the children asked each other where they might get more rags to fasten to the tail of the Kite.
Let's tie Raggedy Ann to the tail,
Suggested Marcella.
I know she would enjoy a trip way up in the sky.
The boys all shouted with delight at this new suggestion,
So Raggedy Ann was tied to the tail of the Kite.
This time the Kite rose straight in the air and remained steady.
The boy with the ball of twine unwound it until the Kite and Raggedy Ann were way,
Way up and far away.
How Raggedy Ann enjoyed being up there!
She could see for miles and miles and how tiny the children looked.
Suddenly a great puff of wind came and carried Raggedy Ann streaming way out behind the Kite.
She could hear the wind singing on the twine as the strain increased.
Suddenly Raggedy Ann felt something rip.
It was the rag to which she was tied.
As each puff of wind caught her,
The rip widened.
When Marcella watched Raggedy Ann rise high above the field,
She wondered how much Raggedy Ann enjoyed it and wished that she too might have gone along.
But after the Kite had been up in the air for five or ten minutes,
Marcella grew restless.
Kites were rather tiresome.
There was more fun in tea parties out under the apple tree.
Will you please pull down the Kite now?
She asked the boy with the twine.
I want Raggedy Ann.
Let her ride up there,
The boy replied.
We'll bring her home when we pull down the Kite.
We're going to get another ball of twine and let her go higher.
Marcella did not like to leave Raggedy Ann with the boys,
So she sat down upon the ground to wait until they pulled down the Kite.
But while Marcella watched Raggedy Ann,
A dot in the sky,
She could not see the wind ripping the rag to which Raggedy was tied.
Suddenly,
The rag parted and Raggedy Ann went sailing away as the wind caught in her skirts.
Marcella jumped from the ground,
Too surprised to say anything.
The Kite,
Released from the weight of Raggedy Ann,
Began darting and swooping to the ground.
We'll get her for you,
Some of the boys said when they saw Marcella's troubled face,
And they started running in the direction Raggedy Ann had fallen.
Marcella and the other girls ran with them.
They ran and they ran and they ran.
And at last they found the Kite upon the ground with one of the sticks broken,
But they could not find Raggedy Ann anywhere.
She must have fallen almost in your yard,
A boy said to Marcella,
For the Kite was directly over here when the doll fell.
Marcella was heartbroken.
She went in the house and lay on the bed.
Mama went out with the children and tried to find Raggedy Ann,
But Raggedy Ann was nowhere to be seen.
When Daddy came home in the evening,
He tried to find Raggedy,
But met with no success.
Marcella had eaten hardly any dinner,
Nor could she be comforted by Mama or Daddy.
The other dolls in the nursery lay forgotten and were not put to bed that night,
For Marcella lay and sobbed and tossed about her bed.
Finally she said a little prayer for Raggedy Ann and went to sleep.
And as she slept,
Marcella dreamed that the fairies came and took Raggedy Ann with them to Fairyland for a visit and then send Raggedy Ann home to her.
She awakened with a cry.
Of course Mama came to her bed right away and said that Daddy would offer a reward in the morning for the return of Raggedy.
It was all my fault,
Mama,
Marcella said.
I should not have offered the boys dear old Raggedy Ann to tie on the tail of the kite,
But I just know the fairies will send her back.
Mama took her in her arms and soothed her with cheering words.
Although she felt indeed that Raggedy Ann was truly lost and would never be found again.
Now where do you suppose Raggedy Ann was all this time?
When Raggedy Ann dropped from the kite,
The wind caught in her skirts and carried her along until she fell in the fork of the large elm tree directly over Marcella's house.
When Raggedy Ann fell with a thud,
Face up in the fork of the tree,
Two robins who had a nest nearby flew chattering away.
Presently the robins returned and quarreled at Raggedy Ann for laying so close to their nest.
But Raggedy Ann only smiled at them and did not move.
When the robins quieted down and quit their quarreling,
One of them hopped up closer to Raggedy Ann in order to investigate.
It was Mama Robin.
She called to Daddy Robin and told him to come.
See the nice yarn?
We could use it to line the nest with,
She said.
So the robins hopped closer to Raggedy Ann and asked if they might have some of her yarn hair to line their nest.
Raggedy Ann smiled at them.
So the two robins pulled and tugged at Raggedy Ann's yarn hair until they had enough to line their nest nice and soft.
Evening came and the robins sang their good night songs and Raggedy Ann watched the stars come out,
Twinkle all night and disappear in the morning light.
In the morning the robins again pulled yarn from Raggedy Ann's head and loosened her so she could peep over the side of the limb.
And when the sun came up,
Raggedy Ann saw she was in the trees in her own yard.
Now before she could eat any breakfast,
Marcella started out to find Raggedy Ann.
And it was Marcella herself who found her.
And this is how she did it.
Mama Robin had seen Marcella with Raggedy Ann out in the yard many times.
So she began calling,
Cheer-y,
Cheer-y.
And Daddy Robin started calling,
Cheer-y,
Cheer-y.
Cheer up,
Cheer up.
Cheer-y,
Cheer-y.
Cheer-y,
Cheer-y.
And Marcella,
Looking up into the tree above the house to see the robins,
Discovered Raggedy Ann peeping over the limb at her.
Oh,
How her heart beat with happiness.
Where is Raggedy Ann?
She shouted.
And Mama and Daddy came out and saw Raggedy smiling at them.
And Daddy got the clothes prop and climbed out of the attic window and poked Raggedy Ann out of the tree.
And she fell right into Marcella's arms where she was hugged in a tight embrace.
You'll never go up on a kite again,
Raggedy Ann,
Said Marcella.
For I felt so lost without you.
I will never let you leave me again.
So Raggedy Ann went into the house and had breakfast with her little mistress.
And Mama and Daddy smiled at each other when they peeped through the door into the breakfast room.
For Raggedy Ann's smile was wide and very yellow.
Marcella,
Her heart full of happiness,
Was feeding Raggedy Ann part of her egg.
Good night.
