ace.

"Oh, you want to play, do you?" the puppy dog barked, as he jumped at
Raggedy Ann and then jumped back again.

The more Raggedy Ann smiled, the livelier Fido's antics became, until
finally he caught the end of her dress and dragged her about.

This was great fun for the puppy dog, but Raggedy Ann did not enjoy it.
She kicked and twisted as much as she could, but the puppy dog thought
Raggedy was playing.

He ran out the garden gate and down the path across the meadow, every
once in a while stopping and pretending he was very angry. When he
pretended this, Fido would give Raggedy Ann a great shaking, making her
yarn head hit the ground "ratty-tat-tat." Then he would give his head a
toss and send Raggedy Ann high in the air where she would turn over two
or three times before she reached the ground.

By this time, she had lost her apron and now some of her yarn hair was
coming loose.

As Fido neared the brook, another puppy dog came running across the
foot-bridge to meet him. "What have you there, Fido?" said the new puppy
dog as he bounced up to Raggedy Ann.

"This is Raggedy Ann," answered Fido. "She and I are having a lovely
time playing."

You see, Fido really thought Raggedy enjoyed being tossed around and
whirled high up in the air. But of course she didn't. However, the game
didn't last much longer. As Raggedy Ann hit the ground the new puppy dog
caught her dress and ran with her across the bridge, Fido barking close
behind him.

In the center of the bridge, Fido caught up with the new puppy dog and
they had a lively tug-of-war with Raggedy Ann stretched between then. As
they pulled and tugged and flopped Raggedy Ann about, somehow she fell
over the side of the bridge into the water.

The puppy dogs were surprised, and Fido was very sorry indeed, for he
remembered how good Raggedy Ann had been to him and how she had rescued
him from the dog-pound. But the current carried Raggedy Ann right along
and all Fido could do was to run along the bank and bark.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

Now, you would have thought Raggedy Ann would sink, but no, she floated
nicely, for she was stuffed with clean white cotton and the water didn't
soak through very quickly.

After a while, the strange puppy and Fido grew tired of running along
the bank and the strange puppy scampered home over the meadow, with his
tail carried gaily over his back as if he had nothing to be ashamed of.
But Fido walked home very so