Chapter ONE

Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy were two rag dolls. They were stuffed with nice clean white cotton and their faces were painted on them. Both Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy wore very cheery smiles and were friendly, happy little creatures.

The two Raggedys lived in the nursery at Marcella’s house and always had great fun with the other dolls, for as you surely must know, dolls play together when there are no real for sure people around to watch them. And although Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy loved all the other dolls in the nursery very much, still at times they liked to leave the nursery and walk down through the deep, deep woods filled with fairies ’n everything, because there they found strange adventures.

Once before, in adventuring in the deep, deep woods Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy had found a very magical stick. It was a wishing stick and made every wish come true. This stick had been sewed inside Raggedy Andy’s cotton stuffed body and just looking at him, no one would guess he could make wishes come true.

Raggedy Ann had been as fortunate as Raggedy Andy, for on one adventure in the deep, deep woods, Raggedy Ann had found a very Magical Wishing Pebble, and this was sewed up inside her cotton stuffed body, so that Raggedy Ann, like Raggedy Andy, could make her wishes come true too. So, this day, when the two Raggedys kissed the other dolls in the nursery good-bye and skipped out through the garden gate and down the path leading to the deep, deep woods, their little cotton stuffed bodies tingled with excitement, for they both felt they were running to meet some wonderful adventures. And indeed, this was true. The Raggedys had gone but a short distance into the deep, deep woods when Raggedy Andy heard something.

“Didn’t that sound like some one calling for help?” Raggedy Andy asked as he caught Raggedy Ann’s arm.

“I heard something, but I could not hear just what was said,” Raggedy Ann replied in a whisper.

“Listen,” Raggedy Andy said. “There it is again!”

“HELP! HELP!” some one cried.

“It’s over the other side of that great big stone,” Raggedy Ann whispered. “Let’s run over real easy and climb on the stone, then we can see who it is.”

The two Raggedys caught hold of hands and ran over to the large stone and when they reached it they saw little steps leading to the top. Up the steps they climbed until they could look over the top of the great stone.

“I’ve got you this time,” a voice said. “And this time I will not let you get away.”

“Oh, please Mister Doodle, don’t take me to your house and make me chop the wood for you! I have to run to the store to get a penny’s worth of needle eyes for mama and hurry right back so she can finish her sewing. Then I have to—”

“HA! You won’t run to the store today,” Mister Doodle laughed. “I’ve got a lot of wood to be chopped and I am too tired to do it myself so you got to do it!”

“You are a mean man, Mister Doodle, and I just bet you had better run along home and chop the wood yourself before you get in trouble,” Raggedy Ann said from the top of the stone.

“Is that so?” Mister Doodle laughed. “I guess I will take Marggy home to chop my wood if I want to.” And Mister Doodle started to pull the little girl along behind him through the woods.

“Now I’ll tell you what, Mister Doodle,” cried Raggedy Ann. “If you do not let go of Marggy before I count three, you’ll find yourself standing on your head.”

“Ha! Ha! Ha!” Mister Doodle laughed, for you see, he did not know that all Raggedy Ann or Andy had to do was to make a wish and the wish would come true, “I’d like to see a rag doll keep me from taking Marggy home to chop the wood for me!”

“ONE,” said Raggedy Ann, “two,” she added after a pause, “now you better let go,” she warned. But Mister Doodle gave Marggy a pull and started away.

“Alright,” said Raggedy Ann, “THREE!”

“And I wish that he bumps up and down real hard,” said Raggedy Andy as Mister Doodle turned upside down and stood upon his head.

“Oh! You must be fairies!” Marggy cried as she saw Mister Doodle do just as the two Raggedys had wished.

“No, we are only two rag dolls, Marggy,” Raggedy Ann said as she and Andy jumped from the large stone. “Now let’s run to your house before Mister Doodle gets upon his feet again!” And catching Marggy’s hands, the two Raggedys ran through the woods until they came to a little house with an open door.

“Ha!” said someone over by the fireplace.

“Is that your mother, Marggy?” Raggedy Ann asked as she saw a woman in an easy chair watching a pot hanging over cold ashes.

“Dear me, no!” Marggy replied. “I tried to tell you this was Mister Doodle’s house, but you ran so fast I could not catch my breath.”

“Then is that Missus Doodle?” Raggedy Andy asked.

“Yes, I am,” Missus Doodle said. “And you are just in time too. I want to get supper and the food won’t cook, because I have no fire. One of you carry some wood in from the other room and light it. Mister Doodle will be here in a minute.”

Marggy started to get the wood for Missus Doodle, but Raggedy Andy stopped her. “How long have you been sitting here watching that pot, Mrs. Doodle?”

“Ever since early this morning,” Mrs. Doodle replied. “But what has that to do with getting the wood?”

“It hasn’t anything to do with it,” Raggedy Andy replied. “Except that we will not get the wood for you when you try to make us do it. If you had asked one of us real nice, we would have been pleased to get the wood and start the fire.”

“Then into the cage you go!” cried Mrs. Doodle as she jumped out of her chair and caught Raggedy Andy.

“Here!” Marggy cried as she caught Mrs. Doodle’s arm. “You put Raggedy Andy down right away!”

Mrs. Doodle walked out into the other room and stuffed Raggedy Andy into an empty parrot cage hanging on the wall. Then she ran after Raggedy Ann and when she caught her, she stuffed Raggedy Ann in beside Raggedy Andy.

“Polly wants a cracker!” Raggedy Andy cried just like a parrot.

“Now!” Mrs. Doodle cried as she gave Marggy’s ear a twist, “get busy and build the fire!” And she pushed the little girl into the wood room.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” someone knocked on the front door.

“Who is it?” asked Mrs. Doodle as she walked to the door.

“It’s me, Mr. Doodle! Just wait until I catch Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy and Marggy!”

“Ha! Ha! Ha!” Mrs. Doodle laughed. “Then come right in for the two Raggedys are in the parrot cage!”

“Ha,” Mr. Doodle said as he picked up a stick. “Show me where they are.”

“Polly wants a cracker!” Raggedy Andy cried from the parrot cage just like a parrot.

“Maybe you should not tease him, Raggedy Andy,” Raggedy Ann said.

Raggedy Andy just laughed when Mr. Doodle walked in the room. “You just watch, Raggedy Ann,” he whispered. Then he cried to Mr. Doodle, “Hello Mr. Doodle, how did it feel to dance around on your head?”

Mr. Doodle was very, very angry. “I’ll show you now that you are fastened up in the parrot cage! I’ll hit the cage with this big stick and knock it off the nail, then the cage will fall on the floor and you will both bump your heads!”

Mr. Doodle threw the big stick right at the cage, but Raggedy Andy, who had a wishing stick sewed inside his rag body made a wish the moment Mr. Doodle came in the house. So when Mr. Doodle threw the stick, instead of the stick knocking the parrot cage from the nail, the stick circled around the parrot cage and came flying back at Mr. Doodle’s head.

“Wow!” Mr. Doodle cried as the stick knocked his hat off his head. “What made that stick bounce that way?”

“You didn’t hit the parrot cage, that’s why,” said Mrs. Doodle.

Mr. Doodle picked up the stick and took careful aim. “This time I’ll knock the cage down and bump the Raggedys’ heads, I’ll bet a nickel!”

And he threw the stick so hard that when it circled around the parrot cage again, it sailed right back and cracked Mr. Doodle on top of his head. This made Mr. Doodle sit down on the floor so hard he jarred a vase off the mantel piece.

“Now see what you did!” Mrs. Doodle cried as she hit Mr. Doodle with the broom. “You broke my nicest vase! I’ll hit the cage this time and bump the Raggedys’ heads.” Then Mrs. Doodle threw the broom at the parrot cage, but the broom circled around the edge just as the stick had done and after striking Mrs. Doodle and knocking her down, it flew along the wall and knocked down three pictures.

Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy in the parrot cage had to hold their rag sides to keep from laughing, for the harder Mr. and Mrs. Doodle tried to knock down the parrot cage, the more damage they did until finally their whole house was covered with broken vases and pictures and broken dishes and both of them had a lot of bumps on the top of their heads.

“You see,” Raggedy Andy said from the parrot cage. “Whenever you try to injure another, you always harm yourselves. Let this be a lesson to you!”

Now this made Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy feel sorry, for although the Doodles had tried to injure the Raggedys, still the Raggedys did not wish to injure the Doodles in return. So Raggedy Andy made a wish that all the broken things would be mended right away. And soon everything was just as good as new.

Then when Mr. and Mrs. Doodle saw everything was not broken, they could not understand what had happened, for you see, they did not know that every time the Raggedys made a wish, the wish came true.

“I guess we must have been dreaming,” Mr. Doodle said as he got up from the floor.

“I guess we were,” Mrs. Doodle said.

“No, you were not dreaming,” Raggedy Andy said. “You will find that every time you try to injure another, you will hurt yourself twice as much.”

Now Mr. and Mrs. Doodle did not believe this was true, so they said, “The Raggedys must have a magic charm in their pockets, for every time they make a wish, the wish comes true. So we must take the magic charms away from them, and then we can make all our wishes come true.”

“The first thing I shall wish for will be a big piano, then I will sit and play pretty music all day long,” said Mrs. Doodle.

“Indeed!” Mr. Doodle replied. “I shall have the first wish. I shall wish for an automobile!”

Then the Doodles stamped their feet and pulled each other’s noses. While they were quarreling, Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy jumped out of the parrot cage, opened the door real easy and slipped outside.

“Oh dear,” Raggedy Ann said as she stopped running, “We ran away from the Doodles’ house and left Marggy there! Now the Doodles will be so angry when they find we have escaped, they will make Marggy chop all their wood and build their fires and do their cooking!”

“Then we must hurry right back and take Marggy away from Mr. Doodle’s house,” said Raggedy Andy as he turned back.

When the Raggedys came to Mr. and Mrs. Doodle’s house they could hear a lot of noise inside so they walked right in without knocking.

“You must let me run home to my Mama,” Marggy said to Mr. Doodle.

“Not until you chop up all the wood for us and make the fire and do the cooking,” Mr. Doodle said. “Mrs. Doodle and I are too tired to do it.” Then Mr. Doodle caught hold of the little girl’s arm and pulled her to the wood pile. “There now,” he said as he shut the door. “Don’t come out until the wood is all chopped.”

Marggy sat down in a corner of the wood room and began crying, for she was too small to chop wood. But Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy had slipped into the room when Mr. Doodle wasn’t looking, so they wiped Marggy’s tears away and said, “Don’t cry, Marggy, we will rescue you some way.”

“But Mr. Doodle has locked the door tight,” said Marggy. “And we can’t get out!”

Raggedy Ann peeped through the key hole and saw Mr. and Mrs. Doodle sitting in easy chairs. “We will rest while Marggy chops the wood,” said Mrs. Doodle.

“Ha! Ha!” Raggedy Ann thought to herself. “If you are that lazy, it will just serve you right if we can fool you.” And she thought and thought until she ripped two stitches in the top of her rag head, then she made a wish. It was a queer wish. Raggedy Ann wished that she and Raggedy Andy and Marggy were only as large as tiny little weeny weeny bugs. And just as soon as the wish came true, the three of them walked right out through the crack under the back door. Next Raggedy Ann made a wish that they would become large again. Then they caught hold of hands and ran for Marggy’s house as fast as they could go.

“The joke I played on Mr. and Mrs. Doodle was a good one,” Raggedy Ann laughed. “After we escaped from the Doodles’ house, I wished that all the wood would grow larger! Now when Mr. Doodle finds he has to chop it after all, he will have more work to do!”

“And that will serve him just right too,” Raggedy Andy laughed. “For whenever anyone puts off doing a thing, hoping that someone else will come along and do it for him, he always finds that the work seems harder.”

“You should tell your Daddy to speak to Mr. Doodle,” said Raggedy Ann to Marggy.

“Oh, dear me,” Marggy replied. “I haven’t any Daddy. He went out in the woods a long time ago and never came back.”

“Well, well, well,” the Raggedys both said. “Then we must search for him and maybe we can find him and bring him home to you and your Mama.”