Chapter TEN

In front of the great marble castle stood a Knight all dressed in shiny armor and he had a great big shiny sword. When the Dragon stopped in front of the Knight. The Knight whirled his sword close to the Dragon’s nose.

“Please be careful, Mr. Knight,” Raggedy Ann said. “You might cut off the Dragon’s nose.”

“Ha!” the Knight laughed as he whirled his sword again. “Little would I care if I did! We have a prisoner shut up in the castle and I must guard the door so that no one can get in and rescue him.”

“I’ll bet a nickel the prisoner is Marggy’s Daddy,” Mr. Doodle said.

“It is!” the Knight cried. “And if you know what is good for you, you will turn around and run as fast as you can!”

“Please do be careful,” Raggedy Ann again said. “You almost whacked the paper Dragon that time! It wouldn’t be nice for you to cut off his nose even if it is only paper!”

“Then if you will hop down from the Dragon’s back, I will cut off your nose,” the Knight said to Raggedy Ann.

“Indeed you won’t,” Raggedy Ann laughed. “For my nose is merely painted upon my face and it can’t be cut off.”

“Then I will cut off that man’s nose,” the Knight said as he pointed his sword at Mr. Doodle.

“But I do not care to have my nose cut off!”

“Then I shall cut off your nose anyhow!” The Knight shouted. “So if you do not wish your nose cut off you had better run as fast as you know how!”

“I will not run a step!” Mr. Doodle cried. “And if you try to cut off my nose, I shall try to cut off your nose too, only you will have to lend me your sword.”

“Ha, ha, ha!” the Knight laughed. “I would be foolish to do that! You have a sword,” pointing to Raggedy Andy’s wooden sword. “Take that and we will have a grand fight to see which one cuts off the other’s nose.”

Raggedy Andy loaned Mr. Doodle his magic wooden sword and Mr. Doodle walked towards the Knight.

“Wait a minute,” the Knight said. “Someone will have to fasten my helmet down so Mr. Doodle cannot cut off my nose!”

“That is only fair,” Mr. Doodle replied. “For I know you do not wish your nose cut off any more than I wish mine cut off, so I will fasten your helmet.”

“There!” Mr. Doodle said when he finished fastening the Knight’s helmet. “Now I cannot even see your eyes.”

“But I cannot see out of the helmet either!” the Knight howled. “And how can I fight you when I can’t see?”

“Well!” Mr. Doodle replied. “You said you wanted the helmet fastened down tight so now you will have to make the best of it!” And as Mr. Doodle winked at Raggedy Andy, he hit the Knight’s helmet so hard with the wooden sword it sounded like someone had kicked a tin dish pan.

“Oh! My nose! Oh, my nose!” the Knight howled and every time he howled, Mr. Doodle hit the Knight’s helmet harder than ever with the wooden sword until the Knight threw down his shiny sword and cried, “Let’s quit fighting! I have changed my mind, I shall not cut off your nose!”

“Thank you!” Mr. Doodle said as he winked at Raggedy Ann and unfastened the Knight’s helmet.

“My goodness! I did not know anyone could fight so good with just a wooden sword!” the Knight said. “You won the fight very quickly!”

“Maybe if you had not fastened your helmet down over your eyes, you could have won the fight,” Mr. Doodle said. “Shall we try it again without the helmet?”

“No, thank you,” the Knight replied. “I feel certain that if I do not have the helmet fastened down tight over my face you will be sure to cut off my nose. You see, I try to frighten people away from the castle by pretending that I am a great fighter, but really, I am always very timid, for I have a real tender heart.”

“And you did not intend cutting off Mr. Doodle’s nose?” Raggedy Ann asked.

“Dear me, no!” the Knight laughed. “You see, I shut my eyes anyway when I fight, so I could not have cut off Mr. Doodle’s nose for I could not have seen it!”

“I am glad you are so kind hearted,” Raggedy Ann said. “Really, that is the best way to be anyhow.”

“That is just what my mama has always told me,” the Knight said. “And now that Mr. Doodle has won the fight there is nothing to keep you from going into the castle unless it is the two-headed dog just inside the door. He may jump out and chase you away when you open the door.”

“We will go and knock upon the door,” Mr. Doodle said. “Then if the two-headed dog barks, we will know enough not to open the door.”

“Oh, he barks something terrible,” the Knight said. “It makes cold chills run up my neck when I hear him bark.”

“You don’t ’spect the two-headed dog has eaten up my daddy, do you?” Marggy asked.

“Oh, my no!” the Knight replied. “I saw your daddy looking out of a window awhile ago! No! The two-headed dog hasn’t eaten him up.”

Mr. Doodle walked up to the door and the Dragon wiggled along with the others.

“Why! There is the little ball of red darning cotton!” Raggedy Ann cried as she pointed to the door step. “Please hand it to me, Mr. Doodle; it got away ahead of us when you delayed us so many times!”

“I am very sorry!” Mr. Doodle said as he handed the ball of red darning cotton to Raggedy Ann.

“Knock on the door, it wouldn’t be polite to walk in without knocking,” Raggedy Andy suggested. “What we want to do is to get in the castle and rescue Marggy’s Daddy who has been inside as a prisoner for so long, but if the dog barks then we are as bad off as we are now.”

“I know what to do,” Mr. Doodle suggested. “Let’s hammer upon the castle door with the wooden sword and the two-headed dog will stay at the door in hopes that we will open it and let him out, but we will fool him! While someone hammers on the door and keeps the two-headed dog there I will run around in back and climb up the water pipe to one of the windows, then I’ll tip-toe down and throw a blanket, or something, over the dog’s two heads and unlock the door for you to come in!”

“That is a good idea,” Raggedy Ann said. “Let’s go and hammer on the door with the wooden sword.”

The Dragon carried them all up to the door of the castle upon his back and Raggedy Andy hammered upon the castle door with his magic wooden sword. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

Then they heard the loudest barks they had ever heard from a dog.

“My goodness!” Raggedy Ann cried. “He must be very, very large to bark so loud! I am afraid if you climb up the pipes and tip-toe down to throw something over the dog’s two heads, you will not find a blanket large enough!”

“I have a better idea,” the Dragon said. “Mr. Doodle might fall and hurt himself. I will open my mouth as wide as I can, then when you open the door, the great two-headed dog will jump right out into my mouth, then I’ll close my mouth and we will have him a prisoner!”

“Hm!” mused Raggedy Andy. “Suppose the two-headed dog starts scratching and biting after he jumps into your mouth?”

“I won’t mind that!” the Dragon replied. “You can get inside the door long before he tears the paper off my sides and gets out, and I will be glad to do this for Marggy’s sake.”

So the Dragon opened his mouth so wide it covered the whole door and Raggedy Andy poked the magic wooden sword between the Dragon’s paper teeth and pushed the castle door open. There came five very, very, loud barks as the two-headed dog jumped out of the door into the Dragon’s mouth. Then the Dragon’s mouth closed shut with a snap and the two-headed dog was a prisoner.

MY! How the two-headed dog scratched around inside the Dragon. He made a lot of noise, because the Dragon was made of slats and covered with heavy paper.

“Now we must jump off the Dragon’s back and hunt through the castle until we find Marggy’s Daddy. And we must hurry before the great two-headed dog chews the paper out of the Dragon’s side and chases us!” Raggedy Ann cried.

“After we find Marggy’s Daddy, then the Dragon can open his mouth and let the two-headed dog out, for after we find Marggy’s Daddy, then, of course, there will be no reason for the dog guarding the door, and he will probably run around the castle and hunt for a bone to eat!” Mr. Doodle said.

“Maybe it would be a good plan giving the dog a bone before we go into the castle,” Raggedy Ann suggested. “For if the dog has something to eat, then he won’t tear the paper off of the Dragon’s wooden slats.” Everyone thought this was a good idea. Raggedy Ann usually thought of the best way of doing everything. But, of course, when they looked through all their pockets, not even Mr. Doodle had a bone.

“We will have to give the two-headed dog a large piece of chocolate cake,” Marggy’s Mama said. “All I have in my basket is cake and cookies and I do not believe that will be enough for such a large two-headed dog.”

“Then we must give him two pieces of chocolate cake,” said Raggedy Ann. “One for each head.”

So Marggy’s Mama cut off two large pieces of chocolate cake and told the Dragon to open his mouth. “Just as soon as the great two-headed dog sees that he can get out, then he will quit his loud barking and I will throw him the cake,” she said.

So the Dragon opened his mouth and Marggy’s Mama tossed the two pieces of cake where the two-headed dog could see them.

“Look out!” the Dragon cried, “He’s coming out!” and out from the Dragon’s mouth came the two-headed dog.

When Raggedy Ann saw the two-headed dog, she jumped from the Dragon’s back and caught the dog in her arms, for the two-headed dog which guarded the castle door with such a loud bark was only six inches high, and the cutest little creature the Raggedys had ever seen.

Raggedy Ann held the two-headed dog in her arms while Raggedy Andy and Marggy and her Mama and Mr. Doodle fed him small pieces of cookies and chocolate cake. My! How Raggedy Ann laughed!

After the two-headed dog had eaten all the cake he wanted, Raggedy Ann wiped the crumbs from his two mouths with her apron and said, “Now that we have discovered that the two-headed dog is only a little teeny, weeny dog we can take him with us through the castle and hunt for Marggy’s Daddy!”

“I will be glad to go with you,” the two-headed dog said out of both of his mouths at the same time. “For I know just where Marggy’s Daddy is!”

“It is funny that the people who own this castle had such a tiny, little two-headed dog to guard the door,” Raggedy Andy said.

“But, you see,” the little two-headed dog explained. “I have just about the largest bark in the world, and when I stand at the door and bark, whoever is outside thinks, ‘Goodness gracious! That must be a very large dog!’ And of course that frightens them away!”

“Yes,” agreed Raggedy Ann. “We thought you must be almost as large as a horse when we heard you bark. Are you a magic dog?”

“Oh, yes,” the little two-headed dog replied. “Everything in the castle is magic. That is why Marggy’s Daddy stays at the castle instead of going home.”

“I do not understand!” Marggy’s Mama said. “Why does he have to stay at the magic castle, little two-headed dog?”

“Because,” the little dog replied. “When Marggy’s Daddy is in the castle, he can remember you and Marggy and everyone he knew before, but just as soon as he starts to go out of the castle door, he loses his memory and while he is outside the castle he forgets about everyone he knew. So you see he stays in the castle so that he can always remember you.”

“Then,” Raggedy Ann wondered. “Perhaps we had better not go inside the magic castle, or we may lose our memory.”

“No,” the little dog said. “The magic only works on people who enter the castle on Monday.”

“If that is the case, let us all go inside, for today is Wednesday,” Mr. Doodle cried. “And when we are once inside, perhaps we can find Marggy’s Daddy’s memory and give it back to him after we get him outside of the magic castle.”

Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, Mr. Doodle, Marggy and her Mama all walked down the long hall and through an open door, and there, sitting in a comfortable chair was Marggy’s Daddy. Marggy and her Mama ran to him and threw their arms about him, but he looked so surprised, everyone knew that Marggy’s Daddy did not know Marggy and her Mama.

“Don’t you recognize Marggy and her Mama?” Raggedy Ann asked.

“No! I cannot remember ever seeing them before!” Marggy’s Daddy replied.