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When Bessie, riding upon her white palfrey, came to his dwelling next day,
Claus presented her with the new toy. The little girl's eyes were brighter than
ever as she examined the pretty image, and she loved it at once, and held it
close to her breast, as a mother does to her child.
"
What is it called, Claus?" she asked.
Now Claus knew that Nymphs do not like to be spoken of by mortals, so he
could not tell Bessie it was an image of Necile he had given her. But as it was
a new toy he searched his mind for a new name to call it by, and the first word
he thought of he decided would do very well.
"
"
It is called a dolly, my dear," he said to Bessie.
I shall call the dolly my baby," returned Bessie, kissing it fondly; "and I shall
tend it and care for it just as Nurse cares for me. Thank you very much,
Claus; your gift has made me happier than I have ever been before!"
Then she rode away, hugging the toy in her arms, and Claus, seeing her
delight, thought he would make another dolly, better and more natural than
the first.
He brought more clay from the brook, and remembering that Bessie had called
the dolly her baby he resolved to form this one into a baby's image. That was
no difficult task to the clever workman, and soon the baby dolly was lying on
the board and placed in the sun to dry. Then, with the clay that was left, he
began to make an image of Bessie Blithesome herself.
This was not so easy, for he found he could not make the silken robe of the
lord's daughter out of the common clay. So he called the Fairies to his aid,
and asked them to bring him colored silks with which to make a real dress for
the clay image. The Fairies set off at once on their errand, and before nightfall
they returned with a generous supply of silks and laces and golden threads.
Claus now became impatient to complete his new dolly, and instead of waiting
for the next day's sun he placed the clay image upon his hearth and covered it
over with glowing coals. By morning, when he drew the dolly from the ashes,
it had baked as hard as if it had lain a full day in the hot sun.
Now our Claus became a dressmaker as well as a toymaker. He cut the
lavender silk, and nearly sewed it into a beautiful gown that just fitted the
new dolly. And he put a lace collar around its neck and pink silk shoes on its
feet. The natural color of baked clay is a light gray, but Claus painted the face
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