Chapter ELEVEN

“I’ll just bet a nickel that he has lost his memory around the castle somewhere,” Raggedy Andy said.

“But I had my memory when I came in a few minutes ago!” Marggy’s Daddy said.

“Well! You haven’t it now!” Raggedy Ann replied. “So tell us just where you have been about the castle and we will try and find your memory for you.”

So Marggy’s Daddy led the way to the Wonder Room, but no one could find his memory. Then they searched through the dining room, but it was not there!

“I had it when I came in the back door,” Marggy’s Daddy said.

Raggedy Ann ran to the easy chair where they had first seen Marggy’s Daddy and there, sticking between the pages of a book to mark the place where he had been reading, was Marggy’s Daddy’s memory. Then everyone was very happy and Marggy’s Daddy took them all on his lap and hugged them, even Mr. Doodle.

“Tell us how you happened to be a prisoner in the magic castle, Daddy,” Marggy said as she gave him a hug.

“One day,” Marggy’s Daddy began, “I kissed Marggy and her Mama good-bye and started down to the store and when I came to a great tree which had fallen across the road, I heard someone talking inside.”

“Who was it, Daddy?” Marggy wished to know.

“It was a little gnome, sitting there smoking his pipe and talking to himself,” Marggy’s Daddy went on. “And I heard him talking about a wonderful Magic Castle, with a great room in it called the Wonder Room. And I heard him tell just how to find the Magic Castle. So instead of going to the grocery I walked through the woods until I came to this castle. The two-headed dog barked so loud at the front door, I went around to the back door and as it was open, I walked right inside. But whenever I went outside of the castle, I lost my memory. So I couldn’t think to return to Marggy and her Mama. But when I came back into the Magic Castle, then I could remember them. So, rather than leave the castle and forget them, I had to stay here all the time, so that I could think of them.”

“Now that we have found you, Daddy,” Marggy’s Mama said, “Let’s return home!”

“That is just what I was thinking of,” Marggy’s Daddy replied. “And just as soon as I pack a few magic things in a suit case, we will start. I have found so many wonderful magic things in the Wonder Room, I hardly know which to take home.”

Of course, everyone wished to know what the wonderful things were, so Marggy’s Daddy told them. “There is a magic clock,” he said, “which strikes every five minutes. And as soon as it quits striking, it either tells a fairy story, or it sings a beautiful song. Then this book which I was reading when you came in is a wonderful book, too, for, while you read the story, you can see moving pictures of everything you read about. Then when you grow tired of reading yourself, it will read itself, right out loud!”

“That will be a nice book for Marggy to have,” Marggy’s Mama said.

“Yes, we must take it for Marggy,” Marggy’s Daddy agreed.

“Then, the magic soda water fountain in the Wonder Room. We need it in our front room so that we can give everyone who comes in a nice ice cream soda. Then, there is a whole case of wonderful wishing rings. We each need one. And there is a wonderful invisible cloak, which makes anyone invisible. Then there are magical roller skates, which when fastened to your shoes, will carry you around as fast, or as slow as you wish to go.”

Then Marggy’s Daddy got a very large suitcase, for it had to be very large to get all the magical things inside. Everyone helped Marggy’s Daddy pack the magical things in the suitcase.

“Now, I guess we are all ready to start,” Marggy’s Daddy laughed as he took the suitcase upon his shoulder.

“What have you in the suitcase?” the Dragon asked as he saw Marggy’s Daddy with the suitcase on his shoulder.

“Some wonderful things I picked up inside,” Marggy’s Daddy replied. Then a queer look came over his face and he put the suitcase upon the ground and opened it.

“I thought so!” he cried. “I felt it suddenly grow light, and it had been so heavy before; all the wonderful things have disappeared!”

“The magic soda water fountain, too?” Marggy asked.

“Yes! It has disappeared, too! Now we can’t take them home and enjoy them!”

“Well!” Raggedy Andy mused. “It seems to me that the wonderful Magic Castle has been made so that whoever enters the Magic Castle can enjoy the wonderful magical things in the Wonder Room, but if everyone who goes into the Magic Castle carries away some of the wonderful things, in a very short time, there would be nothing left. And so, the magical things always come back to the Wonder Room.”

“That is so!” agreed Marggy’s Daddy. “And it was not right for us to take them.”

“Indeed, it wasn’t,” Raggedy Andy said. “You must keep the wonderful magic castle for your home.”

“Whee! Whee!” Marggy’s Daddy cried, “Raggedy Andy has thought of the nicest way! We will all live in the magic Castle where we can all enjoy the magic things in the Wonder Room; the magic soda water fountain, the wishing rings, the talking books, the magic clock and all the other wonderful things, and Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy and Mr. Doodle and the Dragon can live here with us!”

They all caught hold of hands and danced around in a circle. All except Mr. Doodle, and as everyone looked at Mr. Doodle, they saw great big salty tears running down his nose and falling to the ground. “Why, Mr. Doodle!” Raggedy Ann cried, “Whatever is the trouble?”

It was a long time before Mr. Doodle could reply and it would have been much longer than that if Marggy’s Mama hadn’t given him a piece of chocolate cake out of her basket. After Mr. Doodle had eaten the chocolate cake, Raggedy Ann said, “Tell us why you weep, Mr. Doodle.”

“Because,” Mr. Doodle replied. “Because, you will remember, I wanted to take the paper Dragon home and use him for a chicken coop. He is hollow all the way to the tip of his tail, and he would make a lovely chicken coop. But now, I know the paper Dragon is such a kind creature, I do not wish to take him away from you and take him home, besides, if I did that, there would be no one to guard the outside doors of the Magic Castle.”

“But,” Marggy’s Mama said, “You are going to stay right here in the wonderful Magic Castle with us, and if you do that, there is no need of you having a chicken coop. For, every time you wish fried chicken, all you will have to do will be to wish for it and you will have it. Isn’t that so, Daddy?”

“Indeed, it is true,” Marggy’s Daddy replied. “So dry your tears, Mr. Doodle and live with us in the Magic Castle and we will have a lot of fun.”

“Then I must run home and get Mrs. Doodle,” Mr. Doodle said as he wiped the last tear from his eye.

“Do not pack anything in your suitcases,” Marggy’s Daddy advised. “For if you, or Mrs. Doodle, want new clothes any time, all you have to do is wish for them.”

“I shall not bring a thing except Mrs. Doodle,” Mr. Doodle laughed. “Now just see how fast I can run home and return with Mrs. Doodle.”

“I’ll bet a nickel it won’t take him very long,” Raggedy Andy laughed, as they watched Mr. Doodle run away through the woods toward his home.

In a very short time Mr. Doodle came running back with Mrs. Doodle, for he had hardly got started running through the woods when he met Mrs. Doodle coming after him.

“I just thought Mr. Doodle never would come home,” Mrs. Doodle laughed when she was introduced to everyone. “Is it true that you wish Mr. Doodle and me to live in this beautiful castle with you, even after Mr. Doodle and I treated you so mean?”

“Yes, indeed, Mrs. Doodle!” Marggy’s Mama said. “You see, Mr. Doodle has changed quite a lot since you saw him last, and if it had not been for his kindness to us, we would never have found our nice Daddy.”

“Then I am so happy!” Mrs. Doodle said as she wept on Raggedy Ann’s shoulder. “Papa Doodle has always been a very lazy Papa and that was one reason why he always wanted to capture Marggy. He really wanted her to do the work!”

“And I know just how naughty I was, Mama Doodle,” Mr. Doodle said. “And I have promised myself that I shall chop every piece of wood we need in the nice, wonderful Magical Castle to cook with.”

“Aha!” Marggy’s Daddy laughed as he gave Mr. Doodle a friendly thump upon the back. “We will need no wood around here to cook with, my friend, for if we wish fried chicken or doughnuts or anything, we do not have to build a fire and cook. No, sir!”

So Marggy’s Daddy led the way into the dining room of the castle and everyone wished for just whatever they liked best for supper. And you may be certain that everyone got exactly what they wished for, too, because that was the way things worked in the wonderful castle. After supper, everyone went into the Wonder Room and listened to the Magic Book as it read fairy tales out loud, and while they listened to the fairy tales they all had a great many ice cream sodas.

“It is really time we were all getting to bed,” Marggy’s Daddy said. “The earlier we go to bed, the earlier we can get up in the morning, and think how much fun we shall have then.”

Marggy’s Daddy knew every room in the great castle, so he showed everyone just where to sleep, then when he had wound the clock and covered up the canary bird and saw the little two-headed dog had gone to his box, Marggy’s Daddy went to bed, too.

“Wasn’t it just like a Fairy Tale?” Raggedy Ann asked Raggedy Andy as they put on their nighties and hopped into bed.

“Indeed, it was, Raggedy Ann,” Raggedy Andy laughed. “And I ’spect, just like all nice Fairy Tales, everyone will live happily together here in the wonderful Magic Castle forever.”

And the two Raggedys, their shiny shoe button eyes looking happily at the ceiling, felt in their little cotton stuffed bodies that indeed, this would prove true, for unhappiness can never creep in when hearts are filled with the sunshine of unselfish love.

Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy have a good time in their books and so does everybody who reads them. Their adventures in “Raggedy Ann’s Wishing Pebble” and “Raggedy Ann and the Camel With the Wrinkled Knees” are as funny and interesting as “Raggedy Ann and the Paper Dragon.” You will want to own the Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy books and a Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy Bookshelf to put them on.

_Books about Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy_ are:

RAGGEDY ANN
RAGGEDY ANDY
RAGGEDY ANN AND THE CAMEL WITH THE WRINKLED KNEES
RAGGEDY ANN’S WISHING PEBBLE
RAGGEDY ANDY’S NUMBER BOOK
RAGGEDY ANN’S ALPHABET BOOK

_Other Books by Johnny Gruelle_ are:

THE MAGICAL LAND OF NOOM
FRIENDLY FAIRIES
MY VERY OWN FAIRY STORIES
LITTLE BROWN BEAR
LITTLE SUNNY STORIES
EDDIE ELEPHANT
FUNNY LITTLE STORIES

If your book dealer hasn’t these books write us.

THE P. F. VOLLAND COMPANY
_Publishers of Good Books for Children_
NEW YORK JOLIET BOSTON