Terry In Thimbletown-

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 237, 5 October 1940, Page 2 (Supplement)

Terry In Thimbletown-

"The trials will begin. Read out the first prisoner's nflnifc, and the tiaines of thosfe wllo acciise tlife prisoner/' he commanded. "Very well. yHttr majesty." the official replied." He lifted the document he was holding and shouted clearly. "Terry Villiers is charged with ill-treatment of dolls Pa iii, "Ciarii atld Daphiie, the charges being brought against her by the aforenamed.

"Thank you," said the king gruffly. "I know ail about this case. Will the prisoner and her cantors please enter their boxes V'

"liood gracious! Do 1 have to jrst into a box?" thought the littlfc girl. "Ail*l am not afraid of King Cotton. He' can't do anything "to riie."

Nevertheless, her le«s felt weak when she was led to tlii? jirisrftier's hox, And the three dolls took their places ill the witness bbx.

"PHsonbr at' the bar," began the king. "I have heafd thb bomplrtints of tour dolls in a private iritehiew with them, Aild I ain already convinced of your guilt. However, I mvsblf cdilnot give the Verdifet, itttd the jury will have to hear thfe evidence too. Miss Daphne, will i-dti please ieli the court what charges you bring against Terry Villters?" ".CfefrtiijHiy, tolir, majesty," said the doll\ and cast* a cheeky glance at the toihbov wito was stahdinif defirihtlv vfritli ht»r Nbild ih the dir. "THife wicked, liicoiis'ctefrtte gitl hfites sew 1 tig. She has hever mad*: any clothes for iis, ahd when tilt; mice got into the toy clipboard—"

'"That's not true." Terry shouted. "There fire ho mice in thy toy cupboard." "tJllrl!" cried the queferi, furiously. '•You are charged with contempt of court also. -lury take that into consideration. Please continue with the evidbneb."

Terry opened her month, intending to give a suitable rbtc>rt,.biit realising that this Would only make further trouble she said rtbthing. , '

"As I tfris saying," continued Daphne in her liigh-pitehed voice, "there .are mice in the tby eupbodrd. It is pusHfed right tip dgdihst thb will, wlierfe it his bbeh fbr yedrs, and the iiiice, in the wall right through tiiS.wttilj aryl tjitbilgji, the. back of thfe dolls' drawer also. They do not usually worry iis, tiiit one night they made refife in each of us, and some of our sawdhSt came otit, hut wheh Terty saw the hdlbs in our bodies she did not bbther to stitch tliein up. C)h no, shfe wbuld not think of doing that! Ahd another thing," Daphne trfcht dh. "During the wliiter wfe did not even have ft blanket to cover us, let albiie any clothes. We nearly died of told diking thb winter! It W!i3 tbi'rible!" and the three dolls sliivfeivd tfehiiniebently.

"Disgraceful,'" the king burst out. "Tb tliitik that members 6f Thimbletbwii Rhbuld b£ treated in such a way!"' He iiirned to the jury, They werte sttialb dark dolls, with alert eyes:, which darted Ail over tiie Court. '' .

T ASt *tii M iMrted W* Terrr Mil • J to fhlinkHsva. «Htr« file «*• brratht <6 (Mai before &lnt Citttiih *«■ ftueth Has. because siie fcal inliirtitei her Mils.

"Gentledien of the jury. Retire'to consider vour verdict,"' said the monarch, aiid Terry trembled with fright as they filed out in orderly rows; but she also feit angry because tliey h!id not Heard her side of the ease.

"Although I don't siippose it will make arty difference," she thought bitterly, "I tfill be found guilty just the same. They do things in "the diost extraordinary wSy here."

The jury were absent for only two piirtiites. and when they came back, the king asked the fOreitiau for the verdict.

"Your Majesty, it »is our unanimous decision" that Terry Villiers be pronounced giiilty," he declared. "Thank ytfti," sdld King Cotton. "Terry Villiers, listen to nie. As you Have already heard, the verdict is guilty, ind accordingly. I impose the following sentence on you. You will stay in Tliinibletowii for foiir days, ahd make clothes fbr your three dolls, Pain, ClAra ahd Daphne."

"What!" cried Terry in alarm. "Btit you can't db that. I hate sewing, and anyway pother would wonder where 1 was."

"While you are in Tliimbletowh, time stands Btiii. Ybu will , arrive back at your liohie at bxaetly the sarile time as ybu left it. Ybii say ybu dbh't likb sewitig. If voti had treated'your dolls iVellj ahd made clothes for them, you wdtlld not be here, i think' ybu are d very lazv, inconsiderate little girl." He lodkbd rbiirtd the room.. "Madame Anna, will yoti please statid?"

Terry gazed about her ahd saw a tall, sliiii doll with biotide liiiir and blue eve« stand hp in the middle of the Courtroom. She looked but of piiiee iii that shabby assembly for she tfas dressed in the height of ftishion.

"Madahte Anna, you will be plated in charge of this girl. Sbe iliat she does her wbrk well; and how please take her with you ahd bring her ttf me in four days' time. Next case!"

The "illin star" doli came towards Tbrry. Pdm, Oara and Daphne also stepped otit, and together they all went oiit of tlie Courtroom, down the golden steps and on to the street. Here the tomboy's own three dolls Ibft her. "Wlierb lire we going now?" Terry asked:

"Ydti will soon see," said Mdddme Ahiia briskly as she hurried hbr down a narrow, bobbled Street lined with blue tliimUle "tiousbe."

"Wily is it tiirit you jtte sb -ftell dressed aitd all the other dolls of. Thinibletowh rire very shabby ?" the little girl (Queried. "I aih a dressmaker," she answered. "Gnce every year I come to Thimbletowh with iriy assistants to make clothes for all the£e dolis, who gather here once a year to be clothed, for they are the dblis of the earth which have no clothes. Now, of cdtirse, I will have three less wardrobes to iftskl?, fbr yoii are going to do that, and do it prdpetly, O'n, here we are," she added, and suddenly pushed open the door of one of the thimbles.

'"But it's not big enough for us both,'' gasped Terry. f "It will be when yon get inside," wa.s the baffling reply. "Go On," Afld Madame gave her a little push through the door. When ihfc got inside; Terry found that it was as big asa house, and the room she was ih was litterM with rolls and rolls Of materials: Tie fbrnittit-e Consisted of two long tables, chairs and four §ewihg machines, "at vfliicli fttiir young gift dolls xVerfe forking bilsilv. (in the floor was a thick cSrpet, and oh one side Of the rbOiii toas a mantelpiece Over which huhg a portrait of King Cottbn. bth?r pictures decorated the walls alSfc: PitlS and nefedles Here scattered everywhere. "Now I think yoii iiad Wetter get to wbrk right away?' said the dreSsHlakef (1011. "All tdiir ciirfls' fliMfeiii'tments arc? tlie ?ame, ahd I have tlit'iii iiete. List -n to wiidt t tiave tb a&y ; fbr ybti will have to cut out the clothes vourself."

"Oh, dear, but I can't do that!" wailed the Tomboy despairingly. "Besides, vou said sew, not cut out."

"Listen," said madame, and began to explain how to do it. By the time she had finished, the little girl's head was

in a whirl, but she Jried to out a dress is best she could. >he did it wrongly, olid tried again with another piece of thaterial. This time she was successful, and Madame Anna showed her how to sew it on tile machine. She was so busr herself, however, that she could not spare much time to help Terry, who soon became very flurried. She broke two needles, snapped the cotton several times, and sewed up the neck and armholes of the dress.

By this time she was almost in tears of vexation, and Madame Anna at last told her to cut out another dress and sew it by hand. This Terry did, and, with the help of cine of the Assistants, she tried to sew it properly. But everything seemed to go wrong, and by one o'clock in the afternoon she had only made one shapeless-looking dress. Strangely enough nobody seemed to eat in Thimbletown, aiid they went on working. Terry did not fefel .hungry, either. She found her work very nerve-wracking, and when, at the ehd of the day she lay down on a bed iii an upstairs room she sobbed herself td sleep.

The second day was not quite as bad as the first, but'it was very disheartening all the same. By the third (lay she had made six outfits for the dolls* and she was taking quite an interest hi lier work, although it was exhausting «o havfc Madame Anna continualiv scold ill" her.

(To be continued.)