Chapter FOUR

Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy and Marggy and her Mama had gone only a short way when they heard a loud noise in back of them.

“Land sakes!” cried Raggedy Ann. “What can be making all that racket?” But because the others did not know, of course they could not tell, so they just had to wait until whatever made the racket reached them.

The noise grew louder and louder until they saw the paper Dragon coming through the woods as fast as he could wiggle. The paper Dragon wiggled and twisted along so fast his long tail bumped against the trees blumpity smack, crash, blump!

“Dear me! Something must be wrong with the paper Dragon!” Raggedy Ann said. “He will tear a lot of holes in his sides if he isn’t careful the way he smacks into the trees and stones!”

The paper Dragon was so out of breath when he reached Raggedy Ann all he could say was “Run!” And he said it with such a wheeze no one could understand what he said.

“Whatever made you wiggle so fast through the woods, Mister Dragon?” Raggedy Andy asked. “You’ve snagged a lot of holes in your tail, and while you rest we will mend them with paper and glue.”

“But we haven’t any glue!” Marggy’s Mama said.

“Maybe we can use the cream out of a cream puff!” Raggedy Ann suggested. And as there were lots of pieces of paper blowing about through the woods Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy soon stuck patches on every hole in the paper Dragon’s body.

“Ah! That feels ever so much better,” the paper Dragon said. “I guess the reason I got out of breath was because I had so many holes in my long body, and the air leaked out of the holes.”

“Maybe you ran with your mouth open,” Marggy said.

“Yes, that’s true,” the Dragon replied. “Let’s see now, what was I going to tell you? I guess it slipped out of the holes, for I have completely forgotten what it was.”

“Try to think real hard,” suggested Raggedy Andy. “Raggedy Ann and I often think so hard we rip stitches out of our heads.”

“But I have no stitches in my head,” the Dragon replied.

“Then we’ll just sit here and wait until you think without ripping any stitches,” said Raggedy Ann.

So the Raggedys and Marggy and her Mama sat down and waited for the Dragon to remember.

“Can’t you remember what it was?” Raggedy Andy asked after they had sat there awhile.

“I haven’t the least idea,” the paper Dragon replied. “I can’t seem to think very well.”

“Maybe if you would scratch your head, it would help,” said Raggedy Ann.

“Oh, he can’t scratch his head,” Raggedy Andy laughed. “He hasn’t any hands to scratch with.”

“Of course not,” Raggedy Ann laughed. “It was silly of me to suggest it!”

“But we could take sticks and scratch his head for him,” Marggy said.

“Maybe that will help,” the paper Dragon said.

So Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy and Marggy and her Mama each got a stick and scratched the Dragon’s head.

After they had scratched awhile, the paper Dragon said, “That’s enough! I remember what it was now! You must run and run fast!”

“But why should we run?” Raggedy Ann asked. “If we run, we will get ahead of the little magical red ball of darning cotton and you know, the little red ball rolls through the woods and is leading us to where Marggy’s Daddy is.”

“Well, you had better run anyway!” the Dragon said. “For there’s a queer man running after you, and the only reason he isn’t here now is because I wiggled through the woods so much faster than he can run.”

“Who is it?” Raggedy Ann asked of the others.

“I’ll tell you who it is,” the Dragon said. “It’s Mr. Doodle!”

“Oh dear!” Marggy cried. “He wants to take me back to his house to chop wood for him!”

“Well, he will never do that,” Raggedy Andy said. “We will hide some place and wait until he runs by, then we will go another way.”

“Here’s a dandy place to hide,” said Raggedy Ann. “Quick! Everyone get in this great big hollow tree. Afterwards we will catch up with the magic ball.”

So they all squeezed into the great big hollow tree. Even the Dragon, and waited for Mr. Doodle to run by them.

“Here he comes now, I can hear him!” the Dragon said to Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy and Marggy and her Mama. The Dragon was the last to crawl into the great big hollow tree so he could hear better than the others.

“He’s coming lickety split through the woods,” the Dragon whispered.

“Goody! Now he’s going by! It’s stuffy in here all crowded together and I will be glad when Mr. Doodle runs past,” said Raggedy Ann.

“Oh shucks!” the Dragon cried out loud.

“Be quiet!” Raggedy Ann said. “He will hear you sure!”

“That’s just it!” the Dragon said. “He has heard us and he is pulling and yanking my tail now!”

“He’s pulling me out of the tree!” the Dragon wailed.

Indeed, this was true, for the others soon felt the Dragon slipping and slipping until suddenly he was yanked right out of the great big hollow tree.

“Ha! Ha! Ha!” laughed Mr. Doodle. “You thought you could fool me did you?”

“How did you know where we were?” Raggedy Andy asked as he and the others came out.

“Why, who wouldn’t know where you were when the foolish Dragon had ten or fifteen feet of his tail sticking out of the tree!”

“I knew I would spoil it all, if I hid in the tree with you! I’m so sorry!” the Dragon cried.

“Don’t you care,” Raggedy Andy whispered. “You did the best you knew how and we are glad of that.”

“Now,” said Mr. Doodle. “I’ve come to take Marggy home with me to chop the wood.”

“Dear me,” Raggedy Ann exclaimed. “If you worked as hard chopping your wood as you have chasing us, you would have the wood all chopped!”

“I’m too tired to chop wood, I tell you,” Mr. Doodle shouted as he gave Marggy’s arm a pull.

“Now see here,” the Dragon cried. “I guess we will have to fight!” So Mr. Doodle took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves. “The rest of you had better keep back out of the way,” he said.

So Raggedy Ann passed the doughnuts and cream puffs. “For,” she said as they took seats back out of the way. “We might as well have lunch while we wait for the Dragon to fight Mr. Doodle.”

The fight between Mr. Doodle and the Dragon was a great sight to see. The Dragon could growl very loud when he wanted to and he growled louder than usual. But Mr. Doodle, even if he was so lazy that he wanted Marggy to chop his wood for him, was very brave and every time the Dragon growled, Mr. Doodle stuck out his tongue at the Dragon.

This made the Dragon growl louder than ever and Raggedy Andy grew so excited he put a cream puff into his eye instead of his mouth and the cream puff covered his shoe button eye so that he could only watch the fight with one eye until Raggedy Ann wiped the cream puff off with her pocket hanky. The little white one with blue flowers on it.

Each time the Dragon rushed at Mr. Doodle and growled, Mr. Doodle jumped back. And each time Mr. Doodle rushed at the Dragon, the Dragon jumped back. And the fight lasted until both Mr. Doodle and the Dragon grew so excited, they forgot what they were doing, and both rushed at each other at the same time. This surprised the Dragon so much, he stopped suddenly and opened his mouth and he had no sooner done this than Mr. Doodle, who was as much surprised as the Dragon, lost his balance and fell right into the Dragon’s mouth.

“Hm!” the Dragon said. “The great fight is over!”

“I’m glad that you swallowed Mr. Doodle instead of Mr. Doodle swallowing you!” Raggedy Andy told the Dragon as he patted him upon the head.

“Silly!” Raggedy Ann laughed at Raggedy Andy. “How could Mr. Doodle swallow the Dragon when the Dragon is so much larger?”

“I never thought of that,” Raggedy Andy giggled. He knew when the joke was on him.

But suddenly the Dragon looked worried and it only took Raggedy Andy a moment to find out why. Mr. Doodle, inside the paper Dragon had started stomping around.

“If you don’t let me out, I’ll kick out all your slats!” Mr. Doodle shouted from inside the paper Dragon.

“I believe I had better let him out,” the Dragon said. “I think he has nails in his shoes!”

So the Dragon opened his mouth and Mr. Doodle walked out. Mr. Doodle was so tired though, he had to sit down and rest. “We’ll have another fight just as soon as I rest up a bit.”

And because they did not believe in being stingy, Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy gave Mr. Doodle three cream puffs and six doughnuts to help him rest.

After resting and eating three cream puffs and six doughnuts, Mr. Doodle jumped to his feet. “Now we must continue our fight!” he cried to the Dragon.

“I won’t fight you if you fall inside my mouth again and kick around like you did before. Your shoes have nails in them!” the Dragon said.

“I guess I’ll take off my shoes then,” Mr. Doodle agreed. “That will make it a fair fight, don’t you think?”

When Mr. Doodle had taken off his shoes with the nails in the bottom the Dragon said, “I will never permit you to take Marggy home with you to chop your wood.”

And Mr. Doodle replied, “And I will never permit you to not permit me to take Marggy home with me to chop my wood.” And with this, Mr. Doodle stuck out his tongue at the Dragon and the Dragon growled very loud at Mr. Doodle. Then Mr. Doodle pushed upon the Dragon and the Dragon pushed upon Mr. Doodle and back and forth they tussled until finally the Dragon pushed the hardest and pushed Mr. Doodle over on his back.

Of course you have guessed by this time that Mr. Doodle was losing the fight with the Dragon, and it made him so angry he lost his temper, and before anyone could say, “Scat!” Mr. Doodle picked up a stone and threw it right smack dab through the kind Dragon’s paper side.

“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, Mr. Doodle?” Raggedy Ann cried.

“I don’t care,” Mr. Doodle replied. “He shouldn’t have pushed me over on my back, that’s what!”

Marggy’s Mama, before she stopped to think that Mr. Doodle did not belong to her, caught Mr. Doodle and turned him over her knee. And I wish that you could have heard the paddywhacks she gave him with her slipper. When Marggy’s Mama had finished paddywhacking Mr. Doodle, Mr. Doodle ran home as fast as he could.

“Ha! Ha! Ha!” the Dragon laughed in spite of the hole in his side, “Marggy’s Mama is the one who really won the great fight!”

Raggedy Andy hunted around through the woods until he found a Sunday newspaper and with this and some of the cream from the cream puffs, Raggedy Andy and Raggedy Ann covered the hole in the paper Dragon’s side. The Sunday newspaper was printed in colors and it made the paper Dragon much prettier than he had been and everyone told him so. And after they had thanked the kindly paper Dragon for rescuing Marggy from Mr. Doodle, they left the Dragon trying to wiggle around so that he could see the beautiful Sunday newspaper patch they had pasted on his side.