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diff --git a/old/53663-0.txt b/old/53663-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 670ec87..0000000 --- a/old/53663-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5024 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sweet P's, by Julie Mathilde Lippmann - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Sweet P's - -Author: Julie Mathilde Lippmann - -Illustrator: Ida Waugh - -Release Date: December 4, 2016 [EBook #53663] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SWEET P'S *** - - - - -Produced by MFR and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from -images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - -[Illustration: SHE SAT OBEDIENTLY STILL] - - - - - SWEET P’S - - By - JULIE M. LIPPMANN - - Author of “Miss Wildfire,” “Dorothy Day,” etc. - - ILLUSTRATED BY IDA WAUGH - - PHILADELPHIA - THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY - MCMII - - COPYRIGHT 1902 BY THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY - - Published August 5, 1902 - - - - - _TO MY LITTLE FRIEND - NATALIE WILSON_ - - - - -Contents - - - CHAP. PAGE - - I MISS CISSY’S PLAN 7 - - II “CASH ONE-HUNDRED-AND-FIVE” 21 - - III “THE BEST OF ALL THE GAME” 36 - - IV “SWEET P’S” 51 - - V POLLY’S PLUCK 66 - - VI SISTER’S PARTY 79 - - VII IN THE COUNTRY 94 - - VIII PRISCILLA’S VICTORY 114 - - IX WHAT HAPPENED TO PRISCILLA 129 - - X THE TELEGRAM 146 - - XI WHAT HAPPENED TO POLLY 161 - - XII HOME AGAIN 176 - - - - -_Sweet P’s_ - - - - -CHAPTER I - -MISS CISSY’S PLAN - - -“There now! You’re done!” exclaimed Hannah, the nurse, giving Priscilla -an approving pat and looking her over carefully from head to heels to -see that nothing was amiss. “Now you’ll please to sit in this chair, -like a little lady, and not stir, else you’ll rumple your pretty frock -and then your mamma will be displeased, for she will want you to look -just right before all the company down-stairs. Your grandpapa and -grandmamma, and uncles and aunts, and Cousin Cicely--all the line folks -who have come to take dinner with you and bring you lovely birthday -presents. So up you go!” - -Priscilla suffered herself to be lifted into the big armchair without -a word and then sat obediently still, watching Hannah, as she bustled -about the nursery “tidying up” as she called it. - -Priscilla was a very quiet little girl, with great, solemn brown eyes, -a small, sober mouth and a quantity of soft, bright hair that had to be -brushed so often it made her eyes water just to think of it. - -This was her eighth birthday. Now, when strangers asked her, as they -always did, “how old she was” she could reply “Going on nine,” but she -would still be compelled to give the same old answer to their next -familiar question of, “And have you any brothers and sisters?” for -Priscilla was an only child. - -She sometimes wondered what they meant when they shook their heads -and murmured, “Such a pity! Poor little thing!” for when Theresa, the -parlor-maid, whom, by the way, Priscilla did not like very much, came -up to the nursery and saw all her wonderful toys and the new frocks and -hats and coats that were continually being sent home to her, she always -said sharply and with a curl of the lip: “My! But isn’t she a lucky -child! It must be grand to be such a rich little thing!” For how can -one be “a pity” and “lucky” at the same time? and “a poor little thing” -and a “rich little thing” at once? - -Priscilla did not like to enquire of her mamma or Hannah about it, for -she had once been very sick with a pain in her head, and the doctors -had come, and she was in bed for a long time, and after that she had -been told not to ask questions. And whenever she sat, as she loved -to do, very quietly on the nursery couch, trying to puzzle things out -for herself, Hannah would come and bid her “stop her studyin’” and go -and play with her dolls, explaining that “little girls never would -grow big and strong and beautiful like their Cousin Cicely if they -sat still all the time and bothered their brains about things they -couldn’t understand.” So it was not as hard for Priscilla as it might -have been for some other little girls to “sit still like a lady” in -the big armchair, and she was just beginning to have “a nice time with -her mind” when there was a knock upon the door and James the butler, -announced in his grand, deep voice, “Dinner is served. And your mamma -says as ’ow she wishes you to come down, miss.” - -She waited for Hannah to lift her to the floor, bade her good-bye very -politely and then tripped daintily down the long halls and softly -carpeted staircases to the dining-room, where there was a great stir -and murmur of voices and what seemed to Priscilla a vast crowd of -people. She knew them all well, of course; grandpapa and grandmamma; -Uncle Arthur Hamilton, who was the husband of Aunt Laura; Uncle Robert -and Aunt Louise Duer; dear Cousin Cissy, and her papa and mamma. They -were all very old and familiar friends, but when they were collected -together they seemed strange and “different” and frightened her very -much. Her heart always beat exceedingly fast as she moved about from -one to the other saying, “Yes, aunt” and “No, uncle,” so many times in -succession. When she entered the room now the hum of voices suddenly -stopped and then, the next instant, broke out afresh and louder than -ever. - -“Dear child! Why, I do believe she’s grown!” - -“Bless her heart, so she has!” - -“But she doesn’t grow stout.” - -“Nor rosy.” - -“Come, my pet, and kiss grandpapa!” - -“What a big girl grandmamma has got! Eight years old! Just fancy!” - -“Do let me have her for a moment. I must have a kiss this second.” - -Priscilla heaved a deep sigh under the lace of her frock at which, to -her embarrassment, all the company laughed and dear Cousin Cicely said: - -“She’s bored to death with all our attention and I don’t wonder. It is -a nuisance to have to kiss so many people. There, Priscilla darling, -you shall sit right here, next to Cousin Cissy, and no one shall bother -you any more.” - -Dinner down here in the big dining-room was always a very slow -and tiresome affair in Priscilla’s estimation. She liked her own -nursery-dinner best, which she ate in the middle of the day, with -Hannah sitting by to see that the baked potatoes were well done -and the beef rare enough. This “down-stairs-dinner” to-night was no -less long and wearisome than usual, but at last it was done and then -Priscilla was carried in state to the drawing-room upon the shoulder -of tall Uncle Arthur Hamilton, and at the head of a long procession of -laughing and chattering relations who, she knew, would stand around -in a great, embarrassing circle and watch her as she examined the -beautiful birthday gifts they had brought her. - -And behold! There was a large table in the middle of the room, and -it was covered with a white cloth and piled high with wonderful -things. Dolls that walked and dolls that talked; books and games and -music-boxes. A doll’s kitchen and a doll’s carriage; a little piano -with “really-truly” white and black ivory keys, and all sorts and sizes -of fine silk, and velvet boxes containing gold chains and rings and -pins, with pretty glittering stones. - -Uncle Arthur lifted Priscilla from his shoulder and set her down -upon the floor before the table, where she stood in silence, looking -wistfully at her new treasures, but not quite knowing what to do about -them. - -“See this splendid dolly, Priscilla! She can say ever so many French -words. Don’t you want to hear her?” - -“Listen to this lovely music-box, Priscilla! What pretty tunes it can -play!” - -“Don’t you want me to hang this beautiful chain around your neck, -Priscilla? It will look so pretty on your white dress.” - -Priscilla gazed from one thing to another, as they were thrust before -her and tried to be polite, as Hannah had told her to be, but she -felt dizzy and bewildered and could only stand still, clasping and -unclasping her hands in front of her. - -“Why, I don’t believe she cares for them at all,” said Aunt Louise in a -surprised and disappointed tone. - -“Embarrassment of riches, perhaps,” suggested Uncle Robert, her husband. - -“Here, Priscilla, dear,” broke in Aunt Laura. “See this wonderful new -dolly that can walk! Now, you must certainly play with her. Why, when -I was a little girl I would have been delighted if my uncles and aunts -had given me such splendid things! I would not have stood, as you are -doing, and looked as if I did not care for them.” - -Priscilla obediently took the accomplished dolly from her Aunt Laura’s -hands and held it loosely in her arms, but she did not make any attempt -to “play with her prettily.” Aunt Laura frowned. - -Grandmamma came forward and passed her arm about Priscilla’s waist. -“Our dear little girl ought to be very happy with so many people to -love her,” she said, softly. Somehow her tone, kind as it was, made -Priscilla feel she was being naughty because she was not so happy as -grandmamma thought she ought to be. She would have liked to be obedient -and to please her relations, but if she was not doing so by being -very proper, and saying, “Yes, aunt,” and “No, uncle,” in answer to -their questions, she did not know what else they wanted. It puzzled -and bewildered her, and then the first thing she knew, the dolly had -fallen from her arms to the floor with a crash, where it lay foolishly -kicking its legs and sawing the air with its arms, while she herself -was sobbing big tears over her nice clean dress in a way that she knew -would most dreadfully provoke Hannah. - -In a twinkling she was in her mother’s arms, and there was a great stir -and murmur of voices about her. No one could understand what was the -matter. - -“She must be sick,” observed Aunt Laura. - -“Perhaps something about the doll hurt her--a pin in its clothes -maybe,” suggested Aunt Louise. - -“Doesn’t she like toys?” asked Uncle Robert. - -“We grown-ups frighten her, poor youngster. There are a good many of -us, you know, and you are not all as handsome as I am,” laughed Uncle -Arthur, mischievously, “are they, Priscilla?” - -“Well, she certainly is an odd child not to be perfectly delighted with -so many nice things. When I was a little girl----” reiterated Aunt -Laura. - -But just then Hannah appeared at the door and Priscilla’s mother -murmured in her ear, “Say ‘Good-night all,’ my darling, ‘and thank you -for giving me such a happy birthday.’” - -“Good-night all, and thank you for giving me such a happy birthday,” -whispered Priscilla with a sobbing catch in her voice. - -“Don’t mention it,” responded Uncle Arthur, bowing low. - -And then Hannah led her off to bed. - -But that was by no means the end of her birthday, although she thought -it was. Long after she was safely asleep in her little brass bed the -grown-up people down-stairs were still talking about her. It seemed -so remarkable to them that she had not shown more interest in the -beautiful things they had prepared for her. - -“Priscilla was never a very demonstrative child,” said her mother a -little sadly, as if she were excusing her. - -“But her heart is in the right place, nevertheless,” her father -declared. - -“Oh, it isn’t that,” broke in Aunt Laura. “She is a dear little girl, -of course, but--all I mean is, she doesn’t act as a child ought to -act; as a healthy child ought to act. She ought to be full of spirits, -jumping about and laughing and playing. Now when I was a little -girl----” - -“I don’t think you quite understand Priscilla, dear Aunt Laura,” a -bright young voice interrupted quickly. “She is naturally a quiet, -timid little thing. She would never be boisterous, but you are right -in this, that she doesn’t act as a child of her age might be expected -to act, and the reason is, she is lonely. She has never known other -children. She has never learned to play. Now these presents here are -all very fine in their way, but they do not really interest her, -because she does not know how to use them.” - -“But dear me,” observed Aunt Laura, “why doesn’t somebody teach her? I -wound up the walking-doll for her myself----” - -Miss Cicely smiled. “I do not mean that,” she replied. “You couldn’t -teach her and I couldn’t, because--we’ve forgotten how. The only one -who could teach her would be a little girl of about her own age; a -playmate. Believe me, the best present we could give Priscilla would be -a companion; a flesh-and-blood little girl who could share her pretty -things, and who would teach her how to enjoy them.” - -“Dear me!” exclaimed Aunt Laura. “What a very curious creature you are, -Cicely. Give Priscilla a present of a ‘flesh-and-blood little girl!’ -‘A playmate of about her own age!’ Fancy!” - -“I know you all think I am too young to know anything about bringing up -children,” continued Miss Cissy, “and you all, being older, are very -much wiser than I am. But I remember when I was a little girl----” - -“Stop right there, Cicely,” interrupted Uncle Arthur. “No one in this -family but your Aunt Laura has any right to remember when she was a -little girl.” - -Pretty Cicely pretended to frown at him, but her merry eyes laughed -in spite of themselves, though she went on at once: “I was the only -child in the family then, just as Priscilla is now, and it was a very -lonesome position, I assure you, so I can sympathize with her. I used -to long and long for the chance to romp and play with other children -of my own age, but I was always surrounded by a lot of servants whose -business it was to see that I was very sedate and proper and who were -made to feel that I was altogether too important and elegant a little -personage to be allowed to associate with the rest of the world. So -I saw from afar other children having jolly times and I had to be -contented, myself, with my fine playthings and splendid clothes. They -did not at all content me. I knew then, just as Priscilla does now, -that such things cannot make one happy. Children are like grown-up -people in this: that they are never really healthy or happy until they -share their good things with some one else.” - -“Hear! Hear!” cried Uncle Arthur, clapping his hands approvingly. - -Cicely’s whole face was aglow with earnestness and hope as she -concluded: “There! now, I have had my say and I am sorry it has been -such a long one, but I simply had to speak out, you know.” - -“But think of the chances there are of Priscilla’s catching chicken-pox -and measles and influenza, if she plays with other children,” suggested -Aunt Louise anxiously. - -“Children nowadays are so shamefully ill-behaved. They are regular -little ruffians. Fancy how wretched it would be if Priscilla caught -their horrid habits and became pert and forward and unmannerly,” added -Aunt Laura. - -Cicely nodded brightly. “Yes, of course that is so,” she admitted, “but -on the other hand, fancy how splendid it would be if Priscilla played -with other children and caught happiness and health from them, and -generosity and kindness and sympathy. Good things are catching as well -as bad, don’t you think they are, Aunt Laura?” - -This time Uncle Arthur did not cry “Hear! Hear!” but he came straight -over to where Cicely sat and took her hand in his. - -“Cissy, my dear,” he said, quite seriously, “let me congratulate you. -You are the wisest member of the family, by all odds and,” with a -twinkle in his eye, “for your sake I am glad I married your Aunt Laura. -If Priscilla turns out as well as you have done the Duers will have no -cause to be ashamed of their two representatives--even though they are -‘only girls.’” - -But just here Priscilla’s mother spoke up: - -“I wonder what your plan is, Cissy, dear,” she said. “We are anxious, -of course, to do whatever is for Priscilla’s good and I can see that -she may be lonely, living so entirely with older people, but---- Do you -think a kindergarten----” - -“No, dear Aunt Edith, that is not at all what I mean,” Cicely broke in -quickly. “What I mean is, that Priscilla ought to have a playmate--a -child--to live right here in the house with her; one who would rouse -her up and keep her from growing moody and oversensitive. A little girl -who would share her good things with her and to whom Priscilla would -have to give up and give in once in a while. Each would learn from the -other and I’m sure you would see that Priscilla would improve directly, -in health and in every other way. Please, please, Aunt Edith, try my -plan. I assure you it would work like a charm, if we got the right -child and gave the experiment time.” - -“We will!” - -It was Priscilla’s father who spoke and, of course, his word settled -the matter at once. But now the question arose where was “the right -child” to be found? It came over Cicely with a sudden shock, that -nothing less than a little cherub right out of the sky would suit -all these extremely particular people, for no mere human child could -possibly fulfil all their requirements. - -Aunt Louise would insist upon her never, by any chance, being sick. -Aunt Laura would demand that she always be perfectly quiet and -faultlessly well-behaved. Aunt Edith would wish her to be older than -Priscilla so Priscilla could rely upon her, and grandmamma desired -her to be younger than Priscilla so Priscilla could learn to be -self-reliant: and so it went on. - -“As far as I can see, Cicely,” spoke up Uncle Arthur, teasingly, “this -scheme of yours is first-rate! Quite as good, for instance, as the -well-known recipe for cooking a hare, which begins ‘first catch your -hare.’ In this case it is: first catch your child. It is clearly your -place to produce the prodigy. Now then, my dear, let’s see what sort of -a marvel you can discover. It will have to be a superfine article to -be fit to associate with the great and only Hope (but one, that’s you) -of the Duer family.” - -“I tell you what it is,” suggested Cicely. “Let’s all try to find one. -And the best, by common consent, shall be Priscilla’s playmate. Is it a -bargain?” - -There was a great chorus of “Yesses”; a lot of hand-shaking and -laughing and fun, and very shortly after the company went home, while -up-stairs Priscilla slept peacefully on in her pretty brass bed, never -dreaming of the curious birthday present she was to receive in the -course of the next few days. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -“CASH ONE-HUNDRED-AND-FIVE” - - -When Miss Cicely Duer made up her mind to do a thing, she generally -succeeded in doing it and she had determined to prove that her plan -was a good one. So, first of all, she set to work putting the family -in good humor. “For,” she said to herself, “they are ever so much more -likely to be reasonable if they are in a cheerful frame of mind.” So -she straightway wrote out a number of very elegant invitations bidding -Grandpapa and Grandmamma Duer, Uncle Robert and Aunt Louise Duer, Uncle -Arthur and Aunt Laura Hamilton, Uncle Elliot and Aunt Edith Duer, and -Father and Mother Duer, “to come to Priscilla’s unbirthday party on -Thursday afternoon, February 10th, at three o’clock and to bring with -them, each and every couple, a little girl not over twelve years of -age and not under six. The grandpapa and grandmamma or uncle and aunt -bringing the nicest little girl will receive a prize. R.S.V.P.” - -The invitations were sent out promptly and the answers came in -without delay. Not one member of the family sent a regret: every one -was “Pleased to accept Miss Cicely Duer’s kind invitation to Miss -Priscilla Duer’s unbirthday party,” etc., etc. - -“It is just like the Queen and Alice,” laughed Miss Cicely merrily, but -her face grew sober as she thought of the search she would probably -have before she could get anything like the right sort of little girl -“to set before the king,” for the right sort of little girl doesn’t -grow on every bush and Miss Cicely knew it, and even if it did its -parents would not be likely to want to give it away. - -“I shall not insist on her being pretty, of course, but she mustn’t be -utterly hideous,” the young lady thought. “I don’t want her to be a -goody-goody little prig but I can’t possibly have a young demon. Oh, -dear me! Suppose I cannot find a child at all and have to go to the -party without my share of small girl! How they will poke fun at me! It -would be another case of - - “‘Smarty, Smarty gave a party, - Nobody came but Smarty, Smarty.’” - -Her mind was so full of her mission, that one day while she was -shopping she found herself replying to a salesman before whose counter -she stood, “Yes, please. I want one between six and twelve. Truthful -and not too mischievous,” and she only realized her mistake when he -paused in measuring off the yards of silk she had selected and looked -at her as if he thought she was mildly insane and ought to be carefully -guarded. - -Miss Cicely blushed furiously and tried to hide her embarrassment with -a laugh. The shopman laughed too and Miss Cicely, to explain her absurd -blunder, confided to him that she was really looking for a little -girl between six and twelve years of age who was truthful and not too -mischievous, and did they keep any of the sort in stock? - -The salesman laughed again. - -“Why, yes, madam, we do,” he replied. “Most of them are somewhat older -than you want, to be sure, but we have one, at least right here now, -that, come to think of it, ought to just fill the bill. Here! Cash! -Cash one-hundred-and-five! Cash! Cash!” - -As the salesman said no more Miss Cicely concluded he had merely -replied to her joking question with a joking answer. He made out her -bill-of-sale and placed it with her yards of silk and then again rapped -upon his counter with the blunt end of his lead-pencil, repeating: -“Cash! One-hundred-and five! Here, Cash!” - -Miss Cicely felt vaguely disappointed. Of course she had known that, -even in such a great department store as this, they did not have little -girls on sale, but the shopman’s manner and his reply to her laughing -question had been so serious that, for a flash, she had really thought -he was in earnest when he said he thought they had one that might “just -fill the bill.” - -“It was very clever of him to carry out the joke so completely, any -one would have thought him in earnest; but--well,--Miss Cicely was -disappointed. She had searched and searched and not even the wee-est -sample of a nice little girl had she been able so far to find. And -Thursday was the day after to-morrow! - -“Dear, dear!” she mused, “what in the world shall I do? The only place -I haven’t tried is ‘The Home for Friendless Children’ and I purposely -avoided it because I knew grandmamma and the aunts would fly there the -first thing, and I thought I’d be superior and discover something quite -original. Well, I suppose it serves me right! and my pride ought to go -before a fall. But there’s nothing left but an institution evidently! -Oh, me! I wonder if there would be a presentable little waif at the -Orphan Asylum? Positively I must go there at once and see. How long one -has to wait at these shops! Why doesn’t that Cash come?” - -Miss Cicely grew almost irritable as she thought of her defeat. She -had quite given up the idea of taking the prize at the contest she -herself had arranged, but she could not face the ridicule that she knew -would be heaped upon her by the family if, after all her fine talk, -she failed to “produce” a “specimen” at all. Oh, dear! Why didn’t that -Cash---- - -“Cash! Cash! One hundred-and-five!” called the salesman a third time. - -A very thin, small arm was thrust forward toward the counter from -between Miss Cicely and the crowding shopper next to her and a very -small breathless voice replied: - -“Yes, sir! Here, sir! Cash one-hundred-and-five, sir!” - -The salesman nodded. - -“This is the one I was speaking about, madam,” he said turning to Miss -Cicely and indicating the arm and the voice just beside her. - -Miss Cissy bent her head and looked down. There, at her elbow, almost -crushed flat by the crowd, and breathless with running, stood a little -errand-girl. She could not have been more than ten years old, but her -great anxious eyes and the little grown-up furrow between her brows -made her appear much older. Miss Cissy saw her small hand tremble as -she handed the salesman her basket, and noticed, also in a flash, that -it was a clean hand and that the shabby-sleeve through which it was -thrust, was clean also. Miss Cicely moved to make room for the mite of -a business-woman. The business-woman looked up--and the next moment -Miss Cicely had put an arm about her. - -“So you are Cash one-hundred-and-five?” she inquired, kindly drawing -her to her side. - -The child nodded, murmuring, “Yes’m,” and shoved her basket toward -the salesman who pretended to busy himself putting the silk and -bill-of-sale into it. - -“And how old are you, I wonder?” pursued Miss Cissy. - -“Ten, ’m,” answered Cash, feeling worried at these unbusinesslike -interruptions, but trying not to let the fine lady see it. - -“And your name is----?” - -“Ca--I mean Polly--Polly Carter please, ’m.” - -“Polly is one of our best cash-girls, madam,” put in the salesman -quietly. “I don’t know what we’d do without Polly. She’s so quick and -ready, we all try to get her to carry to the desk for us, and that’s -why she didn’t come at my first call. She wasn’t loitering. She was -just rushed with business. That’s what comes of being reliable and -popular. Polly can always be trusted and she’s never cross.” - -“Why, that is a royal recommendation!” said Miss Cissy approvingly. -“Now, I wonder how it happens that Polly is a cash-girl? Hasn’t she -anybody to take care of her? No father or mother?” - -[Illustration: MISS CICELY HAD HER ARM AROUND HER] - -“They’re dead, ’m,” answered Polly promptly. “I have a big sister and -she used to take care of me and send me to school. She worked here. She -was behind a counter. And she did needlework besides, oh, beautiful -needlework! but she got hurted last winter run over by a truck, and -both her legs were under the wheels and--so now--I take care of her, -and the s’ciety lets me ’cause I study when I’m through here, and -sister, she teaches me and I’m never sick and it’s nec’ary, ’cause -sister can’t do anything but her needlework now.” - -Miss Cissy’s arm tightened about the waist of the little bread-winner. - -“Where does your big sister live?” she asked quietly. - -Polly gave the down-town east-side street and number and then reached -out for her basket. She felt that she could not spare any more time -to her personal affairs in business hours, even for such an elegant -customer as this. - -“Well, Polly, I’m very glad to have met you,” said Miss Cicely, “and I -hope we shall see each other again. Here is a bright, new fifty-cent -piece for you. Won’t you take it, please, and buy yourself something -with it--whatever you like best.” - -It gave Miss Cissy a thrill to see Polly’s face as she took the bit of -shining silver; all in a flash it changed from the face of a little -careworn woman to that of a dimpled child. - -“I’ll get sister a book,” she cried happily. “I thank you ever so much!” - -“Why, she’s actually pretty,” thought Miss Cissy and she pictured to -herself Cash one-hundred-and-five clad in a neat white frock, with hair -cut square round her neck and tied with crisp ribbon-bows over her -temples. “She’ll do. Most certainly she’ll do. Now, if I can only get -her!” she thought. - -She was so entertained by her visions of the imagined Polly that it did -not seem a second before the actual one had returned with her bundle -and change. Miss Cissy took them from the salesman and, with a twinkle -in her eyes, thanked him for helping her to find just the article she -wanted. Then she hurried out into the street where her carriage was -awaiting her. - -It was a long, rough ride over the uneven stones of the down-town -streets, but Miss Cissy did not care for little inconveniences. She -was too full of hope to mind the jolts and jars that made the coachman -grind his teeth. She readily found the tenement in which “big sister” -lived and she had no trouble in finding “big sister” herself. The big -sister who, by the way, was not, as it happened, big at all, but quite -little, in fact, heard Miss Cissy out very patiently. She seemed -used to listening to a great deal of talk and to seeing a great many -strange, fine ladies, and to not allowing herself to be bewildered by -their promises or them. She was extremely quiet and gave no sign of -either pleasure or surprise as the splendid plans for Polly’s welfare -were unfolded to her. How was she to know that this fine lady was in -earnest and would prove as good as her word? - -When Miss Cissy had quite finished she said slowly: - -“It is very kind of you to offer to help us. It would be a grand thing -for me, of course, to go to a hospital and be treated right, and I -think your little cousin would like Polly, but--it would be very bad -for Polly if, after she had had a taste of easy living, she’d have -to go back to the cash-running again and--this,” pointing to the -poor room. “I don’t think I’d better risk it for her, miss. Polly -is a cheerful little soul, but you can’t tell, it might make her -discontented later.” - -But Miss Cicely was not one to be easily discouraged. She reassured and -she explained, she argued and she urged. - -At last big sister spoke. - -“I’m bound to tell you this, miss,” she said anxiously. “You say your -little cousin doesn’t know how to play--well, by the same token, -neither does Polly, I’m afraid. Polly’s always been, as you might say, -old for her age, and the last year she’s done nothing but work and wait -on me. I’m afraid she’s forgotten how to frolic as children do--ought, -I mean. The ‘little mothers,’ as they call them down here, haven’t much -time for fun. Not but that she couldn’t learn, you know. And it all -might come back to her, for she used to be as playful as a kitten, and -there’s lots of life in her yet, poor lamb! But the cash-running has -taken it out of her a lot. It might not be a good thing to put a child -that has seen so much worry, with your little cousin that hasn’t seen -any.” - -“I know it--I have thought of that--” interrupted Miss Cissy -eagerly,--“but children don’t take things to heart as we older ones are -apt to do. I mean they don’t brood over their ills, and I know that -after Polly gets rested she’ll forget her worries and be as gay as a -lark. I saw it in her face when I gave her a bit of money. She changed, -all in a twinkling, and was as plump and jolly as any child need be. -Do let her come! I know she’ll be the one chosen for the place and -think what it will mean if you can get proper care and treatment. It -is possible you might really be cured. Think what it would mean to be -really cured!” - -Big sister’s eyes filled with tears. “Don’t speak of that, please,” -she said hurriedly. “I am trying not to think of it. If I let you have -Polly it won’t be because of what I’d get by it, I want you to believe -that. It will be for the good that will come to the child herself. But -I can’t answer you now anyway. I must think it over. And I must find -out if Polly would be willing. Of course I would not tell her just how -the case stands, for I don’t want her to know she will be on trial. -It would make her ‘show off’ maybe, and then, too, I think Polly’s a -dear, but I know there are many children much prettier and more taking -than she is. It’s more likely than not that she wouldn’t get the place -at all, and then, if she knew, she would be disappointed. I’ll let you -know--say, Thursday morning. Will that do? That will give me to-day and -to-morrow to consider. I don’t want to do anything hasty that, later, -I’d be sorry for.” - -“Couldn’t you possibly make it to-morrow?” pleaded Miss Cissy -earnestly. “I’ll send a messenger down to you to-morrow. I want -time too--I want time to get a few things ready before Thursday -and--and--please do!” - -Big sister thought it over for a moment. Then she nodded her head -assentingly. - -“All right, I will, miss, I’ll let you know to-morrow,” she said. - -So it was settled and Miss Cicely drove away, if not quite in triumph, -at least having gained a partial victory. She knew there would be no -difficulty in getting Polly’s dismissal from the store. The firm would -be glad to oblige so valuable a customer as Miss Duer, and she “felt -it in her bones,” as she said to herself, that she would receive a -satisfactory word next day from big sister. And, sure enough, she did. -Early Wednesday forenoon her messenger brought back the intelligence -that big sister was willing, and so was Polly, and that if Miss Cicely -could arrange it with the store it would be all right. - -How Miss Cissy did fly around after that! She astonished the -superintendent at the store by flashing in upon him, with a demand for -Cash one-hundred-and-five, and flashing out again with his consent to -take her. Then she astonished Polly by popping her up-stairs into the -“Misses’ Furnishing Department” and having her fitted out from head to -heels in new clothes. Shiny black shoes and spotless white stockings; -a lot of neat underclothes with trimmings at the edges, such as Polly -had never even dreamed of before; a “sweet” white frock; a warm outer -coat; a big felt hat with ribbons on it, and, last of all, and wonder -of wonders! gloves and handkerchiefs and ribbons for her hair! Then off -flew Miss Cissy to the hospital to arrange matters for big sister. Then -back home again through the evening darkness and just in time to dress -for dinner. She had not stopped to think how tired she was, and she -did not now, but she was glad when she was at last able to go to her -own room and to bed. It had been a long, and busy day. - -The next morning she waked with the feeling that great things were to -be accomplished, and before she was fairly dressed there was a knock -upon her door, and on the threshold stood Polly with the maid who -had gone down-town to bring her up. It seemed to Miss Cissy almost -like playing dolls again to be washing and dressing this little girl; -cutting her hair in a straight line around her neck, tying it with -two bits of rosy ribbon over her temples, and slipping on her pretty -underclothes and dainty frock. - -The anxious look had faded from Polly’s eyes and the anxious furrows -had disappeared from between her brows when, at length, she stood -before Miss Cicely’s cheval-glass all “booted and spurred and fit -for the fight” as her hostess merrily sang. They had a cozy luncheon -up-stairs--just Miss Cissy and Polly together--at which Polly was so -excited she could hardly eat. It seemed as if it would never be three -o’clock and time to go to the party, but at last it was time and then -off they rolled in, what seemed to Polly, the most splendid carriage -in the world; just exactly as if she were Cinderella herself and Miss -Cissy the Fairy-Godmother. - -By this time Polly knew about Priscilla, of course, but she did not -know about the other children who, like herself, were to be brought -to Priscilla’s home, the best to be chosen for Priscilla’s playmate. -She just thought she was going to a party and to make a long visit -afterwards, for Miss Cicely had decided that if Polly were not voted -the best, and another child was selected in her stead she herself would -keep the little girl for a while, at least, and in the meantime big -sister should be sent to a hospital where she would receive the best of -treatment and the kindest of care. - -So, when the carriage came to a halt before the great house in which -Priscilla lived, Polly’s little heart beat quick with pleasure and -excitement. To go to a real party! In brand-new clothes! Why it was -just too good to be true! Miss Cicely looked into the bright little -face and sparkling eyes and was glad that Polly did not know the real -state of the case--that, in fact, her present and, maybe her future, -was to depend on the way she behaved at Priscilla’s “unbirthday party.” -It might have sobered her happy heart had she known it, for Polly, -young as she was, had felt responsibility before, and would have -realized what a heavy one lay upon her now. But she did not know and -Miss Cicely did not give her the least little bit of a hint. - -“I want her to be quite herself--quite natural,” she thought. “That -will be the only way to decide the stuff she’s made of, and whether -she is really the best or not.” - -So Polly and Miss Cissy went hand-in-hand up the broad flight of steps, -from the street. A big door was mysteriously opened as soon as they -reached the top, and then, as it closed behind them, Polly heard a loud -hum of voices, saw a soft flood of light and knew she was really at the -party. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -“THE BEST OF ALL THE GAME” - - -Miss Cicely herself led Polly up-stairs and into a splendid room, where -with her own hands, she unfastened the little girl’s coat and slipped -off her hat and gloves. There was a fine young woman present who seemed -to Polly to have manners which were ever so much prouder and haughtier -than Miss Cissy’s and whose jaunty cap sat like a stiff crown upon her -head, while her embroidered apron and white collar and cuffs were the -crispest Polly had ever seen, and this dignified personage loftily -offered to assist Miss Cicely, but was refused. - -“No, thank you, Theresa, I prefer to do it myself,” Polly’s friend -replied easily at once, as she smoothed out the wrinkles in Polly’s -frock and plucked at the loops of her ribbon-bows. “By the way, are -they all here, I wonder?” - -“Yes, miss,” Theresa answered. “You’re the last, miss.” - -“Then we must hurry,” said Miss Cissy, and her own wraps were cast -aside in no time. - -She and Polly went down-stairs as they had come up, hand-in-hand. At -the foot Miss Cissy stopped long enough to give her little companion -one last, careful look and then led her toward the room where all the -talking was. As they entered it Polly heard a very tall gentleman say: - -“Oho! Here she comes at last! We thought she had deserted. We had been -led to believe that it was customary for a hostess to be present to -receive her guests, but don’t let a little thing like that trouble you, -Cicely. You usually manage to reverse the natural order of things and -as your guests are here to receive you, it’s all right.” - -Miss Cicely laughed and blushed and then the very tall gentleman -suddenly stood extremely erect by the doorway and announced in a loud, -solemn voice: - -“Miss Duer and--and----” - -“Polly Carter,” prompted Miss Cissy. - -“And Miss Polly Carter!” echoed the gentleman. - -If Polly had been used to children’s parties, this one would have -seemed extremely curious to her, for there appeared to be so few -children and so many grown-up people. By looking very carefully, one -could have discovered five little girls, each of whom was tucked away -somewhere behind or beside one of the couples of ladies and gentlemen -present. None of the children seemed very glad to be there, and Polly, -who herself made the sixth, was beginning to feel dimly disappointed, -when Miss Cicely spoke up in her bright, jolly fashion: - -“Now, dear people,” she said, “the first thing to do is to introduce -these little girls to one another. Grandfather and Grandmother Duer, -will you kindly let me present my little guest to yours? This is Polly -Carter.” - -A youthful-looking, white-haired old lady and gentleman arose solemnly -from the far end of the long room, and came forward in a very stately -manner, holding a flaxen-braided young person by the hand. - -“This is Miss Katie Schorr,” announced Grandmamma Duer, in a voice -that trembled a little (though that could hardly have been from -age, for her eyes and skin were as young and soft as Polly’s own). -“The Superintendent of our Mission Sunday-school was kind enough to -introduce us to Miss Katie Schorr. He said she was a good, obedient -child, and we believe it.” - -Miss Cicely stooped and shook Miss Schorr by the hand in her own -cordial way. - -“How do you do, Katie dear,” she said. “I’m glad to see you here. I -hope you will have a good time. This is Polly Carter. Won’t you two -please stand beside me while I receive the other little friends? -There, that’s right! Now, Uncle Arthur and Aunt Laura Hamilton, your -guest, please.” - -The very tall gentleman, Polly had noticed before, sprang up and -gallantly assisted a handsome lady from her chair, offering her his -arm with a flourish. She refused the arm at once, saying, “Nonsense, -Arthur! don’t be absurd!” which Polly thought rather unkind of her. The -little girl they brought forward was so pretty that it was delightful -to look at her. Her name was pretty, too. Angeline Montague! And she -had elegant manners, for when she was introduced to Miss Cissy she -curtseyed beautifully, with her right hand upon her heart--or, rather, -on the spot where she supposed her heart was. - -As she stepped beside Polly and Katie, Polly heard “Aunt Laura” say to -Miss Cicely in an undertone: - -“Most excellent connections, I assure you. Her mother does my fine -sewing. Theresa, up-stairs, recommended her to me. She says they used -to have means. But the father--well, he’s in Canada or somewhere. Very -pitiful!” - -Polly wondered, while “Uncle Robert and Aunt Louise” were bringing up -their little guest, why it was pitiful that Angeline’s father was in -Canada. She had supposed, from what the “geografy” said about Canada, -that it was a real nice place. - -“‘One, two, three little Indians!’” hummed Uncle Arthur, as Miss -Cicely, with a kind hand on Angeline’s shoulder, placed her next to -Polly and Katie. “Now then, next customer!” - -“Miss Rosy Hartigan!” announced Uncle Robert, handing forward a very, -very shy little girl. - -“Her father is an industrious plumber,” explained Aunt Louise in Miss -Cissy’s ear. “But his wife died last fall, and the children have no one -to look out for them while he is at work.” - -Poor Rosy was frightfully alarmed. She set up a violent crying at once, -shedding the biggest tears Polly had ever seen, and it took all Miss -Cissy’s tact to comfort her. - -In the meantime a lady and gentleman called “Aunt Edith” and “Uncle -Elliot,” had brought up another little girl whose hair was as black as -Polly’s boots, and whose eyes almost snapped with mischief. - -“This is Miss Elsie Blair, and she lives at our beautiful Home for -Friend--for Children,” explained Aunt Edith. “Mrs. McAdams, the matron, -says Elsie is an excellent child.” - -“Now, father and mother,” said Miss Cicely, clasping Rosy Hartigan with -one hand, and patting the excellent Elsie into line with the other. - -“Father” and “Mother,” it appeared, had brought Miss Sarah Findlay, who -was twelve, and tall for her age. She was very thin, with not much hair -to speak of, and no eyebrows at all. Miss Sarah came from the country -and her father was a minister. “She had twelve brothers and sisters,” -she confided to Polly. - -“Now, I think we have all our party collected together,” said Miss -Cissy cheerfully. “Suppose we play London Bridge. Come, Polly and Katie -and Angeline! Come, Elsie and Sarah and Rosy! Join hands! Now sing! -‘London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down!’” - -No one but Miss Cicely could possibly have managed to make those six -little girls feel so at home and so well-acquainted with one another -in so short a time. By the end of “London Bridge” they felt as if they -had been friends all their lives. Then followed “Oats, peas, beans and -barley grows,” and “Drop the handkerchief,” and in all the excitement -Polly had no time to wonder where Priscilla was and why she did not -come to her own party. After a while Miss Cissy sat down at the piano -and played a gay march and then the company was invited out to supper. - -Polly and Sarah walked together; Katie Schorr and Angeline Montague -made a second couple and Rosy Hartigan and Elsie Blair brought up the -rear. - -“It’s going off surprisingly well,” remarked Aunt Laura, as the -procession filed out into the hall. “They all seem decent children, but -of the lot I prefer Angeline Montague. She has such superior manners. -After her I should select Cicely’s Polly What’s-her-name.” - -“Don’t whistle before you are out of the woods, my dear,” cautioned -Uncle Arthur. “The party isn’t over yet.” - -In the dining-room the children were reveling in good things to eat. -Dainty chicken sandwiches; salad that made one’s mouth water; jelly and -cake and candied fruit; bonbons and ice cream, and chocolate served in -tall, slender cups, with whipped cream on top, and wee silver spoons -in the saucers--spoons that looked as if they were intended for the -daintiest of dolls. - -“Gorry!” whispered Katie Schorr to Angeline Montague, “isn’t this fine?” - -Uncle Arthur, standing in the doorway behind a heavy hanging, took a -note-book out of his pocket and jotted something down in it. - -At first there was not much chatter. The children were too busy for -that, but by and by their tongues were loosened and then, how they did -talk! - -Rosy Hartigan became so brave that she actually consented to spell -her name as the teacher in her school had taught her to do: “R-o, Ro, -s-y, sy, Rosy; H-a-r, Har; syHar; RosyHar; T-i, ti; Harti; syHarti; -RosyHarti; G-a-n, Gan; tigan; Hartigan; syHartigan; Rosy Hartigan!” At -which Miss Cissy clapped her hands and cried: “Good!” but Elsie Blair -whispered “Smarty!” in Rosy’s left ear. - -Sarah Findlay, fired by Rosy’s success, said her brothers “Knew -lots and lots of tricks. They had taught her to make the awfullest -cross-eyed face in the world and she’d do it for them if they wanted -her to. You just had to pull your mouth down at the corners with your -two fingers, like this and then look cross eyed, like this and then----” - -Uncle Arthur took out his note-book again and wrote down something in -it, though no one saw him do it. - -Suddenly Rosy Hartigan gave a piercing shriek and Miss Cissy hurried -to her in distress, asking what the trouble was. It seemed that -Rosy’s left arm had been most terribly pinched, so that it “hurt like -everything,” but when Elsie Blair, who sat on that side of Rosy, was -asked if she had pinched her arm, she protested “No, she hadn’t, and if -Rosy went and said she had, Rosy was nothing but an old story----” - -But Miss Cicely’s gentle hand over her lips smothered the rest of the -word and, Rosy being comforted, supper went merrily on. At last, when -nobody could possibly eat another mouthful, Miss Cissy said they would -all go back into the drawing-room and have more games. So back they -went and played “Hunt the slipper” and “A tisket, a tasket” and then a -big bag was brought in and they all “grabbed” for presents. After that -it was time to go home, but Uncle Arthur insisted on one more game and -chose “Forfeits,” which was “the loveliest fun” in the world, for when -Miss Cicely held the forfeits over his head he invented the funniest -things you ever heard of that the owner must do to redeem them. - -Katie Schorr was to take what Miss Cissy gave her without moving a -muscle of her face or saying a word, and how could any little girl be -expected to succeed in doing such an impossible thing as that when what -Miss Cissy gave her was a perfectly darling doll all dressed in blue, -which she was to keep for her very own? Why, Katie’s mouth danced right -up at the corners and she said “O goody!” before she knew it. - -Rosy Hartigan had to spell her name before all the grand ladies and -gentlemen (which almost frightened her out of her wits) but she did it -and then she got a doll just like Katie’s, only hers was dressed in -pink. - -Next, Elsie Blair had to “guess” who had pinched Rosy during supper and -if she guessed wrong she was to have no doll. So Elsie, very red and -shamefaced, guessed right immediately; she “guessed she did it herself” -and then she received a doll dressed in red. - -Sarah Findlay won her prize by “crossing her heart and promising sure -and true, black and blue,” she’d never make her cross-eyed face any -more, for Uncle Arthur had known a little girl once who had crossed her -eyes just so, in fun, and when she tried she couldn’t get them straight -again. - -Polly had to tell them all what she wanted most in the whole world, but -if Uncle Arthur thought it would be difficult for her to decide, he was -mistaken. It did not take her an instant to say: “To have sister get -well.” Then she got her doll--and a pat on the head from Uncle Arthur, -as well. - -But the most curious penalty of all came last. Angeline Montague was to -give Miss Cicely what she had in her pocket and no one need ask what it -was, for they should never know. So Angeline, very pale and trembling, -and after fumbling in her pocket for an instant brought out something -which she handed Miss Cissy behind the folds of her dress. Miss Cissy -took it with a look so sad and grieved that Polly could have cried to -see her. She bent down and whispered a secret in Angeline’s ear and -then gave her her doll. That ended the game. They all joined in singing -“America” and then the party was over. - -While they were up-stairs getting ready to go home the grown-up people -were very busy in the drawing-room below. Grandpapa and Grandmamma -Duer were sorry Miss Katie Schorr had said, “Gorry!” as, of course, -Priscilla’s playmate must be a little lady and ladies do not say -“Gorry,” or words like that. Uncle Robert and Aunt Louise thought -Rosy Hartigan was a good little girl, but something of a cry-baby and -a telltale. Uncle Elliot and Aunt Edith said they could not dream of -having Priscilla associate with a child like Elsie Blair who did not -tell the truth until she was compelled. Miss Cicely’s father and mother -felt that Sarah Findlay’s brothers had taught her more tricks than were -necessary to complete Priscilla’s education, so the choice finally lay -between Polly Carter and Angeline Montague. - -Aunt Laura liked Polly well enough and agreed with the rest that she -seemed an unaffected, honest little creature, but it was easy to see -that Angeline’s pretty face and beautiful manners had bewitched her -as well as the other ladies and that if Miss Cissy had no objection -Angeline would be chosen for the place of honor. Miss Cissy was in -the dressing-room overseeing the putting on of the children’s hats -and wraps and saying good-bye to them before they were taken home. -Uncle Arthur said it would be unfair not to wait for her to come down -before finally deciding on Angeline. She had been the one to suggest a -playmate for Priscilla and he thought she had the best right, next to -Uncle Elliot and Aunt Edith, Priscilla’s father and mother, to decide -who the playmate should be. Aunt Laura was willing, of course to wait -for Cicely, but the more she thought of it the better she was pleased -with the idea of Angeline for Priscilla’s companion. - -Presently Miss Cissy came down. She listened patiently to everything -every one had to say about the children, and she gave particular -attention to Aunt Laura’s claim for Angeline, looking so sober -meanwhile that her relations were quite sorry for her, for though she -did not say a word in Polly’s favor, they gathered that she liked -the little girl and was disappointed because Angeline had proved -first-choice. - -“Well, then,” concluded Aunt Laura briskly, “I suppose we can call -it settled that Angeline is to be the one. I’m a pretty good judge -of children and from the first I took to her. Your little Polly -What’s-her-name is all right, Cicely. I haven’t a word to say against -her and if Angeline were not there I should certainly choose her, but, -under the circumstances, I think there can be no doubt that Angeline is -the child for the place.” - -Miss Cissy said nothing. For a moment there was silence. Then Uncle -Arthur inquired politely: - -“Have any of you ever heard it suggested that appearances are sometimes -supposed to be deceitful?” - -They all had heard it. - -Uncle Arthur nodded. “Very well. Now, have any of you ever heard it -mentioned that all is not gold that glitters?” - -Aunt Laura broke in with a “Don’t be absurd, Arthur,” but her husband -continued without noticing the interruption, “Or that handsome is as -handsome does? Good! I see you have. Now, it appears there is still -another proverb for you to learn which evidently Laura’s young friend, -Miss Angeline, believes to be true and which is that a broken chocolate -cup in the pocket is worth two in the saucer.” - -Uncle Arthur paused. In a flash there broke out a quick chorus of -questions. - -“Arthur, what do you mean?” from Aunt Laura. - -“Won’t you please explain?” from Uncle Elliot. - -And “Is it a joke?” “What is the point?” and “How do you know?” from -the rest. - -Uncle Arthur waited a moment until the flurry was past. Then he said -in a very serious voice and one that was not at all trifling: “I mean, -simply, that Miss Angeline Montague is very pretty to look at and that -her manners are charming and that it is the greatest of pities that she -is not so nice a little girl as she appears to be, but the truth is--I -hate to say it--but the truth is----” - -“Well, what? Do hurry, please!” urged Aunt Laura. - -Miss Cissy drew something out of her handkerchief, and held it in her -outstretched palm for them all to see. It was one of Aunt Edith’s -pretty chocolate cups broken into fragments. - -“Poor little Angeline did it,” she explained sadly. “No one but Uncle -Arthur saw the accident and there would have been no great harm done if -Angeline had not turned coward and tried to place the blame on some one -else. Uncle Arthur watched her closely and saw her slip Polly’s cup off -its saucer and put it upon her own. You see, her idea was to have the -blame laid on Polly if the accident were discovered and her plan would -have succeeded if it had not been for Uncle Arthur, for James missed -the cup at once and came and told me that it was gone from the saucer -of the little girl I had brought. I was glad to be able to say she was -not responsible for it and that Mr. Hamilton knew who was.” - -Tears were in Miss Cissy’s eyes as she finished, and Uncle Arthur -looked so grieved that Aunt Laura rose and went to him to give his arm -a comforting pat. She knew that honorable people never “tell on” other -people unless they must and when they have to, it hurts them sadly, so -she felt very sorry for Uncle Arthur and for Miss Cicely too, and last -and most of all, for Angeline. - -So that was how it came about that when the choice of Priscilla’s -playmate was put to vote Polly was “unanimously elected.” - - “The first’s the worst, - The second’s the same; - The last the best - Of all the game.” - -Miss Cissy hummed happily to herself as she ran up-stairs to hug and -kiss Cash one-hundred-and-five and explain to her that sister had given -her permission to make Priscilla a long, long visit and that she was to -begin it right off. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -“SWEET P’S” - - -Up-stairs in the nursery the lamps were lit and a bright fire glowed -on the hearth. Hannah was bustling about in her own busy fashion -and Priscilla lay cuddled up in the big sleepy-hollow chair with a -picture-book in her lap. It was all very quiet and cozy and Little Boy -Blue and Mary, Mary Quite Contrary and the rest of the dear Mother -Goose people who looked out from their places in the dainty wall-paper, -seemed to nod and wink at Priscilla as if they were glad it was their -good fortune to be here. - -The clock on the mantel-shelf chimed six. - -“I wonder what’s keeping James with your supper,” murmured Hannah -comfortably. “He’s generally prompt at the stroke o’ six but -to-night---- Oh, there he is now!” - -Priscilla did not look up from her book as the door-knob turned. She -was not hungry and the prospect of James carrying a tray spread with -nice things to eat was too familiar to interest her. Poor little -Priscilla did not know it, but she was really pining for a change. - -The door opened, swung wide upon its hinges and there, on the -threshold, stood Miss Cissy clasping a little stranger-girl by the -hand. Hannah gave a quick exclamation and Priscilla raised her eyes. -The next moment she was in Miss Cissy’s arms. - -The little stranger-girl stood by and smiled, while Simple Simon and -Miss Muffet, in the wall-paper, quite grinned at each other with -satisfaction. It seemed to Polly as if she had stepped right into the -middle of a fairy-tale, for surely never was there so wonderful a place -as this outside of fairy-land, nor a little princess who was half so -fine and delicate. - -Miss Cissy beckoned her to come forward saying gaily: - -“See, Priscilla, I have brought you a visitor. This is Polly Carter. -Won’t you shake hands with her, dear?” - -Priscilla shyly put out a frail, soft little hand which Polly grasped -in her thin, little chapped one. - -“Polly is going to stay all night,” went on Miss Cicely, “and if she -has a good time and enjoys herself, and if you get on nicely and like -each other, she won’t go home for a while. They will put up a bed -for her in your room, right across the way from yours and you can -chatter to each other in the morning and be as jolly as you like. -Just think what fun it’s going to be, Priscilla! Why, you can have -breakfast-parties and dinner-parties and tea-parties together every -day at your little table, all by yourselves, and you can show Polly -your toys and she can show you new ways of playing with them, and you -can keep house and visit and have--oh! lots of good times! And perhaps, -if I’m very good, you’ll let me come and join in the sport sometimes, -for I think I like your kind of play better than the sort they have -down-stairs--I mean, the grown-up people. I wouldn’t tell anybody but -you, of course, but it’s sometimes a little--just a little dull down -there. But up here! dear me! why there’s no end to the sport you can -have up here, if you want to. I don’t believe Polly ever saw anything -so funny in all her life as your walking-doll was the other night, -Priscilla, when you dropped her on the floor and she lay there on her -back, sawing the air with her arms, and kicking.” - -Priscilla smiled demurely and drew herself from Miss Cissy’s arm. “I’ll -get her now,” she volunteered in a timid whisper. “If you wind her up -and put her on the floor she’ll do it again.” - -How Polly did laugh to see the fine French lady in such an awkward -predicament and seeming to be so indignant about it! Her merry giggle -was so irresistible that Priscilla, after a moment, joined in with a -soft little chuckle on her own account. Then a music-box was brought -out and the Parisian Mademoiselle was set upon her feet and made to -walk to its tune. It appeared she could not keep step at all, though at -first she flew about very fast trying to do so, but by and by she got -discouraged and walked slower and slower, until, at last, she collapsed -entirely and fell on the floor with a final wriggle of despair, as -if she gave it up as a bad job. Polly’s giggle broke into a laughing -shout at this and James, coming in with a huge tray in his arms, almost -stumbled over in amazement at the unaccustomed sight and sound of such -merriment in the usually quiet nursery. - -Priscilla discovered that supper was a very different affair when one -did not have to sit and eat it alone. When Hannah served her and Polly -to the bread and butter they bit into their slices and compared the -impressions made by their teeth. Polly’s arch was wide and shallow with -a little uneven place in the centre where one of her front teeth lapped -a trifle, and Priscilla’s was narrower but quite exact all around. By -biting carefully on one side and another of this first shape they found -they could make different figures, new patterns being disclosed by each -nibble, a fact which was so amusing that though Priscilla had not been -hungry and Polly had thought she had had as much as she could possibly -eat down-stairs, they managed to dispose of several slices before they -were aware. Hannah shook her head at such “bad table-manners” but -Miss Cissy would not have the children disturbed “just for once.” They -sipped their creamy milk and ate their fruit and, what she said she -used to call “good-for-you pudding” when she was a little girl, with as -much relish as if neither of them had tasted a mouthful since morning, -and by the end of the meal Polly had told Priscilla about sister and -Priscilla had confided to Polly that she did not like to have her hair -combed “’cause it pulled so and hurt most aw’fly.” - -“That’s ’cause it’s so fine and curly,” explained Polly. “Mine is -straight and the tangles come out easy, but I’d rather have yours if -I were you. Yours looks like fine silk--the kind ladies buy at the -embroidery counter to do fancy-work with. Floss, that’s what they call -it. Your hair is just like floss.” - -Since Polly appeared to think it was nice to have hair like floss -Priscilla felt it might be easier to bear the pulling of the comb. At -any rate she made up her mind, then and there, that she would be “as -brave as a soldier” after that and show Polly how she could bear pain -without a whimper. - -Miss Cicely stayed until the supper-table was cleared and the two Sweet -P’s, as she called them, were contentedly cutting out paper dolls in -the light of the lamp, and then she slipped quietly away down-stairs -to join the rest of the family, who were going in to dinner. - -Polly passed the evening in a sort of happy dream of delight. The -warmth of the cheerful fire, its soft light and the pleasant coziness -of the room, were so different from anything she had ever known before -that she felt she would certainly wake up, in a minute or so and find -it all vanished and herself back in the little room down-town, where -the kerosene lamp gave out a sickening odor, and the fire in the stove -couldn’t be kept burning after supper was prepared because coal was so -high this winter. The wind came in through the chinks of the windows -and door in chilling gusts, and even when one cuddled up in bed under -the blankets and snuggled next to sister, one hardly got warmed through -before morning. And then, to have to get up before it was light, and -go shivering about in the dark, groping around blind with sleep, and -have to hurry out into the icy, wintry streets to a weary day of -cash-running at the store! She was so full of her own thoughts that her -scissors had almost snipped the head off the splendid paper lady she -was cutting out before she knew it, and Priscilla seeing the narrow -escape, gave a little low exclamation of dismay. - -“I guess you’re pretty tired, aren’t you?” Hannah asked kindly, coming -and standing beside her chair and looking down at her benevolently. -Polly nodded, but could not answer in words. The memory of the cold, -bare little down-town room had awakened another memory: the memory of -sister, and all at once her heart sickened of the warmth and comfort -and light here and just turned hungrily to the poorer place where -sister was, in longing to go back. - -“Come, you two little ladies, it’s time for bed,” cried Hannah briskly. -“Now, which one can get her clothes off first? I warrant I know.” - -Poor little Priscilla tugged and wrenched in vain; she was not -accustomed to do for herself, and Polly stood undressed and clad in -her “nightie” before she even had her slippers untied. At sight of her -disappointed little face Hannah caught her up in her arms and gave her -a good hug, and the next moment all her buttons were unfastened as -if by magic. It was an old story to Priscilla to sit before the fire -wrapped in her downy bath-robe and have her hair brushed and braided -for the night, while Hannah told her stories of kings and queens or -repeated the exciting history of “The Little Schmall Rid Hin.” But to -Polly it was a new and curious experience which made her forget for the -moment the strange, sickening ache in her heart. She thrust her feet -out toward the pleasant fire-glow and laughed approvingly when the fox, -having planned to “git the little schmall rid hin” and carry her home -in a bag to be “biled and ate up, shure, by his ould marm and he” was -cleverly fooled by the wonderful biddy and, with his wicked mother, -was killed outright when “the pot o’ boilin’ wather came over thim, -kersplash, - - “And scalted thim both to death - So they couldn’t brathe no more, - An’ the little schmall rid hin lived safe - Just where she lived before.” - -Priscilla’s head was fairly nodding by the time prayers were said and -Hannah ready to carry her off to bed and tuck her in. But long after -she was breathing softly on her pillow, Polly lay awake and thought and -thought and thought of sister in her loneliness, at home in the cold -and dark, until, at length, she could bear it no longer and the tears -came in a flood, quite drenching the fine, embroidered handkerchief -Miss Cissy had given her and of whose new crispness she had been so -proud. - -In a moment Hannah was at her side. - -“What is it, honey? Tell Hannah,” she urged very tenderly, as she knelt -down and slid her arm under Polly’s head. Then it all came out: about -the dreadful ache and longing in her heart and the choking in her -throat. - -“Why, bless you, you’re homesick and so you are,” explained Priscilla’s -nurse encouragingly. “And no wonder at all--not the least in the -world. Lots of folks are homesick and they get over it in no time at -all, if they just make up their minds to it. Why, think of me! I came -over,--away from my father and mother, across the wide sea, when I was -but a slip of a girl, not seven years older than you. And think of the -gain that’ll come to your sister if you are good and contented here. -Why, the hospital doctors will look at her and they’ll say: ‘Now, here -is a young woman we must certainly manage to cure whether or not for -Miss Cicely Duer says so.’ And the nurses will say the same thing. -And they’ll give her a room all to herself with sun coming in at the -windows, and there’ll be flowers on the bureau that Miss Cicely and -Priscilla’s mamma will send. And her bed will be all soft and white, -and the nurses will have on white caps and aprons and cuffs, just spick -and spandy and they’ll give her lovely things to eat and then--and -then--before you know it almost, sister will be well and walking around -as fine as can be. And that will be your doing if you’re a good girl -and don’t get mopey and homesick.” - -Polly’s eyes were quite dry by the time Hannah paused to take breath. -The picture of sister in such pleasant surroundings almost reconciled -her to her own good fortune. She saw the sunlight coming in at the -windows and the flowers nodding on the bureau and the white-capped -nurses hovering round and then, by and by, Hannah’s voice seemed to -melt into a gentle drone--the drone of a sleepy fly bobbing against -sister’s hospital-room window in the sunlight and then---- - -Polly opened her eyes to see the sunlight really slanting in at the -window of the pretty bedroom in which she and Priscilla had slept. For -a moment she lay still, trying to remember where she was and how she -came to be in this splendid gold bed, between soft, fleecy blankets and -smooth linen. There was another bed just like her own standing against -the wall across the room--but the other bed was empty. Then it all came -back to her. Priscilla had slept in that other bed. Where was Priscilla? - -A sound of splashing and running water seemed to answer her and -in another moment Hannah appeared carrying Priscilla wrapped in -bath-sheets, fresh from her morning tub. - -“Just wait a moment till I have Priscilla dry and then in you go,” -threatened Hannah with a pretended frown. - -But Polly was not in the least alarmed. She reveled in the warm water -and plunged about in the white tub as energetically as if she had been -a canary taking a morning dip in a china dish. Then she and Priscilla -had breakfast in the nursery, with Peter Pumpkin-Eater and Jack -Sprat-Could-Eat-No-Fat looking down at them from the walls and probably -wishing they had such delicious milk-toast and cream-of-wheat and -poached eggs to feast upon. - -Priscilla’s mother came to visit them soon after the meal was over and -she proved so sweet and beautiful a lady that Polly felt there was -only one person in the whole world who was more wonderful than she and -that Miss Cicely was that one. She talked to Priscilla and Polly for a -long time and seemed sorry when some one--the haughty Theresa--came to -summon her down-stairs and she had to leave them. - -Then hats and coats were brought out and the Sweet P’s made ready for a -walk. There was not much fun in pacing slowly up the avenue and around -the windy paths of the Park. Before they had gone three blocks Polly -was stiff and chilly and poor little Priscilla was having the cold -shivers inside her fur coat. - -“Let’s play las’-tag,” suggested Polly. “Then we can run, and running -makes you warm. Why, I used to get as hot as anything at the store, -just with running.” - -“What’s las’-tag?” asked Priscilla listlessly. - -Polly explained. “And I’ll be ‘It’ if you like,” she said. “Now, you -run and I’ll try to catch you. Hannah’ll be ‘Hunk.’ One, two, three! -Off goes she!” - -In no time at all they were both in a glow, their cheeks ruddy and -tingling with warmth and their eyes sparkling with fun. Priscilla was -delighted and she and Polly las’-tagged each other merrily all the way -home. Certainly the hated morning walk was going to be a different -affair after this. James could hardly believe his eyes at the change he -saw in Priscilla’s appearance when he opened the door to them at one -o’clock. - -“Why, she looks like another child,” he said to Theresa who was passing -through the hall. - -Theresa curled her lip. - -“You and Hannah may do as you like,” she snapped pettishly, “but -nobody’ll get me to wait on any beggar-child--not if I know it. Why -couldn’t they have taken that sweet little Angeline Montague, if they -must have some one, and not given the place to a common little thing -like this Polly-one. I know Angeline’s mother well. I got her the job -at Mrs. Hamilton’s and she’s a lady,--I tell you. And Angeline herself -is a little angel! Who knows anything about this child they have taken -in?” and Theresa tossed her head spitefully. - -James pursed his lips as if he were going to whistle. “I don’t know -anything about her, that’s certain,” he admitted, “and if you don’t -either, Theresa, why, I guess there ain’t any call for you to clap -names on her like what you’ve done. After all, she ain’t harming you. -Fair play is a jewel. If she don’t interfere with you, you don’t need -to interfere with her!” - -“Interfere with me!” cried Theresa hotly. “Much you know about it, -James Craig. That’s just what she has done, with a vengeance!” - -James shrugged his shoulders. “Why, I don’t see what concern it is of -yours, if the family chooses to get a companion for Miss Priscilla. You -ain’t got to pay for her board and keep.” - -“Perhaps I ain’t,” returned Theresa with added sharpness, “but perhaps, -on the other hand, I got to pay for the board and keep of somebody -else, that she has done out of a rare chance.” - -The butler’s eyes opened wide. “You don’t mean to say----” he stammered. - -“I don’t mean to say nothing,” the maid retorted quickly. “I just -ain’t going to do anything that’s outside my work, that’s all. I -respect myself too much to lay a hand to anything I didn’t engage for, -and if you and Hannah choose to fetch and carry for strangers from -no-one-knows-where, you can do it and welcome! But the more sillies -you, that’s all!” - -The good-natured James watched the irate woman as she flounced -up-stairs and then drew in his breath with a long whistling sound. He -thought Theresa was “a terror” and he made up his mind then and there -that he would “steer clear of her” in the future. - -In the meantime Polly, who was quite unconscious of having given -offense to any one in the world and who felt at peace with all men, was -astonished and dismayed, as the days went by, to find that Theresa did -not like her. At first she did not realize that anything was amiss. The -maid seemed to her a very haughty lady whose manners were proud and -overbearing to be sure, and not at all gentle and sweet as Priscilla’s -mother’s and Miss Cicely’s were, but who was probably, nevertheless, -good and kind at heart, like all the rest of the world. Once or twice -she brushed roughly against Polly in the halls, but Polly said, “Excuse -me,” as sister had taught her to do when she got in any one’s way, and -then thought no more about it. - -Then, another time, Polly was going down-stairs on an errand for -Hannah and just as she reached the second flight Theresa came out of -the sitting-room and began to busy herself dusting the top of the -baluster-rail. Polly said, “Good-morning!” as politely as she could, -but Theresa did not appear to hear her and the next minute Polly’s -dress had caught in a nail or something, it could not have been -Theresa’s hand, of course, and she was crashing down-stairs, heels -over head, bumpety-bump! as hard as she could go. She was so badly -frightened that it took her some time to recover herself, but her -bruises were not serious and James brought a chocolate spice-cake out -of the butler’s pantry, which he said he would give her if she did not -cry any more. So she dried her tears and promised she would “look where -she walked” after that and was happy again in no time at all. - -But before she went up-stairs James whispered in her ear: “Say, I -wouldn’t get in Theresa’s way, if I were you. Theresa is--er--nervous -and little girls bother her, I guess, and it’s always better when folks -is like that to keep yourself to yourself. See?” - - - - -CHAPTER V - -POLLY’S PLUCK - - -Angeline Montague did not tell her mother the forfeit she had had to -pay to “redeem” the beautiful doll she had brought home from Miss -Cicely’s party. In the first place, she conveniently forgot it, and -in the second, she always made a point of keeping very still when -her mother was in a “tantrum,” and her mother was in a terrible one -that day. Something had gone wrong somewhere, for the moment Angeline -reached home her mother had caught her by the arm and swung her about -roughly, saying: “Ho! So here you are, are you? Then you didn’t get -it, did you? And after all the trouble I went to, to teach you how to -bow and to hold your tongue and to speak soft and genteel when you did -speak! And the money I spent on your clothes, too! I’ve half a mind to -beat you well, you great silly. What under the sun your Aunt Theresa’ll -do to you, I don’t know--like as not she’ll put you in jail or send -you to the reform-school or something. I do declare I never saw such a -numb-scull! Where’s your brains, I’d like to know, to let any one else -get ahead of you like that?” - -Angeline sobbed. - -“There now,” continued her mother less harshly. “Quit that, and take -off those togs you’ve got on. It makes me just wild to see ’em and -think what they cost, and then what a fool you were to let such a -chance slip through your fingers.” - -Angeline sobbed still more piteously. She knew it was the only way to -disarm her mother. After a minute or two the angry woman said: “Hush, -hush, I tell you, Angeline, or the neighbors’ll think I’m killing -you--and they have enough to say about us already. Besides, you’d -better save your tears till your Aunt Theresa comes, for you’ll need -’em then, or I’m mistaken. She ain’t as easy as I am, not by a long -sight, and she’ll scold the life out of us both for your foolishness. -She’ll probably stop paying for your board and keep into the bargain, -and then what’ll become of us, I don’t see. We’ll be turned out into -the street, most likely, for I’m two weeks behind with the rent as it -is, and goodness knows where I’ll get the money to pay up.” - -Angeline’s sobs grew softer. “I did the best I could,” she whimpered. -“I never told a livin’ soul my name ain’t Montague or that Aunt Theresa -is my aunt, an’ I bowed just like you tol’ me to, an’ I didn’t hardly -say annything to annyboddy. I just smiled the way you showed me, as -soft as ever I could, an’ Mis’ Hamilton she said I was a sweet little -thing. I listened an’ I heard her. I didn’t let noboddy get ahead of me -nor nothing. I got the best cakes an’ the biggest orange an’--an’--I -would have got a--other things too, but a big man, he was real mean and -kept looking!” - -“Well, go ’long with you now,” said her mother, whose true name was -McGaffey. “Take off those duds or you’ll tear ’em or something an’ then -the fat will be in the fire.” - -Later that evening when Angeline was in bed her mother had a visitor. -It was Theresa, and her angry voice made the little girl quail. She -knew Aunt Theresa well and dreaded her, so she pretended to be asleep -when her bedroom door was rudely flung open and quick steps came toward -her where she lay. - -“Get up, you Angeline,” ordered Theresa, clutching her by the arm. “You -ain’t asleep, I know your tricks. Get up this minute, I want to talk -with you.” - -The child came shivering into the outer room. - -“Now tell me this minute,” commanded her aunt, “every single thing that -happened this afternoon at my house. Don’t you leave out anything, and -don’t you tell me a falsehood, or it’ll be the worse for you.” - -So the wretched Angeline, shaking with cold and sobbing from fright, -confessed to the affair of the broken chocolate-cup. - -“There! What did I tell you,” demanded Theresa of Mrs. McGaffey when -the story was done. “I knew there was something wrong somewhere, or -she’d have gotten the place, sure as preaching. Her tricks will be the -ruin of us all before she’s through, I tell you, Harriet. She ought -to be beat, that’s what ought to be done to her. She’s a bad child, -right through. Why, Mrs. Hamilton as good as told me the whole thing -was settled and Angeline was to go straight up to the nursery then and -there, and you was to get sixteen dollars a month for the loan of her. -The young un that’s there now is nothing to look at--nothing next to -Angeline, but she got the place because she hasn’t underhand ways and -doesn’t try to make other people suffer for her faults. But I’ll pay -her off before I’m through with her, never you fear. In the meantime if -I could just punish this child here for her foolishness, it’d do me a -world of good. Now go back to bed, you Angeline McGaffey, and if I ever -catch you deceiving again and running your mother and me into danger of -being disgraced, I’ll attend to you, rest assured of that.” - -Angeline crept off to her room, greatly relieved that she had escaped -so easily at the hands of her vixenish aunt. She was accustomed by -this time, to loud and angry talking, and did not let herself be much -disturbed by it. In a very little while, therefore, and long before -her Aunt Theresa had gone, she was asleep and dreaming, and the next -day she had forgotten all about it. But Theresa did not forget. She had -told her sister that she meant to bide her time and wait her chance, -but that in the end she’d get even with Polly for having cut Angelina -out, as she expressed it, and she intended to keep her word. - -After her tumble down-stairs, and the whispered warning James had given -her, Polly managed to avoid Theresa. It was not very difficult to do -this, for the children spent most of their time in the open air or -in the nursery. The cold and stupid morning walks that Priscilla had -used to dread, she now looked forward to with pleasure, and her skin -and eyes were beginning to show the difference. Miss Cissy’s plan was -working like a charm--there could be no doubt about that. - -Priscilla, in her quiet, shy little way, had grown to love Polly -dearly, and as for Polly, why, she simply adored Priscilla, and would -have done anything in the world for her. She “gave up” so entirely -in fact, that Hannah often had to interfere to save Priscilla from -becoming selfish through too much indulgence. When they played house, -Polly was always the baby and Priscilla the mother; when they played -school, Polly was the scholar and Priscilla the teacher. In las’-tag, -Polly was “It,” no matter how often she caught Priscilla, and when -Hannah shook her finger at her, she was sure to whisper: “She’s so -little, you know. She can’t run as fast as I can, and it isn’t fair. -’Sides, she likes to think she’s beating. When she las’-tags me she -laughs right out loud, she’s so pleased.” - -“Well, you mustn’t spoil her, that’s all,” warned Hannah, but she -confided to James on more than one occasion that, “that Polly’s a -caution. I never saw her equal. She don’t know what it means to think -of herself. And the grown-up way she’s got with her, of looking out for -Priscilla! Why, you’d think she’d been used to protecting some one all -her life.” - -“Well, perhaps she has,” suggested James, thoughtfully. “How about that -crippled sister of hers. Ain’t she had to protect her? An experience -like that puts years on a young thing’s age. By the way, how is the -sister?” - -Hannah shook her head. “It’s a bad case the doctors think, so Miss -Cicely and Mrs. Duer tell me. If it had been properly attended to -in the first place, it would be different, but the poor thing was -neglected and now it may be too late. We don’t dare tell the child, for -her heart is bound up in her sister, and she’s set on her getting well. -The two of them were all run down, what with not having enough food to -nourish ’em, and perishin’ with the cold last winter on account of no -coal, and that tells against the girl’s getting well. She has nothing -to bear up on. See now, she’s been at the hospital ever since the week -after Priscilla’s birthday, that was the first part of February, and -now it’s the last of March. But we don’t give up hope. The doctors say -she may possibly get to walk again--only it’ll take a long time, and -she’ll have to go through a lot before it happens, if it ever does. -She’ll be at the hospital all summer anyhow, and maybe longer. But it’s -true, what you say about her being the cause of Polly’s acting old for -her years, and having such motherly ways. Poor little creature! She’s -actually getting a bit of flesh on her bones, as well as Priscilla, -and I declare she’s as pretty as a picture sometimes. I told Mrs. Duer -the other day, I was never afraid for Priscilla when Polly was around. -She’d just let herself be cut into small pieces before she’d see a hair -of Priscilla’s head harmed.” - -“She’s got good pluck, I know that,” answered James, thinking of -Theresa, and Polly’s fall down-stairs. - -Polly had occasion to prove her “pluck” within the course of the next -few days. - -The children had had their regular romp in the Park one morning and -were ready to go home, when Hannah bethought herself of a few little -sewing odds and ends that she sorely needed. She made up her mind she -would buy them on the way back. It would take her but a few blocks out -of her way, and the children would not mind the little extra walk, -especially as it was on the fascinating, forbidden ground of the -bustling avenue, where so many shops and clanging cable-cars were. - -Poor Polly, who had been perfectly used to shifting for herself amid -crowds, was greatly amused at Hannah’s command that she “mustn’t let -go her hand one minute,” but she did as she was bade, and clung to the -nurse’s arm until they reached the shop, where Hannah’s trifles were to -be bought. It was an attractive place enough, full of bright-colored -ribbons and laces and tinsel and gay embroidery stuffs. There was, -however, nothing very interesting to children, except in one corner, -where was a counter upon which a number of artistically made rag-dolls -were perched. Priscilla fell in love with these at first sight, and -tugged at Hannah’s skirts, begging her to “come and see.” - -Hannah was busy with her own affairs, but she left them to follow -Priscilla and to exclaim, “Why, ain’t they just splendid, now?” as she -knew Priscilla wanted her to do. - -But Priscilla, it seemed, wanted more than this. “I wish,” she said, in -a hesitating, shy murmur: “I wish I could have one of those dollies.” - -Hannah stared. “Eh? Mercy on us, what next? Why, what in the world -should you want with one of those dolls, when you have a nurseryful -already at home. And such superior ones, into the bargain, as these -couldn’t hold a candle to. Why, these are nothing but rag-babies, -dearie.” - -Priscilla swallowed. “I know it,” she whispered, with an effort. “But I -like them. I wish I could have one.” - -When the little girl spoke in that wistful tone her nurse could deny -her nothing. “Well, if you ain’t the curiousest child!” she exclaimed. -“But if you want one, why, you want one, and that’s all there is about -it.” - -The next moment the pinkest-cheeked rag-baby of them all was in -Priscilla’s arms. She hugged it to her bosom with a loving clutch she -had never given to any of her French dolls, and Hannah exchanged a wink -with the saleswoman at sight of her satisfaction. - -“May I take my dolly into the street? Just to give her the air?” she -asked with motherly solicitude for her baby’s health. - -Hannah nodded. “Yes, if you’ll be sure not to leave the door-step. -Polly, you go with her, like a good child, and don’t let anything -happen to her. Now, run along, like dearies, and let me do my shoppin’ -in peace.” - -[Illustration: “GIVE THAT DOLL BACK THIS MINUTE!”] - -“I think,” said Priscilla, as she and Polly stood outside the -shop-door, “I think I’ll name this baby Polly. Then she’ll be part -yours, won’t she? ’Sides, I think the name of Polly is a ’stremely nice -name.” - -Polly laughed right out with pleasure at the compliment. “If you name -her Polly I’ll be her relation, won’t I? And I’ll have to give her -things and look after her. Oh, dear me! I wonder what Hannah’ll say?” - -What Hannah would say was never recorded, for just at this moment a -dirty hand thrust itself over Priscilla’s shoulder and snatched her -precious baby from her arms, while a hoarse voice broke out into a -jeering laugh that almost frightened the children out of their wits. - -“Hi, there!” it cried roughly. “A doll’s relation! That’s good! The -name of Polly is a ’stremely nice name! Bless me if it ain’t!” - -Priscilla’s lips were blue with terror and she but dimly saw the face -of the mischievous newsboy, as he leered wickedly at her darling doll, -pretending to dance it up and down in his dirty hands. - -But Polly’s eyes were blazing. “Give that doll back this minute!” she -broke out in a tremor of indignation. - -The newsboy looked at her and grinned. “Oh, say, now,” he cried. -“Who’ll make me? Ain’t I fond o’ dolls meself? An’ ain’t I got -a little sister at home as just dotes on ’em? W’y, my little -sister--queer now, ain’t it, but her name’s Polly! a ’stremely nice -name, Polly is! well my sister Polly will just be tickled out of her -boots when I bring her this.” - -“You give it back,” stammered Polly, breathless and panting with anger. - -“Not on your life,” jeered the young rascal, delighted to see he was -teasing her so successfully, and clutching the rag-doll more tightly in -one arm while he shifted his bundle of papers in the other. - -Polly darted at him; her hand swung out, and the next moment his ear -was tingling from a well-aimed blow. For an instant he was too amazed -to stir. Then he dropped his papers and the doll together and made a -dash for Polly. She ducked, he tripped on the shallow door-step and -lost his footing. It was Polly’s chance and she did not lose it. In a -twinkling she had dived for his papers, caught them up and was flying -down the street as fast as her swift feet would carry her. - -“Go in,” she shouted back to Priscilla. “Go in to Hannah!” Then on she -sped like a little whirlwind, the newsboy after her in hot pursuit. - -She knew he must outstrip her in a very few moments, for he was far -older and stronger than she. Her breath was already coming in painful -gasps and she felt she could not hold out much longer with the wind -blowing against her like this. He was rapidly gaining. She could hear -the clatter of his heavy boots on the pavement. In a second more he -would have clutched her. Her brain worked like lightning. She snatched -a paper from the bunch in her arm and flung it into the teeth of the -wind, not daring to pause long enough to look back to see if her -pursuer had stopped to capture it. She dropped another and another, all -the while making toward home, as fast as she could fly. At length she -had only one left, but she was in sight of the house and Priscilla’s -tormentor was a full block behind. She flung the last one back with a -great sob of relief and then paused a second to catch her breath and -look behind her. The wind carried the paper straight into the young -rascal’s face. He caught it and hurried on without losing a second. -Polly’s heart almost stopped beating. It seemed to her as if her feet -had grown suddenly heavy as lead. If she could only reach home! But she -heard those heavy boots stamping nearer and nearer. Lagging and panting -she reached the house and began to crawl and stumble up the steps -scrambling on all fours, like a baby. The fellow was close at hand. He -could leap the flight, two steps at a time she knew. She reached the -top just as he sprung to the bottom. Her strength served her to touch -the bell. It faintly rang--but too faintly to bring James if he did -not happen to be right there. On the instant, however, the door opened -and to the butler’s amazement Polly stumbled blindly over the threshold -and pitched headlong into the hall. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -SISTER’S PARTY - - -When Polly opened her eyes the first thing she saw was James’ kindly -face bending over her anxiously. - -“Hullo!” he said encouragingly. - -Polly sat up, feeling faint and dizzy. “What is it?” she faltered, -trying to get upon her feet. - -“Oh, nothing much,” replied James. “Nothing at all, in fact. Just, -as far as I can make out, you thought you was the Limited an’ I was -Chicago. You run in on schedule time, and no mistake. Why, you almost -knocked me flat, the way you bolted in this door.” - -His good-natured laugh gave Polly courage. - -“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” she said in a firmer voice. “I didn’t mean -to.” - -“Oh, that’s all right,” returned the kind-hearted fellow. “I didn’t -mind. I’d a got out of your way if I’d a known this was your busy day -and you was in such a hurry, you know.” - -He saw that the little girl was weak and trembling and though he did -not know the cause, he wisely concluded the best plan was to keep her -mind off the matter as long as he could. - -So he chatted cheerfully on, meanwhile helping her to rise and guiding -her to the dining-room where he offered her a couple of ladies’-fingers -and a glass of raspberry juice to “sort-of give you an appetite for -your luncheon,” he explained. - -But, somehow, Polly’s head had begun to ache and she felt as if the -room were rocking. She did not want anything to eat, she only wanted -to lie down somewhere and go to sleep. Her eyelids drooped and her -head nodded. James, thinking she might have had a bad fall, racked his -brains for jokes that would be funny enough to keep her awake and he -was just about to give up in despair when the bell rang and in came -Hannah with Priscilla clinging to her hand while she clasped a pretty -rag-doll to her bosom. Both were as white as paper. Priscilla was -crying softly. Before James could open his lips Hannah gasped wildly: - -“Polly! Whatever shall I do? She’s running the streets! She’ll get -killed. If he catches her he’ll beat her, maybe! Oh, dear! the young -ruffian! I was just coming out of the shop when I saw---- But she was -off like a shot from a shovel and he after her. I couldn’t keep up with -them, not if I’d been paid a million dollars for it, and in a minute -they were out of sight. Oh, that poor child! Where is she now?” and -Hannah wrung her hands. - -James looked bewildered as well he might. “I haven’t the least notion -what you’re talking about,” he said, “but I kind of dimly make out -you’re worried about Polly. Well, you don’t need to be. She’s in the -dining-room, all safe and sound, though a bit unsteady in the feet and -dizzy in the head, by the looks of her.” - -But Hannah had not waited to hear more than the words that told her -Polly was safe. The next instant she was in the dining room with the -little girl gathered tight in her arms. Polly tried to smile at her and -at Priscilla who was gently patting her arms and whispering something -that no one could hear, but she dared not keep her eyes open when -the room whirled about so dizzily and Hannah had to call on James to -carry her up-stairs and put her on the nursery lounge. It was while -she was curled up there, sleeping off her fright and fatigue, with -Priscilla sitting on guard beside her, that Hannah told James what -had happened. She did not mind his frequent interruptions of “Good -girl!” “First-rate!” “Hurrah for Polly!” for she was as excited over -the adventure as he was, and was glad to have the child appreciated -for her part in it. The story had to be gone over again from beginning -to end for the benefit of Priscilla’s mother and Miss Cicely and when -Polly woke it was to find herself famous. She was surprised and a -little shamefaced at the praise she received. She could not see why -they made so much of her. She had “just made that naughty boy give back -Priscilla’s doll, that was all. Of course she knew he’d be mad when she -boxed his ears, but a boy was a coward who made a little girl cry and -he ought to be punished. Then, of course, she ran when he chased her -and--and she snatched up his papers ’cause somehow, it came into her -mind that if she took them he would forget about Priscilla’s doll. It -was too bad she had scared Hannah. She would try not to worry her any -more.” - -Miss Cissy kissed her tenderly and so did Mrs. Duer, at which Polly -felt as if she were a queen who had just been crowned. And that was the -end of the affair as far as she knew. - -Priscilla seemed to be thriving so splendidly that it was decided to -leave the city much earlier than usual so she could spend the bright -spring days entirely out of doors and get the good of the beautiful -country air. - -One morning toward the middle of April Hannah took Polly to the -hospital to say good-bye to sister. Polly had often been there before, -but to-day she found the invalid in a cheerful little sitting-room, -with the sun streaming in at the window and violets and daffodils upon -the table. It was all just as Hannah had said it would be, even to the -white-capped nurses, “as neat as wax,” bringing sister lovely things -to eat. Sister had been in bed when Polly was there before, but now to -the little girl’s delight, she found her sitting up in a wheeled-chair -and looking cheerful and happy in a dainty pink flannel robe with bows -of ribbon on it and lace about the throat and wrists. Miss Cissy had -brought it to her the day before. - -“Why, you’re almost well,” cried Polly joyously. - -Sister smiled. “It looks like it, doesn’t it?” she replied and hugged -her little visitor to her with a sort of hungry look in her patient -eyes. - -“I guess you’ll be walking around before I know it almost,” quoted -Polly eagerly, and sister nodded her head. - -“So you are going off into the country,” she said quickly. “What -fun you’ll have and how beautiful it will be to see the flowers -blossoming and to hear the birds singing. The fields will all be green -and there’ll be dandelions in them and daisies, and you must hunt -for four-leafed clovers. Why, you ought to be the best girl in the -world with so much good coming to you. She tries to do right, doesn’t -she, Hannah? I’m glad. I knew she would. You’ll remember, won’t you, -Polly, that sister wants you to tell the truth always; never to tell a -falsehood. And you must be kind and generous to every one and cheerful -too. There’s a little young mother here who has the cunningest baby! A -tiny thing only a few months old; and she has made up a song to sing -to it that goes like this: - - “‘Nice little babies never, never cry - Or when they do, we know the reason why. - Good little babies bravely bear a deal, - They hold their little heads up - No matter how they feel.’ - -I want my Polly to ‘hold her little head up, no matter how she feels,’ -for that is the only brave way, you know.” - -Polly felt a lump rising in her throat. “I’ll try,” she whispered. - -Then Hannah brought out a basket packed full of dainties, which Mrs. -Duer had sent, and nothing would do but they must have a tea-party, to -which sister insisted upon inviting Polly, Hannah, the nurse and the -mother of the “nice little baby.” - -While Polly went to carry the invitations Hannah hurriedly asked, “You -are better, though, aren’t you really? Oh, I hope so, miss.” Sister’s -eyes brimmed with gratitude. “I hope so too,” she said hesitatingly. -“The doctors are giving me a little rest now because they say I -couldn’t stand any more pain for a while. I tried very hard to be -courageous; ‘to bravely bear a deal,’ you know; ‘to hold my little head -up no matter how I felt,’ but they say I’ll have to rest for a few -weeks. By and by they are going to try again, and then, if my strength -holds out, I may really get better. They say there is a chance--just -think what that means! a chance that I may be able to walk again! It -makes me too happy!” - -Hannah caught up the basket and hid her face behind the cover, while -she pretended to be very busy taking out the hidden goodies. - -Polly thought that it was the jolliest tea-party in the world, though -she, herself, ate hardly anything at all because she was so occupied -with the wonderful mite of a baby which she was permitted to hold in -her own arms, just as if she had been a grown-up woman. Its mother -seemed to see at once that she was reliable and could be trusted, and -that, in itself, was an honor to be proud of. The baby, too, seemed -to have confidence in her new nurse, for she smiled and gurgled and -blinked her eyes and did all the dear, ridiculous things that babies -do, and then fell fast asleep in Polly’s lap, with her little hands -clinched tight into two tiny fists, as if she meant to stand up and -fight anybody who said she wasn’t the biggest and bravest baby in all -the town. - -“What’s her name?” whispered Polly at last when the mite was too sound -asleep to be disturbed by her voice. - -“She hasn’t got a name yet,” answered her mother. “No name seems quite -pretty enough. Do you know of any name you think would be nice? What -is the loveliest name you know?” - -“I know lots,” returned Polly confidently. “There’s Hannah! Hannah is a -fine name. And Ruth! Ruth is sister’s name. Then I think Edith is just -sweet and Priscilla is most the grandest one I ever heard. But, I know -the one I love the best--it’s Cicely! Did you ever hear of a handsomer -name than Cicely? If you could call this baby Cicely I think it would -be perfectly splendid.” - -The little young mother did not answer at once. She seemed to be -considering. But suddenly she gave a decided nod of her head. “Well -then,” she announced firmly, “I’ll call the baby Cicely. I’m sure -she’d like to be named by so good a little girl as you are. So Cicely -she will be called, Cicely Bell. They go nicely together, don’t they, -without any middle name to interfere? When she wakes I’ll tell her her -name’s Cicely.” - -“Whose name is Cicely?” - -The entire tea-party turned around in confusion and there in the -doorway stood Miss Cissy herself and just behind her a tall and very -elegant gentleman. - -“Dear me!” laughed she. “I hope we are not intruding. But please tell -me, before we run away and leave you to yourselves again, whose name is -Cicely?” - -Polly seemed to be the only one who could find her tongue. “Why--why, -the baby’s,” she cried eagerly. “Don’t you see her here in my lap? Mrs. -Bell let me name her. And isn’t she the prettiest, cunningest baby in -the world. See her tiny hands and her darling ears! And isn’t she good? -She let me put her to sleep. Oh, if she hadn’t been the best baby she -couldn’t have been named Cicely.” - -Miss Cissy flushed with pleasure and amusement at the genuine -compliment and coming forward knelt down before Polly’s knee. - -“She is indeed a dear baby,” she said, taking one of the wee pink fists -in hers and kissing it lightly. “And so you have really called her -Cicely?” - -Mrs. Bell nodded and murmured shyly, “Yes’m. Polly named her.” - -“Well, that’s my name, you know, and if Polly gave it to her because -it’s mine, of course she is my namesake, there’s no doubt about that.” - -Little Mrs. Bell flushed and trembled. “Excuse me, miss,” she stammered -faintly. “I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have made so bold. Indeed I -wouldn’t.” - -But Miss Cissy broke in on her apologies with a merry laugh. “Oh, pray -don’t spoil the compliment,” she begged. “Why, I am as flattered and -pleased as possible.” - -The gentleman who had followed Miss Cissy into the room seemed almost -as flattered and pleased as she. His face quite glowed with pride and -Polly saw him draw an important looking leathern wallet from his inner -coat pocket and bring out of it a shining gold piece. “May I shake -hands with your young daughter?” he enquired of Mrs. Bell and when, -almost dumb with astonishment and confusion she nodded shyly, he bent -over the baby as Miss Cissy had done, took the mite’s hand in his and, -uncurling the tiny fingers tried to close them around the wonderful -coin, saying, as he did so, and too low for any but Polly to hear; -“There! That’s for your name’s sake, my little woman.” - -Polly wanted to jump for joy, but all she could do was to point -silently to the treasure the little Cicely clutched at tightly with her -wee, pink fingers, when her mother came to bear her away. Mrs. Bell -was quite overcome by the baby’s good fortune and found it a difficult -matter to make her way to the door. But she managed it somehow and -nodded again happily and gratefully as Miss Cissy called after her: - -“I shall not forget my little namesake, Mrs. Bell. She’ll hear from -me every once in a while and I shall always want to learn how she is -getting along. So, be sure to let me know where she is when you go away -from here.” - -The white-capped nurse slipped out with Mrs. Bell and then Hannah, -also, made ready to go, but Miss Cissy detained her. - -“I want Mr. Cameron to meet my Polly,” she explained. “I brought him -with me to-day because I knew our patient was sitting up and I was -certain she would not mind seeing a friend of mine.” - -“Oh, no indeed!” murmured sister, flushing however a little. But her -shyness melted away in a twinkling for if she had been the greatest -lady in the land Mr. Cameron could not have shown her more deference -and respect. - -“Ah, he’s a true gentleman,” the little seamstress thought, and all the -while he sat talking to Polly, she was building beautiful castles in -the air in which a certain lovely young princess named Miss Cicely was -to “live happy ever after” with a certain handsome young prince, her -husband, whose name was--well, whatever Mr. Cameron’s happened to be. - -“A penny for your thoughts,” announced Miss Cissy mischievously bending -forward and peering up at sister with eyes full of fun. - -Sister’s cheeks flushed guiltily. “Oh, I was just having a pretty -day-dream,” she replied. “I hope it will come true.” - -Miss Cicely’s eyes grew soft and bright. “I think I know what the dream -is,” she said, “and I also hope it will come true. I think it will come -true. In fact, I came here to-day to tell you about it, though it is -to be kept a secret from others for a while. But you are a privileged -person and I thought it would interest you and I wanted to say that -when the dream does come true you are to have a part in it, my dear.” - -This time it was sister’s eyes that grew soft and bright, seeing which -Miss Cissy began to chatter very fast. - -“Don’t you want me to tell you a story?” she asked. “Well, I intend to -do it anyway. Once upon a time there was a dear little uncomplaining -woman who was so dutiful and kind that every one loved and respected -her. She kept her wee bit of a home in apple-pie order and she taught -her little sister to be as dutiful and good and uncomplaining as she -was. It was mighty difficult, I can tell you, to be dutiful and good -and uncomplaining where that little woman lived, for it was in a great -wilderness of a place where there were wolves that it was almost -impossible to keep from the door. But the little woman, by working -early and late, managed to fight them off and she never complained. -Then one day a great, cruel tyrant came and said: ‘Hark, little woman! -My name is Pain. I am going to chain you to this chair. Now will you -complain?’ - -“But the little woman shook her head. Then as the days grew cold and -bleak a great wolf came and howled hungrily at her door. ‘Let me in! -Let me in!’ And still the little woman shook her head and did not -complain. Then up sprang the small sister crying: ‘I’m not very big to -be sure, but I think I can help keep that wolf from our door if you -will let me try. He’s a great nuisance and ought to be put away. I’m -sure some one will get hurt if he’s allowed to stay where he is, even -if he doesn’t eat us both up beforehand.’ - -“This was so sensible that the little woman consented to let small -sister take a hand in the fight. She gave her a heart full of courage -and many other splendid weapons for use in such struggles and, do -you believe it? Small sister actually did help to keep that wolf at -a distance. Them one day the story of all this came to the ears of a -person----” - -“No, a princess,” corrected sister. - -“I’m afraid not,” objected Miss Cicely. “I’m afraid she was only -a person; well, one day the story of all this came to the ears of -a person who said to herself, ‘dear me! these two ladies are just -precisely the ones I have been searching for. They can teach me ever -so many things I don’t know, and if they will only consent to it, I -think I’d like to begin a course of instruction under them at once.’ -So she carried them off quite out of the wolf’s reach, for she was a -very strong, athletic person, and watched them closely and little -by little she really did begin to learn of them. Oh, I can’t begin -to tell you the number of things they taught her, but one was to -distinguish between real and make-believe people. Where she lived -there were a great many make-believe people; in fact, she just escaped -being one herself, though please don’t mention it. But as she grew -wiser she learned to tell the difference between the real thing and -the make-believers, and that changed her whole life, for it seemed, -there were two suitors for her hand and as both were dressed exactly -alike she hadn’t been able to tell them apart and hadn’t known at all -which one was real and which only make-believe. But after she had taken -several lessons of the little woman and small sister she searched for -the heart of one of them and, to her horror, found he hadn’t any, that -he was just a poor make-believer dressed up in fine clothes. And then -she searched for the heart of the other and there it was all safe -and sound! the jolliest, biggest, truest one you ever saw, only his -fine clothes hid it from every one who hadn’t clear enough eyes to -see. Well, of course that settled it. The person said: ‘Yes’ to the -real-one-with-the-heart and they are going to live happy ever after, -unless I’m much mistaken. But you needn’t think the story ends there. -The little woman is going to be rescued from her awful tyrant and is -going to be quite free to come and go as she chooses. Then the person -and the real-one-with-the-heart are going to take her with them--over -the hills and far away, and she is to study in books as she longs to -do, and is to hear music and see pictures and grow, oh! very wise and -learned; only, for my part, I don’t believe she can learn anything -better than what she knows already which is to be dutiful and kind and -uncomplaining and--well, that’s the beginning of the end of the story, -and I think it’s almost the best of all.” - -By the looks of her, sister did too, for when Mr. Cameron and Polly -managed to glance up from the mazes of the wonderful cat’s-cradle they -were weaving, they were surprised to see the change that had come over -her face. All the traces of pain and care were gone and it was as glad -and as young as Polly’s own. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -IN THE COUNTRY - - -Priscilla and Polly proved to be famous travelers, for everything about -the journey interested them. They thought it great sport to look out of -the car-window and watch the telegraph-poles flash past and when this -grew less amusing they made up words to the tune the train was grinding -out. - -“Going to the country! Going to the country!” chanted Polly, “that is -what it says.” - -“Priscilla and Polly! Priscilla and Polly!” sang Priscilla, “don’t -you hear it?” And, sure enough, the tune did actually seem to change -as they listened, and that set them to composing other words for the -wheels to whirl out, and the accommodating train sang them all. - -Then, it was fun to sit opposite each other across the aisle and count -the white cows they saw. First there seemed to be more on Polly’s side -than on Priscilla’s, but all at once they flashed by a meadow where -quite a drove of cattle was grazing and Priscilla got all the benefit -of the white cows in it. - -But when, at last, they arrived at “the country” itself, Polly could -hardly keep from shouting with delight. Why, it was just the most -beautiful place she had ever dreamed of, and it was precisely as -sister had said it would be. There were the blossoming flowers and the -singing birds and the green fields all starred over with dandelions and -daisies. The daylight was fading as they drove through the leafy lanes -from the railroad-station to the house and Priscilla’s tired eyelids -were drooping, but Polly was as wide-awake and alert as when she -started out. She saw a big gate of “curly” iron set between two huge -stone posts, a cozy little cottage that Hannah said was “the Lodge” -nestling beside it, broad lawns and towering trees and then, after -they had passed all these, a great house standing high and stately -against the glowing sky. It was beneath the carriage entrance of this -that they stopped and Polly was just beginning to feel strange and -awe-struck when out came James, with smiling face, to welcome them and -she felt at home at once. In another moment Theresa appeared and busied -herself carrying in the wraps and umbrellas, while she gave Priscilla -a radiant smile and Polly a not unkindly pat on the shoulder. She even -assisted James to serve them at tea, and was so altogether amiable and -accommodating that Polly concluded the city air had not agreed with her -and that she felt better in her mind here. But she did not have much -opportunity to think about it, for Hannah whisked her and Priscilla -up-stairs and had them safely tucked into bed in no time and then, -somehow, that was the end of things until the next morning. - -It appeared that, in the stable, there was a little square basket, -perched on two wheels, which was to be drawn by a wee scrap of a shaggy -pony not much bigger than a St. Bernard dog, and this was Priscilla’s -own private and particular turnout. She could not be trusted alone to -manage her fiery steed and therefore Hannah always went along when she -and Polly drove out, but, dear me! they didn’t mind that! Hannah was -just like another little girl, she was so jolly and full of fun. What -splendid times they had, to be sure, trundling along the country-roads -behind “Oh-my.” - -Polly thought Oh-my a very curious name and Priscilla had to explain -that pony received it from Uncle Arthur who had said “He was little -but, Oh my!” - -“I don’t care if he is little,” asserted Priscilla, “I love him just -the same.” - -“Why, of course you do,” responded Polly. “He’s the best and smartest -horse I ever saw. He understands everything we say and sometimes I -think he likes jokes, ’cause when we make ’em and laugh he starts up -quick as anything, and his sides just shake, as if he were laughing -too.” - -So Oh-my was made one of them, as it were; was included in most -of their play and had to “make-believe” he was everything from an -elephant in an Indian jungle to one of the rats that drew Cinderella’s -pumpkin-coach to the ball. - -April was gone in a flash and May and June followed mild and warm. -Then, one day in late July the Sweet P’s had a bright idea. Polly had -been telling Priscilla about when she was “at home, where the poor -people live” and had grown quite excited over her description of the -sickly, poverty-stricken children that thronged the tenements and -swarmed out into the streets these breathless days, and Priscilla had -sighed and said, “Oh dear! I didn’t know they were ever like that! I -wish I could give them some money.” - -“I earned quite a lot being cash-girl,” ventured Polly. - -“I wish I could be a cash-girl!” murmured Priscilla. - -“For the land’s sake!” Hannah exclaimed. - -Polly was silent for a moment. Then she jumped to her feet with a -bound. “I tell you what!” she cried. “Let’s make a fair. We can sew -lots of pretty things and tie ribbons around them and Hannah can sell -them behind a counter and you and I’ll be cash-girls. Miss Cissy and -all the rest will buy from us and pay real money and we’ll give it to -the people who have the Fresh Air Fun’.” - -Hannah turned away her head and coughed violently into her -handkerchief, but Priscilla clapped her hands. - -“Oh, do! Oh, let’s!” she cried eagerly. - -“Sister can make the loveliest lace you ever saw,” continued Polly, -“and she’ll do some for us if we ask her, and--and---- Oh! I know we -could have a beautiful fair.” - -Priscilla was so captivated by the idea that she could hardly wait for -a chance to lay it before her mother. The dear little girl was timid -even with those she loved best and it required considerable courage -to go and knock upon the great living-room door and ask if she might, -“please come in.” - -“Is that my Priscilla?” asked a dear voice in response. - -“Yes, mamma,” replied the younger Sweet P. - -Mrs. Duer held out her arms and gathered her small daughter into them -with a quick laugh of pleasure. - -“Mother is always glad to see her little girl,” she said. - -Priscilla smiled. - -“What have you been doing to-day? Having a nice time?” - -Priscilla nodded. - -“Where is Polly?” - -“Up-stairs,” whispered Polly’s partner. - -“I wonder,” ventured Mrs. Duer, “if there is anything particular mother -can do for her little girl?” - -Priscilla ducked her head quickly. - -“What is it you want, darling? Tell mother and, who knows, perhaps she -can get it for you.” - -Priscilla smiled and swallowed hard. - -“What is it, sweetheart? Surely you’re not afraid to speak to mother! -What do you want?” - -“A fair,” murmured Priscilla with an effort, “We want to make one, -Polly and I do, and tie it with ribbons and have Hannah sell it behind -a counter. Polly and I will be cash-girls and give the money to the -Fresh Air Fun’.” - -Mrs. Duer hesitated a moment, for Priscilla’s description of the Sweet -P’s plan was not altogether as clear as it might have been. But the -anxious, small face, flushing and paling with eagerness, hastened her -answer. - -“Why, yes, you dear child,” she returned. “If you and Polly want to -have a fair I see no reason why you should not have one. In fact, I -shall be very glad to help you all I can. You may tell Theresa to give -Hannah my piece-bag and silk-boxes and you can choose all the fancy -bits you like for pin-balls and needle-cases and book-marks. And when -you have shown what you can do I will fit out a table for you myself.” - -Priscilla did not wait for more. She pressed her cheek lovingly against -her mother’s for an instant and then hurried away to tell Polly the -glorious news. - -How they did work after that! They sat under the trees and stitched -away until the robins must have wondered what manner of nests these -large birds were building that required such an endless supply of -threads and silks and sweet-smelling cotton-wool. Hannah was kept -breathlessly busy, planning and cutting out and basting, for when -fingers are willing, needles fly. - -A little bird (perhaps one of the robins) told Miss Cissy what was -afoot and the first thing the Sweet P’s knew there she was, declaring -she did not intend to be excluded from all the fun and that if they -did not mind she was going to have a finger in their Fresh Air pie. In -spite of their good-will they had discovered that a fair meant pretty -hard work and, sew as diligently as they might, they seemed to make -very little progress after the first few days. But when Miss Cicely -arrived everything was changed. She helped them with such energy that, -before they knew it their stock in trade had outgrown the nursery -limits and had to be shifted to the great picture-gallery. Then, -suddenly, contributions began to pour in from every side. Grandpapa -and grandmamma sent a huge boxful of the most wonderful articles and -all the uncles and aunts followed suit, until it was plain that the -Sweet P’s modest fair was developing into a very elaborate affair. Miss -Cicely had said she would take charge of one of the booths, but she -soon discovered she could not do it alone, even with the assistance of -two such tireless cash-girls as Priscilla and Polly, and so she asked -their permission to invite some of the neighborhood ladies to lend -a hand. Then some one suggested that it would sound much grander if -the fair were called a kirmess and, this being agreed upon, of course -all the booths had to be arranged in the quaint fashion of those at -a German village festival and the attendants dressed in the peasant -costume. The Sweet P’s were to be arrayed in scarlet woolen petticoats; -black-velvet, gold-laced bodices over white guimpes, with white aprons, -black velvet caps, low, gilt-buckled shoes and dark-blue stockings. -Oh-my heard them talking about it as they sat behind him in the little -basket-cart that he drew so patiently over hill and dale for their -amusement, and Polly was quite certain his feelings were hurt because -he was not included in the plans for the bazaar. - -“The poor, dear thing!” she confided to Priscilla. “He feels left out -in the cold.” - -Hannah laughed. “Cold, is it?” she repeated, fanning herself with her -apron and trying to dodge the hot sun beneath the little canopy-top of -the cart. “Well, he may be glad of it. I wouldn’t mind being left out -in the cold myself for a bit these stifling days.” - -“Well, heat, then,” Polly laughingly corrected herself but with a -pretended pout. “I’m quite certain he feels left out in the--heat.” - -“Do you really think so?” asked Priscilla. “Oh, poor pony! We didn’t -really mean it! We didn’t really mean to leave you out.” - -“But he mustn’t be left out,” insisted Polly, decidedly. “He just has -got to be part of it, that’s all. We’ll ask Miss Cissy as soon as we -get home what he can do to help.” - -Miss Cicely knew at once. “He can take all the little boys and girls -for a drive; fare, five cents. We’ll put ribbons and bells on the cart -to make it look festive and we’ll get some nice lad, who is a careful -driver, to dress himself up as a German Hans, and then you see if Oh-my -does not make a nice pocketful of money for us.” - -Polly clapped her hands. She was convinced that Oh-my understood and -would be charmed with the idea. And certainly this seemed to be the -case, for when the great day of the kirmess arrived he proved as -earnest and excited a worker as any there. Up the driveway and down he -scampered, prancing a bit at the turning where a low railing protected -the road from the edge of a steep bank of the ravine, and mischievously -making the happy children who crowded the basket to the brim shriek -aloud with excitement that was half fun, half fear. He was, in fact, -one of the most popular attractions at the festival and Uncle Arthur, -who was in charge of the prize-parcel booth, threatened to put him off -the grounds, he was so dangerous a rival and monopolized so much of the -custom. - -Polly and Priscilla fluttered about like two tireless, industrious -Gretchens, filling orders and carrying bundles and doing their duty so -thoroughly and well that it was a pleasure to watch them. The grounds -were thronged and it was difficult to get about amid such a crowd, but -their patience never wavered and the day bade fair to prove a glorious -success. Polly carried a little chamois-skin bag filled with quarters -and dimes and nickels and whenever there was a bill to change she -seemed to be on the spot to assist in the transaction. - -“Keep your eyes open, Pollykin,” Miss Cicely had advised. “And don’t -let any one escape with the apology that they have nothing but bills. -Make it easy for them to get change and then they will have no excuse -for not buying.” - -Polly laughed. “I’ll try,” she said, over her shoulder, as she skipped -away, her eyes flashing and her breath coming fast. - -But if the gaily decked booths, the pretty nurses and children and the -gold-laced uniforms of the orchestra-men gave a festive look to the -place in the daytime, the numberless chains of dainty Chinese lanterns -and sparkling electric lights glowing among the trees made it appear -like fairy-land at night. - -Priscilla and Polly were in an ecstasy, for they were to stay up as -long as the kirmess lasted and do their part to the very end. It was -the proudest day in their lives, for even Oh-my had been led off to -his stable at sunset, and it seemed very grown-up and important to -be tripping about when all the other children were safely in bed and -asleep. But Polly found her responsibilities heavier than ever, for -whereas the place had been crowded with nurses and children during the -daytime, it was thronged with gentlemen and ladies now; and gentlemen -and ladies who seemed to carry nothing but big bills in their pockets, -which frequently the saleswomen in the booths were unable to change. -She was here, there and everywhere at once and as fast as her coins -disappeared she went to Miss Cicely for more. - -“Now, here’s another bagful of silver,” explained Miss Cissy. “Five -dollars’ worth, in halves and quarters and dimes. Take good care of -it, dear, and see that you don’t stumble in the shadows; these electric -lights are shifty and it is easy to trip.” - -Polly picked her way carefully over the patches of light and shadow in -the grass and fastened her fingers more securely about the money-bag -she carried. She was congratulating herself that she had not had one -mishap all day and she was determined it should not be her fault if -everything did not end as well as it had begun. She was proud of -Miss Cissy’s confidence in her and anxious to prove she deserved it. -These thoughts and a crowd of others were flashing through her mind -when--alas for Polly! she never knew how it happened, but before she -had time to prevent it, she had missed her footing, had fallen, struck -her head sharply against the iron railing that guarded the driveway -from the steep bank of the ravine and was only saved from pitching -headlong down into the gorge by the slender bar itself. For one instant -she lay quite still, then she struggled to her feet in terror, for in -the midst of her pain and shock she realized that her precious bag was -gone. The jolt of her fall had wrenched it from her grasp. Her hands -were bruised and scratched by the sharp gravel-stones, a rapidly-rising -lump upon her head throbbed heavily, but she lost no time in -considering these. Her one thought was for the money-bag. On hands and -knees she crept up and down and across the spot where she had fallen, -groping for her treasure, but all to no purpose; the bag was nowhere to -be found. Big tears of dismay welled up into her eyes, as second after -second passed and still she had not recovered it. Suddenly she saw a -figure coming toward her that proved to be Theresa hurrying to the -house on some errand or other. - -“What’s the matter?” asked the maid pausing in surprise. - -“Oh, dear!” Polly almost sobbed, “I fell---- I tripped and fell, and my -money-bag is gone--with five dollars in it.” - -Theresa gave a pretended gasp of horror. “Gracious me!” she exclaimed. -“You are in trouble, for sure, aren’t you? I don’t wonder you feel -bad. Five dollars! That’s a big pile of money, when you haven’t got -it! Like’s not your bag is at the bottom of the ravine this minute, -floating down the brook. I declare I’m sorry for you, for of course if -you don’t hand it over prompt and quick to Miss Cicely, she’ll think -hard things of you, and maybe turn you out besides. Goodness! if it was -me, I’d run away this minute and never come back here again. I’d be -that frightened and ashamed!” - -Polly stopped short in her search and looked up at Theresa with a new -terror in her eyes. “What--what do you mean?” she stammered. “Why -should I be frightened--and ashamed? It wasn’t my fault! I tried to be -careful. Why should they turn me out?” - -“Because, silly! That’s why,” replied the maid sourly. “If you don’t -hand that bag over to Miss Cicely right away she’ll think hard things -of you. She’ll say you’re careless and not to be trusted. Oh, dear, -there is no knowing what she will say and do, she’ll be so angry at the -loss of that much money. I wouldn’t risk it, if I were you. I’d run -away before they found out.” - -Polly gasped painfully. “It isn’t my fault,” she repeated, sobbing. “I -have tried to be careful, I have, really and truly. I don’t think Miss -Cissy will think those things of me you say she will, but--but--even -if she does, I can’t run away. It wouldn’t be right to run away. If I -can’t find the bag and she blames me, I’ll have to--to tell her all -about it and stand it, somehow.” - -Theresa gave a sharp laugh. “Well, do as you please,” she cried -harshly. “It’s none of my business, I’m sure. But I can tell you this -much, you won’t find your bag, and you will be blamed, so there! You’re -mighty brave and courageous now, but wait till you’re turned out in -disgrace, and then see how you’ll feel. I guess you’ll wish you had -taken my advice then. Listen to me! if you want, I’ll hide you in my -room to-night, and to-morrow morning I’ll smuggle you out of the house -as quiet as a mouse, and no one will ever be the wiser. I’ll slip -you down to the station, and you can go to your sister in the cars, -and--and----” - -For a moment Polly saw herself as Theresa pictured her: blamed, -disgraced, turned out of this home maybe, where every one had been so -kind to her, and it seemed as if she could not face it. - -“Will you do as I say?” demanded Theresa eagerly, catching her by the -arm. - -Polly gave a quick, low sob and shook her head. - -Theresa released her hold with sudden violence, turned short round upon -her heel and, without another word, strode toward the house. Polly -looked after her with misery and despair in every line of her pale -little face. Then she fell to searching again, feeling about blindly -along every inch of the spot where she had fallen. But still the bag -could not be found. Time was flying, and Theresa had said if she did -not return the money at once they would think hard things of her. She -could not believe it! She could not bear it! She struggled to her feet -and tried to gather her wits together. What should she do? What would -sister tell her to do if she were here and knew the truth. Suddenly -Polly gave a little gasp of joy and flew toward the house as fast as -her feet would carry her. She had found a way out of her trouble, and -her heart beat so quick with the relief of it, that it almost took her -breath away. Up into the nursery she ran, and to her own particular -little table upon which her bank stood. It was so heavy with money it -would hardly rattle, and every cent of it was her very own by right, -to do with as she chose. But how was she to get at the money? The bank -was locked and she had given sister the key. She twisted and tugged -at it fiercely, but only a stray copper or nickle slipped through the -opening in the top, and at this rate it would take her all night to -shake out the rest. She thought of James. James would help her! James -was a good friend of hers. She flew down-stairs like a small whirlwind, -and surprised the butler as he stood in the front doorway, watching the -gaieties outside and resting for a moment from his labors. He heard her -out patiently, though she was so excited her words came in gasps, and -she made confusing work of her story. - -“So you fell and hurt yourself, and lost your bag of change, eh?” he -commented. “Well, I declare, that’s rare hard luck, it is! No mistake! -And you want me to open this affair and get the money out of it to -make up for what you lost? Well, you’re a real up-and-down square one, -you are. Now just you wait. I’ve a big ring of keys down-stairs, and -I’ll bring it up and see if we can’t fit one into this lock, and if we -can’t--why!----” - -He did not wait to explain what would happen then but ran quickly below -and before many minutes was back again and trying one key after another -into the obstinate lock that absolutely refused to be fitted. Polly, at -his side, twisted and jerked with impatience and excitement, and when -at last James shook his head and said with a sigh: “It’s no use! there -ain’t one in the whole lot that’ll do,” she almost broke into crying -again. - -The kind fellow gave her an encouraging glance. “Don’t you worry,” he -said. “If we can’t do one way we’ll do another. If we can’t unlock the -door we’ll have to break open the bank. Are you willing?” - -Polly nodded eagerly. “Yes, oh yes!” she quivered. - -“Well, come along then,” returned James and led the way down-stairs. -Polly following dumbly. She could hardly wait while he got from his -tool-chest the things he needed and set to work. Once, twice, three -times the heavy hammer fell, and then, with a cry of joy, Polly made a -dash toward the shattered bank and gathered up the stream of coins that -poured out of it. - -“Oh, James, I thank you ever so much,” she cried gratefully. - -“Hadn’t you better count your money,” suggested the butler sensibly. -“Are you sure there’s enough here? It takes a good many pennies and -nickles to make five dollars, you know.” - -The next moment he was almost sorry he had spoken when he saw all the -brightness vanish from her face as quickly as it had come there. But -she did not stop to lament. - -“Take half, please,” she said, “and count it and I’ll count the other -part and then we’ll add what we’ve both got.” - -Poor James! He was not, as he himself admitted, “a lightening -calculator,” and his progress was very slow, so that Polly had -announced: “One dollar and sixteen cents,” while he was still stumbling -over, “A quarter--and ten cents: that makes thirty-five! And five more: -that makes forty,” and so on. Would he never get done? Would he never -say, “One dollar!” Suppose there were not enough! - -“One dollar!” announced James triumphantly, and Polly’s heart beat fast -for he still held quite a little heap of coins that were uncounted. It -was a great trial of patience to stand there and wait and wait, when so -much was at stake. Polly wanted to jump up and down and cry: “Hurry! -Hurry!” to urge him on, but she shut her teeth hard and kept the words -back. - -“One dollar and fifty!” droned James. “And a dime: that makes sixty: -and five pennies: that makes sixty-five. And a quarter: that makes -ninety: a dollar and ninety! I guess I’ve got most of the big pieces! -And a dime: two dollars! Two dollars and ten cents! fifteen! eighteen! -and another dime: that’s twenty-eight! And, hey there! If here ain’t a -fifty-cent piece! That makes two dollars and seventy-eight. I say, two -dollars and seventy-eight is better than nothing! And your one dollar -and sixteen added to that! why that makes--that makes--three dollars -and ninety-four. Now ten cents makes four dollars and four cents and -six more is ten and--and--four dollars and ten cents and--and--that’s -all!” - -Yes, Polly had seen it was all. A couple of great tears crowded out the -sight of James and the cruelly disappointing pile of money he held, and -then rolled down her burning cheeks in two hot streams. But the next -moment she had brushed them hastily aside, for the butler had grasped -her arm with a jolly laugh. - -“Oh, I say!” he shouted. “See here! What’s the matter with counting -in this nice one-dollar bill lying there all hid away where we didn’t -see it! I ain’t a lightening calculator, and I ain’t proud if I am -handsome, but the way I add up four dollars and ten cents and a one -dollar bill, brings it up to five dollars, with a silver dime over. -Now, young lady, just you take this money and skip as fast as ever you -can.” - -Skip! Why Polly fairly flew and James, looking after her with a smile, -patted his vest-pocket approvingly, muttering to himself: “I got a -dollar’s worth of fun just seeing the worry go out of her eyes and the -glad look come back again. I ain’t rich, but I’m satisfied I spent that -money right!” - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -PRISCILLA’S VICTORY - - -So, after all, the kirmess ended in a blaze of glory for Polly as well -as for every one else and she would have thought herself the happiest -girl in the world even if, at the close of the evening, when they were -sitting under the trees, eating ice cream and cake and resting after -the fatigue of the day, Miss Cicely had not risen and said: - -“Now I hope all present who vote our kirmess a success will give a -cheer for the two ladies who, from the first, have been the means of -making it so. I propose a cheer for our two Sweet P’s.” - -“Three cheers and an extra one for good measure!” cried Uncle Arthur -jumping to his feet, and although Aunt Laura murmured, “Don’t be -absurd, Arthur!” they were given with a will. - -But the next day! Oh dear, how different everything seemed then! The -grounds were littered with torn paper and scorched lanterns and scraps -of twine and tattered shreds of muslin and bunting. The grass of the -lawns was cruelly trodden down and, in some places, fairly torn up -by the roots. Indoors it was no better. The articles that had been -left over from the fair were scattered here, there, and everywhere in -everybody’s way. - -Priscilla looked pale and worn out and, for the first time since Polly -had known her, was, as Hannah expressed it, “cross as two sticks.” -Polly herself was far from well. There was a big aching bump upon her -head and her body felt stiff and sore all over. Her cheeks were flushed -and feverish and she, as well as Priscilla, felt so tired and forlorn -that they could hardly drag themselves to the stable on a visit of -condolence to Oh-my, when it was discovered that the poor little pony -had been overdriven the day before, had caught cold and would have -to be very carefully tended before he could recover. Even Hannah was -inclined to be irritable, and there was no doubt at all about Theresa’s -and the other servants’ ill-temper. - -The sight of the empty place upon her table where her precious bank -had stood made Polly so melancholy that she felt like sitting down and -having a “good cry” over it, but she remembered sister’s advice to -“hold her little head up no matter how she felt” and decided that she -would follow it at once. But the sacrifice of her savings meant a real -struggle, for Polly had had great plans as to what she meant to do with -her money and now it looked as if all those lovely dreams could never -be realized. As soon as her breakfast was eaten she left the nursery, -inclining to confess to Miss Cissy about the little chamois-skin bag, -but everything was in confusion down-stairs for, it appeared, Miss -Cicely had to hurry off at once to join a party of friends at the -seaside, the rest of the relations were going their own ways and, in -a very little while, the house would be left deserted and dull to -struggle with the sultry, trying weather alone. - -“Let’s come out under the trees and play house,” suggested Polly to -Priscilla. - -“I don’t want to,” Priscilla murmured, a little fretfully, letting -herself drop limply upon the veranda cushions with a whimper. - -“My child, Ruthie Carter, has got the mumps and the doctor said I must -take her to the seashore right away,” explained Polly, clasping the -invalid-doll in her arms and trying to make herself believe she cared -whether Ruthie Carter recovered from her attack or not. - -Priscilla did not answer. - -“Is your baby quite well, Mrs. Priscilla?” inquired Mrs. Polly politely. - -Mrs. Priscilla shook her head silently, and after a few more -unsuccessful attempts to engage her in conversation, Mrs. Polly gave -it up and sauntered slowly across the lawn, bound for the seashore to -which the imaginary doctor had advised her to take her ailing child. -She chose the pretty, rustic summer-house called Pine Lodge, for her -play to-day, because it was shady and quiet there, and its sides, which -were open half-way down from the roof, let the breeze in unhindered. -A bench ran round the walls of the place, and was very useful and -convenient for housekeeping; purposes, for, with a little arrangement -and imagination, it could be made to serve as table, cupboard, bed, -piano, and a host of other things, just as one chose. One section -of it only was forbidden ground: that running along the side of the -summer-house that overhung the ravine. It was a rule remaining over -from Priscilla’s baby-days that she was never to be left alone in -Pine Lodge, and that she was never, never, never to mount upon that -particular portion of the bench, for though now she was old enough -to realize the danger of leaning over the wall’s edge, an accident -might occur, and the ravine was deep and its steep walls rocky and -sheer, while the tall trees that clung to them showed many a bare and -unsupported root. When Polly had passed quite out of sight Priscilla -began to cry. She had not wanted to play with her, but neither had she -wanted Polly to go off and play by herself. - -“She’s real mean to leave me all alone,” she sobbed irritably. “I don’t -think she’s very polite.” - -But only a robin, hopping nimbly across the driveway, heard her -complaint, and as he did not seem to sympathize with her, she felt it -was of no use to say any more. She gathered herself up with a pettish -sigh and set out to follow Polly across the lawn. - -“Hello!” said Polly as she came in sight. - -“Hello,” returned Priscilla. - -“Didn’t you bring your child with you? The seashore will do her a lot -of good. My Ruthie Carter’s almost well already.” - -Priscilla shook her head. - -“Don’t you want to go and fetch your baby?” inquired Polly. “Let’s play -you came to visit me and didn’t bring her along, ’cause you were afraid -she’d be a bother, and I said: ‘No, indeed, I’d be pleased to have -her!’” - -“I don’t want to,” returned Priscilla. “My feet hurt. You go.” - -“My feet hurt, too, and so do my arms and all the rest of me.” - -“I don’t think you’re very polite, Polly Carter, so there! Your head -doesn’t feel half as bad as mine does.” - -Polly jumped up and laid Priscilla’s hand on the big bump that was -throbbing beneath her hair. “There!” she said, triumphantly, “what do -you think of that? Doesn’t that thump? And it aches like anything.” - -“How did you do it?” - -“I tripped last night in the dark and knocked it against that iron -fence by the driveway. I was running as quick as I could to make change -and all of a sudden I fell down and my money-bag--the one Miss Cissy -gave me with five dollars in it--jogged out of my hand and I hit my -head and--I guess you’ll believe I don’t feel very well now!” - -Under all Priscilla’s real sweetness of nature there lay a hidden rock -of obstinacy that made her, at times, a very difficult little personage -to deal with. Hannah had encountered it often and often, but Hannah was -indulgent and excused her pet to herself by saying: “She’s so young; -she’ll outgrow it by and by.” - -Polly had, up to this, given in almost entirely to Priscilla, no matter -what her whims might be, and so had not really had any conflict with -the quiet persistence and iron will that underlay the little girl’s -other really lovable traits. But she was to have one now. - -Priscilla listened attentively to the story of the bag and the bruise -and then repeated slowly: “I don’t think you’re very polite. I think -you might get my doll.” - -“Hannah told me not to wait on you so much. She says it spoils you.” - -Priscilla silently regarded the toes of her shoes and seemed to be -considering. Her lips were pressed tightly together, and she did not -reply for a minute. Then she said gently: “I think you might get my -doll.” - -Polly pretended not to hear. She bent over the mumpy Ruth and drew her -handkerchief across the sick infant’s chest to shield her from the -supposed fresh sea-breeze that was blowing inshore smartly from the -great stretch of imaginary ocean beyond. - -“I think you might get my doll,” droned Priscilla again. - -“I’ve been hunting for that bag so long this morning I’m tired clear -through to my bones,” explained Polly at length, with a touch of -reproach in her voice. - -“Where do you s’pose it is?” asked Priscilla. - -“I don’t know. Down the bank, maybe, and in the water. Theresa said -it was. I went back to the place before breakfast and searched and -searched.” - -“Let’s lean over the edge of this and p’raps we can see it.” - -“No, no,” protested Polly, quickly. “Don’t you! don’t you! Your mother -’spressly told us never to do that. She said you might fall over. She -said I was never to leave you here alone--and that’s another reason why -I can’t go get your doll.” - -For answer Priscilla rose slowly and crossed the summer-house to the -side that overhung the ravine. Very slowly and deliberately she mounted -the bench, knelt up upon it and, leaning far over the ledge, peered -into the dark depths of the ravine below. - -Polly held her breath for a moment, too horrified to speak. Then she -gasped out imploringly: “Don’t, don’t! Oh, Priscilla, don’t do so! Your -mother told you not to. She said it was dangerous!” - -For response Priscilla leaned out a little further. - -Polly was speechless. She grasped the little girl’s dress and clutched -it fiercely; it was all she could do. - -“I think you might get my doll,” repeated Priscilla. - -“Oh, Priscilla, how can I? I couldn’t leave you here alone like this -for anything. They’d think I was awful; they’d scold.” - -“You might get my doll.” - -“I can’t.” - -“Then I’ll lean out further.” - -“Don’t you! Don’t you!” - -“I will, ’less you get my doll!” - -Priscilla was beginning quite to enjoy herself. Her usually gentle -heart was hardened now with the determination to have her own way at -any cost. There was a fearful excitement in leaning over that forbidden -ledge, and it was “fun” of a sort to know that Polly stood in fear of -what she would do. She did not draw back an inch, and the hand on her -skirt tightened fiercely. - -“Let go my dress!” - -“I mustn’t: you’ll fall!” - -“I won’t fall if you’ll get my doll!” - -“Will you get down if I do? Really and truly?” - -“Yes; if you’ll get my doll, I’ll get down.” - -Polly struggled with herself. - -“Oh, I can’t,” she panted. “They told me not to let you be here alone. -I can’t! Honest, I can’t.” - -“I think I see your bag. It’s over there! ’Way over there down behind -the roots of that tree,” declared Priscilla, unconcernedly. - -“Never mind! Don’t lean over so! Don’t look! You’ll get dizzy! Come -away! Let’s play----” - -“If you’ll get my doll.” - -Polly gasped helplessly. “Well--well----” she stammered, “I--I will--if -you’ll solemnly promise to come down, I will.” - -Priscilla had won the battle. - -“I’ll promise,” she said gently and slid back upon the bench and then -down to the safety of the floor, as quietly and obediently as if she -had never been defiant in all her life. - -But the scare and the struggle had been too much for Polly. At sight -of Priscilla’s innocent air, her eyes blazed resentfully. She felt, -somehow, that she was being terribly wronged and imposed upon, and -for the first time since she had known Priscilla she was thoroughly -indignant at her. - -The sound of the sweet little voice repeating softly: “Aren’t you -going to get my doll?” roused her to a sudden quick and uncontrollable -anger. She grasped Priscilla by the arm and shook her fiercely; shook -her till her bright, flossy hair danced up and down upon her shoulders -in a golden cloud and all the color was gone from her lips and cheeks. -Polly’s own face was scarlet and her eyes flashing fire. - -“You are a naughty girl!” she cried, vehemently. “As naughty as you can -be. You ought to be punished!” - -Priscilla simply gazed at her and made no answer. She was so pale, -Polly’s heart misgave her. - -“I--I’m sorry I shook you,” she burst out remorsefully. “I didn’t mean -to, Priscilla. I don’t know what made me do it! I’m awfully sorry.” - -Still Priscilla was silent. - -“You’re not angry at me, are you, Priscilla?” - -Priscilla’s white lips opened just far enough to let out the words: “I -think you might get my doll.” - -Polly started to run, but on the threshold she stopped and turned back. -“Remember what you’ve promised,” she said, with trembling lips. - -Priscilla nodded; the next minute she was alone. She watched Polly -scudding across the lawn, her soft blue eyes grown hard and gray as -flint. The thoughts in her busy brain swarmed as stinging midges. She -was very, very angry. Never before in all her young life had rough -hands been laid upon her. Polly had shaken her! Her face was white as -snow, but her heart was hot with fury. She was shocked, frightened and -terribly resentful. Polly had said she was naughty and ought to be -punished! No one had ever before spoken so harshly to her. It was Polly -who was naughty and ought to be punished. Polly had said she was sorry, -but there was time enough to think of that. The thing to do now was to -pay Polly back for what she had done. The stinging thought-midges in -the back of her brain buzzed so loud they made her dizzy. In a minute -Polly would come back with her doll and then she would want to make -up and be friends again. Priscilla’s lips pressed tight, one upon the -other. She did not want to be friends with any one just yet. All she -wanted was to pay Polly back. - -Meanwhile Polly was making what haste she could in search of the -miserable doll that, as she said to herself, had been the beginning of -all the trouble, but it was not in its accustomed place in the nursery, -nor yet in the little girls’ bedroom. Hannah was busy helping settle -the place down-stairs and could not stop to tell her where it was -likely to be found. Up-stairs and down she hurried, but to no purpose; -here, there and everywhere she hunted, but all in vain. She dared not -go back to Priscilla without the doll and still, she had been told over -and over again never to leave her alone in that dangerous Lodge. What -should she do? As a last resort she burrowed among the cushions upon -the veranda where Priscilla had lain a little while before and there, -sure enough, lay the wretched rag-baby, peacefully and uncomplainingly -buried beneath a mountain of down. Polly snatched her up fiercely and -started across the lawn. - -“Helloa there, Polly!” - -It was James who called. - -Polly paused and turned. “Oh, James, I’m in an awful hurry,” she gasped -anxiously. - -The butler smiled. “Another of your busy days, I s’pose,” he remarked -teasingly. “You seem to have a good many of ’em, first and last. Take -my advice, go slower and you’ll go surer. It pays in the long run--and -the short one too, for that matter. The more haste the worse speed, you -know.” - -“Oh, James,” protested Polly again. - -“Well, if you’re catching a train I guess I’d better not detain you. I -just had something to say, I thought you’d like to know, that’s all. -About the little chamois-bag you dropped last night. I’m going down -the ravine to hunt for it.” - -But Polly had sped out of hearing before he had finished his sentence -and he strolled slowly after her saying to himself: “She must want -something to do, sprinting around like that, this hot day! But children -don’t seem to mind the heat. My! But her face is red! All the blood’s -in her head! Hannah ought to tell her she hadn’t ought to exert herself -like that when it’s ninety-four in the shade.” - -It seemed no time at all to Priscilla before Polly reappeared across -the lawn. She was holding the doll and running as fast as her feet -would carry her. - -The biggest and fiercest thought-midge of all stung Priscilla with -so sharp a point that she started as if she had been pricked with a -needle. In a flash she saw how she could revenge herself on Polly, -could punish her so that her face would look as queer and terrified as -it had done a little while ago when she had been afraid Priscilla would -fall over the ledge of Pine Lodge and had implored her to come away -from it; in fact had made her getting down from the bench the condition -on which the doll was to be brought. Priscilla had gotten down, as she -had promised to do. But she had not promised not to get up again. Her -teeth set hard. - -[Illustration: SHE WAS LEANING FAR, FAR OUT] - -As she drew near the entrance of the summer-house Polly heaved a long -sigh of relief. There was Priscilla safe and sound, standing in the -doorway just as she had left her. She had disobeyed orders, of course, -when she left Priscilla alone in Pine Lodge, but she felt sure that -would be forgiven her when she explained how it was she had come to go -and that, notwithstanding, Priscilla was unharmed. - -“See, Priscilla,” she cried, eagerly as soon as she was within earshot, -“I’ve got her. I would have come quicker, only I couldn’t find her -anywhere. I hunted every place I could think of and where d’you s’pose -she was? Under the cushions on the veranda. Now we can play and it’ll -be ever so nice.” - -Priscilla made no response. She did not even hold out her arms for -the doll. She waited until Polly reached the threshold and then she -turned on her heel and very slowly and deliberately walked away from -her and toward the forbidden side of the Lodge. Polly halted a moment -in bewilderment and the skin all over her body seemed to grow cold and -to be shriveling together, while her eyes turned into two burning balls -that smarted and stung, for Priscilla was climbing up upon the bench -and leaning far, far over. - -Polly tried to call out but no sound would come. After a second -Priscilla turned her head and glanced around with a look in her eyes -that no one had ever seen there before. She had determined to punish -Polly and she meant to do it thoroughly. - -“Oh, Priscilla,” gasped Polly. “Please, please--get down! Remember, you -promised.” - -For answer, Priscilla stared at her coldly with those strange gray, -steely eyes of hers and then bent her body far over the dangerous ledge -again. - -Polly’s breath caught in a tight, choking knot in her throat and she -turned sick all over, and faint and weak. There was one second in which -she was quite blind and then another in which everything before her -appeared to burn right through her eyes and back into her brain. The -motionless leaves on the trees; the patches of blue sky through the -green boughs: the soft, gray slab-side walls of Pine Lodge: the low -bench running round them; Priscilla standing upon the bench and leaning -far, far out, and then--and then--no Priscilla at all. Without a cry, -without a sound she had vanished over the edge,--she had lost her -balance and had fallen into the ravine! - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -WHAT HAPPENED TO PRISCILLA - - -James followed leisurely after in the path Polly had taken, mopping -his perspiring forehead and thinking uncomplimentary things about the -weather. - -“Yes, children don’t mind runnin’ when it’s ninety-four in the shade,” -he observed, “but as for me, you don’t catch me hurryin’ myself to-day, -not for nothin’ nor nobody. Hark! What’s that?” - -A sharp, piercing, frantic cry tore the stillness into echoes and went -resounding down the length of the gorge. The butler paused an instant; -the cry was repeated again and again. Without more ado he started into -a fierce run that brought him, in no time at all, to the threshold of -Pine Lodge where, peering in, he saw Polly crouching on the further -bench, leaning over the ledge and uttering shriek after shriek for -help. He sprang to her side with a bound, gave one quick glance into -the gloom of the ravine below and then, with a warning “Hush!” to -her and an encouraging nod and smile to the white face turned toward -him from a tangle of brush and gnarled roots upon the bank beneath, -wheeled about and, like a flash, disappeared around the side of the -summer-house. - -Polly caught her breath in a queer, gulping sob. After what seemed to -her like ages of time help had come! Now if Priscilla could but keep -her hold upon that bare pine-tree root to which she was clinging! If -the bare pine-tree root would not give way beneath her grasp! In some -miraculous way she had escaped plunging headlong to the bottom of the -gorge. Her fall had been broken by the tangle of wild bushes and the -undergrowth of strong young saplings lining the bank, and in the quick -second in which she felt the earth beneath her again she had managed -to brace herself and cling to a supporting root. But her strength was -almost gone and Polly could see that in a moment more her slender -courage must give way. Would James never come? Why had he not leaped -right over the side of the Lodge and reached Priscilla that way? It -would have been quicker. Surely it would have been quicker! But James -knew what he was about, if Polly did not. He had seen at a glance -that the weight of a heavier body might readily dislodge the insecure -rocks and earth that were serving to support the little girl and that -his only safe course was to skirt the Lodge, go to a farther point of -the bank and, by slipping and sliding down, as best he might, reach -the bottom of the ravine and rescue Priscilla from below. It was, -in reality, but a few seconds before Polly saw him again, swinging -himself over the little rail that fenced in the bank, and dropping -carefully down, down from rock to rock to the bed of the shallow stream -that flowed at the base of the gorge. Once at the bottom he was less -impeded. In a twinkling he had reached the point where Priscilla hung, -had found a firm foothold, and was urging her to drop into one of his -strong arms while he clung to the supporting roots of a towering pine -with the other. Polly watched him with straining eyes. - -“Don’t be afraid! Drop!” commanded James encouragingly. - -Whether Priscilla heard him or not Polly could not tell, but the -frantic grasp of her little fingers around the root did not relax and -her white face and wide-open eyes stared up blindly from out of the -soft gloom below without a trace of life in them. “Don’t be afraid! -Drop!” repeated James. - -He drew himself up an inch or two higher and flung his strong arm tight -about her. It was not an instant too soon for, with a sudden, sharp -snap and crack of sundering wood the half-rotten root she clung to gave -way beneath her gripping fingers. The sound of it and the feeling that -she had lost her support, seemed the only things she had reason enough -left to realize. With a long, low cry of despair her arms dropped to -her sides and her eyelids closed upon her staring eyes. - -James’ strong arm was firm and steady; he held her close. Polly -breathlessly watched him as, inch by inch, he descended the bank to the -bottom of the gorge and then carefully picked his way along to the far -point where a flight of wooden steps, securely fastened to the rock, -led up the terrace beyond. - -Then, for the first time the thought flashed into Polly’s mind, “What -would Priscilla’s mother say?” - -She slid down to the floor, forgetful of dolls, play-toys and -everything else, and ran blindly back to the house. Her flying feet -brought her to the entrance before James, with his little burden, had -fairly reached the terrace. - -“Hannah! Oh, Hannah!” she called out, as soon as she had crossed the -door-sill and was actually within the hall. - -Hannah hurried to her from the living-room, alarmed by her -terror-stricken voice. - -“What on earth is it, child? For pity’s sake what’s happened now?” - -“Oh, Hannah!” Polly panted, “Priscilla! It’s Priscilla! She--she---- -We were in Pine Lodge and she fell over into the ravine and James has -got her--he’s bringing her in now, I guess. Oh, Hannah! Hannah---- She -was alive! But her eyes shut when the root broke and now I’m afraid -she’s----” - -“Hush, Polly!” commanded Hannah sternly. “Stop your crying. Mrs. Duer -mustn’t hear you. She mustn’t know--yet. You say James has got her? Oh, -here he is! Give her to me, James! Quick, quick, man! How slow you are!” - -“Go easy, Hannah!” the young man said. “She’s all right. Don’t get -upset! She’s got a few bruises, no doubt, and her hands are torn a bit, -but she’ll pull through all right when she comes out of this faint and -has time to get over the shock and the fright of it.” - -But Hannah hardly heard him. She gathered her darling into her arms -with a sort of savage eagerness, and, puffing and panting with the -exertion and the heat, carried her up-stairs into her mother’s room and -closed the door. Polly dared not follow. - -Oh, the wretched hours that passed before the doctor came! And the -miserable hours that passed while he was there! That closed door seemed -to shut Polly out from all the brightness and joy of the world and she -felt she would never, never, never be happy again. Midday came, but no -one wanted to eat. The dreary afternoon crawled slowly past and the -great red sun began to sink. Polly could not swallow her supper; James -had to carry it away again almost untasted. - -“Don’t you go to being so down-hearted,” he said, kindly. “Little Miss -Priscilla is coming out all right, never you fear. She’s had an ugly -shock, but she’ll get over it by and by and be as right as a trivet -again.” - -“Oh, James, do you really think so?” Polly cried, longing to be -comforted. - -“Sure!” responded the butler cheerfully. - -Late that night Hannah, stealing noiselessly up-stairs was surprised to -hear Polly’s voice softly calling to her through the dark. - -“Hannah! is that you?” - -“Yes, Polly. Why aren’t you asleep, child?” - -“I don’t know. How’s Priscilla?” - -“Well, to tell the truth, the doctor isn’t ready to say. He isn’t -worryin’ much about her bruises, but--but--well, we’ll have to wait, -that’s all. She’s got considerable fever and the fright won’t leave -her. She drops asleep for a minute or two and then starts up wide awake -and shrieking with terror. She can’t get any rest, poor lamb. It’s that -that makes us most anxious. Of course we don’t take for truth anything -she says in this state, but it’s curious how contrary-minded people get -when they’re not quite themselves. She has an idea you’re trying to -hurt her and she cries out to us not to let you come into the room. -I’ve told her mother over and over again you wouldn’t see a hair of -Priscilla’s head harmed and you wouldn’t, now would you, Polly?” - -Hannah paused a moment for Polly’s answer, but when none came she went -on consolingly, “I’ve told Mrs. Duer not to mind the foolish things -Priscilla says, for it isn’t believable that you would lay hands on -her to shake her or that it was because of a falling-out you had that -she fell over the side of the lodge. Only, you see, Polly, while -Priscilla’s head is like this and she has such foolish sick fancies it -wouldn’t do to excite her and so you’ll just have to keep out of the -way for a while, and not fret to go to her. When she’s up and about -again it’ll be all right, but for the present it’s pretty hard on us -all--the waiting. Now, go to sleep, like a good girl and to-morrow you -shall tell just how it all happened. You’re not to blame, I’m sure, -Polly, but it will be better all round for you to let Mrs. Duer know -the right of the case and that Priscilla’s saying you shook her and was -the cause of her fall, is just something she’s dreaming and that it -isn’t really true at all.” - -Then, with a tired “Good-night! Now go to sleep like a good girl,” and -without waiting for more, Hannah left the room to return to Priscilla, -and Polly was left in the darkness and the silence again. - -The big clock in the corner ticked out the seconds with slow -distinctness; a little screech-owl in the branches of the big oak-tree -just beyond the window repeated its dismal, quivering call. Polly -buried her face in the pillows and trembled. She had thought she was -unhappy before, when Priscilla’s sickness was the only weight upon her -heart. But now there was a worse one added to that. The knowledge that -she would be held responsible for the accident and whatever resulted -from it. - -Poor Polly! She had quite forgotten the little tiff of the morning -but now it came back to her with cruel clearness for Hannah’s words -showed plainly enough that Priscilla had not forgotten. What could she -say the next morning when Mrs. Duer should ask her if what Priscilla -said was true? For what Priscilla said was true: Polly could not deny -it. It was true Polly had shaken Priscilla and Priscilla “to pay her -back” it appeared, had leaned over the ledge of the Lodge. She saw it -all now. So it was true also that Priscilla’s fall was somehow due to -Polly’s temper. It all seemed very terrible and confusing and hopeless. -She knew in her heart that she was not utterly to blame and yet--and -yet she could not reason out her excuse and she could not explain. She -heard the clock strike “Twelve!”--“one”--“two”--and then, at last, worn -out and thoroughly miserable she fell asleep and slept until long -after her usual time for rising. - -This morning there was no kindly Hannah to oversee her bath; no -friendly Priscilla to frolic with. Everything was lonely, still, and -discouraging. She ate her breakfast in silence and then wandered off -to the nursery window and gazed out disconsolately into the blinding -brightness of the sunny grounds below. Presently she heard the sound -of wheels crunching on the gravel of the driveway and saw the doctor’s -carriage swing briskly around the sweep in front of the house. She -slipped quickly down-stairs and flew breathlessly out into the -vestibule, just in time to meet Dr. Crosby on his way into the hall. - -“Good-morning, little lady!” he said genially, resting a kind hand for -a moment upon her shoulder and looking narrowly into her pale, anxious, -tear-stained face. “And how do you do this fine, hot morning?” - -Polly nodded gratefully and tried to say, “Very well, I thank you,” but -could not quite accomplish it. The doctor saw she had something upon -her mind and patiently waited to learn what it was. At last she was -able to speak. - -“Priscilla,” she stammered. “Is Priscilla going to--going to--be worse?” - -“Why, bless your heart, no,” Dr. Crosby replied promptly. “On the -contrary Priscilla is going to be better very soon, quite well, in -fact. When I left her at four o’clock this morning she was sleeping -soundly, and if she has rested well ever since, we’ll have her up and -about in no time. So don’t be down-hearted, child. I suppose you are -the Polly Priscilla has had so much to say about, and you’re fretting -because she has sick notions and doesn’t want to see you? Pooh, pooh! -never mind that! We’ll send her away somewhere for a few weeks for a -change, and by the time she comes back she will have forgotten all -about it and you’ll be as good friends as ever,” and with that, and -an encouraging pat upon the head, the good-hearted doctor hurried -up-stairs. - -Polly crept back to the nursery only half-comforted. Priscilla might be -better and, if she were, of course, that would be an immense relief, -but in the meantime she was angry at Polly and would have to be taken -away before she would get over it. - -Presently there were the sounds of opening and closing doors on -the floor below; the doctor’s cheery voice was raised in a jovial -laugh, and, after a moment, Hannah came up-stairs looking tired and -hollow-eyed, to be sure, but still smiling and happy. - -“Thanks be to God,” she said reverently, “the child is better. She’s -had five hours of steady sleep, and the rest has done her a world of -good. She’s her own dear, quiet little self again.” - -“Then I can go to her?” cried Polly, springing up eagerly. “She isn’t -angry at me any more, now she’s better?” - -Hannah hesitated. “Well, I can’t say exactly that,” she replied. “I -asked her if she didn’t want to see you and she shook her head. It’s -just a whim of course, but it wouldn’t do to force her against her -will while she’s so weak, so you’ll just have to wait patiently till -she comes around of herself. Meanwhile Mrs. Duer wants to have you -come to her in the living-room. There, there, child! don’t look like -that! You’ve nothing to fear. Just keep up a brave heart, answer her -questions truthfully and don’t cry, or tire her with a long story. She -hasn’t slept a wink all night and she needs rest as much as Priscilla -does, so be quick about what you have to say; only speak when you’re -spoken to and leave her to catch a nap if she can.” - -How she got down to the living-room door Polly did not know. The brave -heart Hannah had bade her keep up must have sunk to the region of her -shoes, for her feet were as heavy as lead and her left side felt quite -sickeningly empty and hollow. She managed to give the door a gentle -tap, and when Mrs. Duer’s gentle voice said, “Come in!” she crossed the -threshold. - -“Good-morning, Polly!” said Priscilla’s mother kindly from where she -lay on the couch by the open French windows. - -“Good-morning!” responded Polly from between two stiffened lips. - -“Come over here, dear, and sit upon this cushion beside me. I want to -ask you a few questions about yesterday. I’m sure you can answer them -satisfactorily. There! That is right! Now, you know, dear, Priscilla -had a serious shock yesterday, and for a number of hours she was not -responsible for what she said. She said strange things which we do not -believe are true. I’m sure, for instance, that you would not refuse to -get her doll for her if she asked you to do so.” - -Polly did not answer. - -“You did not refuse to get her doll for her, did you?” - -“Yes, Mrs. Duer.” - -Mrs. Duer’s pale cheeks flushed a little. “I’m sorry,” she said. -“I’m very sorry and disappointed, Polly. That was not like you; it -was hardly kind, I think. But I am quite confident you did not shake -Priscilla because she continued to ask you to get her doll after you -had refused. Tell me, dear, you did not shake Priscilla?” - -“Yes, Mrs. Duer.” - -For a second or two the room was very quiet. Polly was having a mighty -struggle with herself. Hannah had told her only to speak when she was -spoken to, and yet she knew that her answers to Mrs. Duer’s questions, -truthful though they were, did not give a just account of the trouble -between her and Priscilla. There was something amiss somewhere that she -could not straighten out. - -Mrs. Duer, meanwhile, was struggling on her side to conquer the feeling -that had grown in her against this ungrateful little girl for whom she -had done so much. - -At length she spoke again. - -“I am very sorry and very much disappointed, Polly. I never could have -believed that you would grieve me so. To raise your hand against gentle -little Priscilla, who is so delicate and who loved you so much! Well, -child, I suppose you did not realize what you were doing, and you -certainly look as if you had suffered for your fault. Still, I do not -feel as if I could ever trust you again with my little girl.” - -Then somehow, in spite of Hannah, in spite of everything, Polly’s -self-control gave way. “I wasn’t to blame! I wasn’t to blame!” she -cried chokingly, over and over again. - -Mrs. Duer sighed. “I am willing to believe you did not mean to be to -blame,” she admitted patiently. “But now I want to tell you that I have -decided to take Priscilla away for a while. She needs a change and it -will be better for you both to be separated for the present. Hannah -will go with me, but you can stay on here while we are gone, at least, -and Theresa will look after you. I am sure you will be a good and -obedient child and do just as she tells you, so that I shall not have -to be anxious on your account while I am absent. You have been honest -in confessing the truth and so I am willing to believe you will keep -your promise if you give me your word you will be good and obedient -while I am away and will do as Theresa tells you. Will you, Polly?” - -“Yes, Mrs. Duer.” - -“You will not go outside the gates unless Theresa goes with you?” - -“No, Mrs. Duer.” - -“And you will remember your promise to obey her absolutely?” - -“Ye-es, Mrs. Duer.” - -“Very well. Now I think you may go up-stairs, or out under the trees to -play, or anywhere within the grounds that you choose.” - -But Polly still lingered, trying to utter the words that were catching -so cruelly in her throat. - -Mrs. Duer wondered a little why she did not start. - -“May I--may I----” - -“May you what?” - -“May I go back to--to the--store again, please?” - -“To the store? I don’t understand.” - -“Where I was when Miss Cissy came. Mr. Phelps--he’s the -superintendent--said I--he would take me back any time. He said I was a -trustable--he said I was a good cash-girl and--and---- I’d like to go, -if you don’t mind,” Polly murmured in broken breaths. - -Mrs. Duer raised herself upon her elbow. “Ah, but I do mind,” she -replied instantly. “On no consideration can you go back. In the first -place you would have nowhere to stay--your sister at the hospital could -not have you--and then,--but it is quite out of the question and we -won’t discuss it further.” - -Polly turned slowly and went toward the door. She had to grope her way -because of the blur before her eyes that shut out everything, but at -last she managed to lay her hand upon the knob and to turn it. The next -moment she was in the cool, dim hall and the next--she had hung herself -face downward on the great tiger-skin upon the polished floor and was -crying as if her heart would break. No one saw her; no one heard her. - -Mrs. Duer in the living-room was trying to rest. Priscilla was dozing -in the darkened bedchamber up-stairs, with Hannah on guard and James -was carrying down from the attic the trunks and traveling-bags that -would be needed for the journey, and whistling cheerfully beneath -his breath as he did it, for Mrs. Duer had told him he might take the -occasion of her absence to go upon a little trip of his own and he was -looking forward to his holiday as eagerly as if he had been a boy. - -But in the midst of her misery Polly remembered the absurd little rhyme -sister had repeated to her that last day at the hospital: - - “Good little babies bravely bear a deal, - They hold their little heads up - No matter how they feel.” - -She scrambled to her feet in a twinkling, brushed away her tears -and returned to the nursery where she busied herself setting her -writing-desk in order and rearranging the articles upon her table. She -put the fragments of her shattered bank into the table-drawer after -vainly trying to fit them together again. It was the first bank she had -ever owned and she reflected sadly that it would probably be the last. -For surely what Mrs. Duer had meant a little while ago was that she did -not wish Priscilla to play with her any more. And if Priscilla was not -to play with her any more then--then--why then she would be sent away. -She wondered what sister would say; and dear Miss Cicely! how grieved -and disappointed she would be. And yet, if Miss Cicely were here Polly -felt she could make her understand the things she could not explain to -Mrs. Duer--the things that would show she was not so entirely blamable -as she seemed. Yes, Miss Cicely would certainly understand. As for -Hannah---- - -Good Hannah found an opportunity, in the midst of all her hurry and -worry, to run up-stairs to the nursery for a minute, just before -bedtime and to say in a confidential whisper: - -“There now, Polly, don’t you go to fretting yourself to skin and bone -over this. Just you keep still and be good and it will all come out -right in the end.” - -“But Hannah, oh, Hannah,” Polly groaned. “Priscilla’s angry at me, and -she stays angry. And Mrs. Duer said she couldn’t trust me any more.” - -“Well, well, it’s hard, I know, but all the same, be a good girl and I -warrant things will come out right in the end. We won’t be gone so very -long and when we come back who knows what may happen.” - -So Polly went to sleep with a more hopeful heart than she had carried -for many hours and the next morning she watched the travelers depart -with what was almost a smile of contentment, for was she not going to -be the best and most obedient of girls while they were gone, so that -when they came back--who knew what might happen? - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE TELEGRAM - - -The days dragged slowly by; hot, sultry, lonely days. There was nothing -much for a little girl to do in the great empty house, and Polly -wandered about rather disconsolately at first, missing good Hannah and -Priscilla at every turn and learning anew how dear they had become to -her. There was not much fun in playing with her doll when there was no -one to join in the game. She visited Oh-my in his stable and found the -greatest consolation in telling him her secrets and feeling that he -understood and sympathized with her. - -“You see, pony,” she explained, “I haven’t got anybody to talk to now -but you, and it makes me feel lonesome. Theresa has the charge of me, -but she stays down-stairs mostly and doesn’t pay very much attention. -Besides, James told me she doesn’t like little girls, and I guess it’s -true, for sometimes her voice isn’t very pleasant when she says things -to me and I’d rather not bother her unless I have to, because it makes -her nervous.” - -And Oh-my put his head down and nosed Polly’s hand in the friendliest, -manner possible, as if to say: “I understand perfectly, my dear. I’ve -gone through the same thing myself, so I know precisely how you feel.” - -But one thunder-stormy day Polly happened to stroll into the library -down-stairs, because the nursery seemed so far off when the lightning -was flashing and the great, crashing peals made one’s breath clutch at -one’s throat, and as it happened, that was the last of her loneliness, -for how could one possibly feel solitary with such a multitude of -delightful friends as she found in those well-filled book-shelves? She -forgot the storm, forgot the heat, forgot everything, in fact, but the -new world she had found and that proved so full of endless delights and -surprises. - -She did not venture to take any of the volumes very far from their -shelves, but she discovered it was thoroughly comfortable, as well -as convenient, to cuddle back of the library curtains on the wide -window-sill, and, in this hidden nook with her new-found treasures to -keep her company, she was entirely happy and remained lost to the world -for hours at a time. So long as she appeared promptly at meal-time -Theresa did not care where she was, so Polly got through the days much -bettor than could have been expected and before she realized it, it was -drawing near the time when the travelers should return. - -Meanwhile, Priscilla was causing her mother and Hannah no end of -disappointment and worry. The railroad journeys tired and bored her -since there was no lively Polly across the aisle to invent new plays -for her or take the lead in the old ones. She sat upon the beach at -the seashore and could not be induced to stir from Hannah’s side. Once -or twice, some sociable child, anxious to make friends, would venture -up and ask if she did not want to come and play, but Priscilla always -turned away her head shyly and refused to be neighborly. - -“Why don’t you go and play with that nice little girl, Priscilla?” -Hannah urged. “She’s a real little lady. I’ve watched her ever since we -came on the sands and I’ve never seen her cross or selfish. Go along, -dear! You’ll have lots of fun.” - -But Priscilla shook her head. “I don’t want to,” she murmured -wistfully. “She doesn’t play the right way. Not--not--the way Polly -does. Polly plays the best way. If Polly were here I’d play.” - -The fresh sea-air brought the color back to her cheeks and she grew -thoroughly strong and well again, but she was languid and restless and -nothing appeared to please her. - -After three weeks of this her mother grew fairly discouraged. - -“We have tried the seaside and we have tried the mountains,” she -declared mournfully to Hannah, after a particularly dreary day in which -everything had gone wrong with Priscilla. “She doesn’t seem contented -anywhere.” - -“She’s not sick, that’s certain,” Hannah assured her consolingly. “The -doctors all say there’s nothing the matter with her. Dr. Crosby told me -he thought it was just a miracle the way she got over the shock of that -fall. He said it wouldn’t have been possible if she were as she used to -be.” - -“Yes, I know she is not sick,” went on the anxious mother, “but her -spirits do not improve. She was so happy and merry this summer, it -was a pleasure to see her. Her aunts and uncles all remarked what -a different child she was, but now--ever since her fall--she has -been going back to her old listless, moody ways again. I am utterly -distressed about her.” - -“Oh, now, I wouldn’t feel like that,” ventured Hannah, who in her heart -felt entirely the same, but wouldn’t have admitted it for the world. - -Just then Priscilla herself wandered into the room. The corners of her -mouth were drooping and her eyes looked quite ready for tears. - -Her mother held out her arms and the little girl went to her silently. - -“I wonder,” said Mrs. Duer, kissing the mournful lips and stroking back -the glossy hair with a loving hand, “I wonder what pleasant plan we -can make for to-morrow. What would you like to do, little daughter?” - -For answer Priscilla suddenly buried her face in her mother’s neck and -began to cry. - -“Why, what is it, darling?” - -“I don’t know,” came back in a broken whisper. - -“Don’t you like it here, dear?” - -“N-no.” - -“Would you like to go away?” - -“Y-yes, please.” - -“Very well, dear. We can leave to-morrow. And we’ll go anywhere you -choose.” - -Priscilla raised her head and her eyes were shining with pleasure as -well as tears. - -“Really?--Truly?” she cried eagerly. - -“Why, yes, pet,” her mother assured her in surprise. “Certainly we can -go to-morrow and anywhere you choose.--Back to the mountains if you -like.” - -Priscilla’s face fell and all the light went out of it. Her lip began -to quiver. Her mother and Hannah exchanged puzzled glances over her -head. - -“Don’t you want to go back to the mountains?” Mrs. Duer asked gently. - -“N-no.” - -“Well, we have plenty of time, dear. We can go where you like. We need -not hurry home.” - -But somehow this comforting assurance seemed only to start Priscilla’s -tears afresh. - -“I don’t want plenty of time,” she wailed dolefully. - -A sudden idea popped into Hannah’s head. She gave Mrs. Duer a quick -glance and then said quietly: “I shouldn’t want to hurry you on any -account, madam, but perhaps if we were to go home for a day or two -Priscilla might make up her mind better where she’d like to be. If we -didn’t stay out the rest of our time here, for instance, we could go -right home to-morrow.” - -But Priscilla had started up, her eyes aglow. Hannah pretended not to -notice her and continued unconcernedly: “We could telegraph to Theresa -to-night that we were coming to-morrow and, if we started bright and -early we could be home by evening, sure.” - -Priscilla clapped her hands. “And s’posing Lawrence and Richard would -meet us at the station!” she cried, half-laughing, half-crying, -her voice quivering with excitement: “and s’posing Oh-my was there -too--and--and s’posing--s’posing Polly was driving him--and--and----” - -“I shouldn’t wonder one mite if I were to ask the telegraph operator -down in the office to send that telegram to Theresa,” declared Hannah, -“that he’d send it for me in a minute.” - -Priscilla slipped from her mother’s arms. - -“Oh, Hannah,” she exclaimed, “would you ask him, would you?” - -Hannah laughed: “Well, dearie, I rather think I will,” she said. - -And that was the end of Priscilla’s low spirits. For the rest of the -afternoon she could hardly contain herself, and had to be warned of the -danger of postponing their journey if she did not sleep, before she -could be induced to compose herself for bed that night. - -It was plain enough, the child had been homesick. - -Early that same evening Polly, from her perch on the library window -seat, saw a bicycle shoot swiftly around the sweep of the driveway. She -was so absorbed in her book that she hardly raised her eyes to look at -it and was only dimly aware that the rider wore a uniform of blue, with -the cap of a telegraph-messenger upon his head. But Theresa was not, by -any means, so blind to what was going on about her. She spied the boy -at once and ran down to the kitchen area-way at the back of the house -to receive him. - -“Oh, botheration!” she ejaculated as she read the message. “If this -ain’t the most provoking world! Here I was counting on two more weeks’ -vacation at the very least and making plans and everything and now -comes a telegram to say the whole thing is up to-morrow.” - -“What’s that?” asked the cook, full of curiosity at once. - -“Why, the folks are coming-back to-morrow, that’s what!” Theresa -snapped. “And a horrid shame it is too. Upsetting a body’s arrangements -and disappointing ’em of two weeks’ holiday at least. James is the -lucky one! can go off where he chooses and take it easy.” - -“Oh, my!” exclaimed the cook good-naturedly, “is that all? Goodness! -I thought you’d lost your best friend, you acted so cut up. Why under -the sun shouldn’t the folks come home if they want to? It’s their -house. They ain’t running it altogether for our convenience, and as -to disappointing us of two extra weeks’ holiday as you call it--why, -that’s just nonsense, Theresa. We had no right to expect, so we -oughtn’t to be disappointed.” - -“Oh, you’re too good to be true!” Theresa retorted angrily, as she -flounced out of the kitchen. - -The cook looked after her with a broad smile of amusement on her fat, -good-natured face. “Well, well,” she murmured, comfortably, “Theresa -is a caution, and no mistake. Such a temper as she has got! And the -idea of her being in a fury because the folks is coming home! Plans! -Now, I wonder what the great plans are that she’s made and that their -coming’ll interfere with.” - -But it was not Theresa’s way to confide her plans to others and least -of all to one who would be pretty certain to disapprove of them. She -knew very well that the good-hearted cook would never stand by and see -her carry out a cruel plot of revenge against a helpless child if she -were aware of it. And that was what, to her shame, Theresa had meant -to do. She had by no means forgotten her grudge against Polly and had -intended to take this opportunity to prove it. But now the elaborate -scheme that it had taken her weeks to contrive was upset, for, with -James and Hannah about again the little girl would be well protected -and she would have no chance to wreak her spite upon her. She bit her -lips savagely as she went up-stairs with the unwelcome telegram crushed -tightly in her palm. - -Polly, happening to come out of the library just at the moment that -Theresa was crossing the hall, noticed the maid’s white lips quiver -and, thinking she was sick or unhappy, broke out at once with an -impulsive: “Oh, Theresa, what’s the matter? Has anything happened?” - -Theresa looked down at her for an instant with an ugly gleam in her -eyes. “Only a telegram,” she muttered curtly. - -Polly’s cheeks whitened. “A telegram!” she echoed. “They send telegrams -when people are sick or hurt or dead, don’t they?” - -Theresa nodded grimly. - -“Is any one you know of sick?” asked poor Polly, her quick sympathy -aroused at once and her thoughts traveling instantly to sister and -reminding her how badly she would feel if a telegram had come saying -sister was worse. - -Again Theresa nodded. - -“Oh, I’m so sorry,” said Polly heartily. “I’m ever and ever so sorry, -Theresa. I hope it isn’t your sister. I know how I’d feel if it was my -sister.” - -But like a flash of lightning a thought had shot across Theresa’s brain -and before she fairly knew she was speaking she heard herself say: “It -is your sister!” - -All in an instant she saw her way to get Polly out of the house before -the family returned. One plan was as good as another; if her first had -failed, this would be pretty sure to succeed. - -“Yes, child,” she went on, “it’s very sad, but--now don’t get -excited,--your sister is very sick! Very, very sick indeed.” - -“Does--does the telegram say that?” stammered Polly hoarsely. - -“The telegram says,” declared Theresa, unfolding the paper and -pretending to read it: “‘Sister worse. Wants Polly. Take first train -to-morrow morning.’” - -Polly clung to the stair-rail for support. She did not ask to see the -telegram. It never entered her innocent mind that Theresa would stoop -to deceive her. She did not doubt the woman for a moment, there was -no room in her overburdened little heart for anything but grief over -sister. - -“Now, Polly,” said Theresa quietly, “you mustn’t give way. You must -have grit and content yourself for to-night. And to-morrow morning I’ll -get you off by the first train. There won’t be the slightest trouble -about it. I’ll pack your things in a nice bundle and you can carry it -with you.” - -“But--but----” broke out Polly in despair, “Mrs. Duer told me not to go -outside the gates--and I promised.” - -“Unless I went with you,” corrected Theresa. “She told me all about -it and she made you give your word that you’d mind what I said and do -everything I told you to do.” - -“But--but----” cried Polly, still only half-convinced, “I don’t know -the way. I haven’t any money.” - -“Oh, pshaw!” exclaimed the maid. “That’s nothing. I’ll be glad to give -you your carfare and you haven’t to change cars once all the way. All -you have to do when you’re in the train is to sit still until you get -to the city. Then you walk through the station and up Madison Avenue -for a while and there you are, right at the hospital door. You can’t -possibly lose your way. It’s as plain as a pipe-stem. And I’ll wake you -early to-morrow morning, before the rest are up, and you can get away -on that first train.” - -Polly’s head was whirling. She passively let Theresa lead her up-stairs -and, in a sort of dream, saw her make ready a neat bundle containing -the very best of the dainty garments Miss Cissy and Mrs. Duer had given -her. She could not touch her supper, though Theresa had taken unusual -pains to make it an especially tempting one and kindly urged her, in -the friendliest manner possible, to eat. And later, although it grew -long past her bedtime, her tearless eyes refused to close. She lay -awake staring into the darkness, hearing the big clock tick and the -miserable little screech-owl moan and thought of sister and what she -would do if---- But here she always had to stop and go back again to -the beginning, for she could not get her thoughts to carry her beyond -the point of sister’s leaving her in the world alone. - -She must have fallen into a doze at last, for it was with a start of -surprise that she heard Theresa’s voice whispering in her ear: “Wake -up, Polly! Hurry! It’s time you were up and dressing! I’ve got a glass -of milk for you and some biscuits, and if you’re quick you won’t have -any trouble getting to the station in time for the train,” and knew -that it was morning and that she was back in the world again with that -awful gloom of sister’s being worse hanging over her and shutting out -the sunshine. - -Theresa was kindness itself. She helped Polly to dress, encouraged her -to eat her breakfast and quite laughed with good-natured generosity at -Polly’s reluctance to accept the money for her journey. - -“You see, Theresa, I could have paid for it myself,” the little girl -explained, “but I took the money out of my bank to give to Miss Cissy -when I lost the bag the night of the Fair.” - -“Oh, you did, did you?” said Theresa. “Did Miss Cissy know?” - -“Yes, I did,” repeated Polly. “No, I started to tell her, but she went -away. I took all there was in it. We had to break the bank to get it -out. The pieces are in my table-drawer. I couldn’t bear to throw them -away and, oh, dear!--now I guess I’d better go, please. I can’t eat any -more, really! And I’ve drunk all the milk----” - -“That’s a good girl,” the maid said kindly. “Now, step soft as ever you -can so as not to wake anybody. I’ll go down to the station, or almost -down to it, and see you in the train myself.” - -“But it’s such a long walk,” protested poor Polly. “You’ll get all -tired out.” - -“Oh, that’s nothing. I’ll carry your bundle and if we hurry I can be -back here in no time--before Bridget and the rest are up, I’m sure.” - -So, creeping softly and noiselessly down the long, silent halls and -staircases the two stole out of the house, through the grounds and out -into the sunny stretch of road beyond. It was a long, tiresome tramp, -but Polly was too excited to notice it. She wanted to hurry, to run, to -do anything that would help her to get to sister more speedily. Theresa -carried her bundle, which was rather heavy, to within a short distance -of the station. - -“Now, I can’t go any further with you,” she said as they reached the -last turn in the road, “for it’s getting late and I ought to be home if -I don’t want the girls to think I--I’m neglecting my work. But you’re -all right now, you can see the depot there in front of you. Just you -go straight into the waiting-room and up to the little window in the -middle and ask for a ticket to the city, and if the ticket-seller says -‘return?’ you say ‘No!’ for I couldn’t very well spare you the money -for both ways and have only given you enough to carry you down. You -won’t need any change after you get there, for the hospital isn’t very -far, and when you get to the hospital your sister will see to you or -some one else will. There’ll be no trouble about that. Well, run along -now and don’t, for the life of you, tell anybody what’s the matter or -why you’re going away or anything. It isn’t safe for little girls to -speak to strangers.” - -Polly promised and, with rather a heavy pat upon the shoulder that was -meant to seem friendly, Theresa shoved her forward on her way. - -After she had gone the maid stood and watched her with narrow, eager -eyes. She waited there, in fact hidden from sight behind the roadside -trees and bushes, until she heard the heavy train thunder up and off -again. Then she turned, sped quickly back along the path she and Polly -had come, and reached the house and the shelter of her own room before -any of the other servants were astir. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -WHAT HAPPENED TO POLLY - - -Priscilla’s spirits rose with every mile that brought her nearer home. -Her mother and Hannah watched her shining eyes with satisfaction and -listened to the rare sound of her merry chatter as if it had been the -sweetest of music. They were as grateful for the change in her as -sparrows are when, after a long succession of stormy days, the sun -comes out again. - -One question rather puzzled and disturbed her mother. - -What was to be done about Polly after their return? Priscilla seemed -to have forgiven and forgotten their quarrel and was ready and anxious -to make up and be friends once more, as Hannah had foretold she would -be, but Mrs. Duer could not help remembering that Polly had raised her -hand against her darling and, she felt that no one could blame her -if she were not willing to trust the child with her again. Priscilla -had so tender and compassionate a little heart that she could never -harbor ill-will against anybody, but she had barely escaped a dreadful -calamity and her mother felt that it would be worse than reckless -to run the risk of repeating a danger for which, plainly, Polly was -responsible. No; Polly must go, that was clear, and Priscilla would -doubtless soon cease to miss her, once she was at home again. - -But as they drew nearer and nearer their journey’s end it was easy -to see for whom Priscilla’s heart had been longing, and for what she -had been homesick. She thought and talked of nothing but Polly and -her usually silent little tongue fairly ran over with eager, anxious -chatter. - -“S’posing Polly were to be at the station to meet them!” “S’posing -Polly didn’t know they were coming and would be so surprised she’d jump -right up and down with gladness!” There seemed to be no end to the -delightful things Priscilla amused herself by “s’posing.” - -“When we get home I want to speak to Polly the first thing,” she -confided to Hannah. “I have something I very p’rtic’larly want to say -to her.” - -But when the train at last drew up beside the station and the travelers -stepped out upon the platform, Priscilla’s happy smile faded to a -wistful shadow of itself, for no Polly was awaiting her anywhere -about, as she had fondly encouraged herself to “s’pose” might be the -case. However, in the pleasant excitement of feeling she was really -at home at last, she recovered her good spirits and was as gay and -light-hearted as ever during the brisk drive from the depot. - -“I guess Polly will be waiting for us at the gate,” she managed to -whisper eagerly in Hannah’s ear, between quick little peerings this way -and that in the hope of spying her nearer at hand. But the carriage -rolled through the gate and up the shady avenue without bringing any -waiting Polly into view. Again Priscilla’s expectant smile grew wistful. - -“I s’pose, maybe, she’s waiting for us at the door,” she murmured still -hopefully, and kept her brown eyes fixed resolutely before her so that, -when the carriage should swing around the sweep in the driveway and -under the porte-cochêre, she might be the first to call out the glad -“Hello!” that would show Polly she was sorry and wanted to be friends -again; but only Theresa stood upon the steps to receive them, and Polly -was nowhere to be seen. - -Priscilla suffered herself to be lifted out of the carriage without -a word. Her chin was quivering a little but she did not cry. Perhaps -Polly was hiding somewhere and meant to surprise her by springing out -unexpectedly to welcome her with a kiss and a hug. - -Priscilla was naturally very timid, but in her eagerness to find Polly -she braved the shadowy staircases and lonely dim halls without a -moment’s hesitation. - -“P’raps she’s in the nursery and won’t come down ’cause I was horrid -and wouldn’t see her before I went away. Of course that’s it! Why -didn’t I think of it before?” Priscilla reasoned, and she ran along the -upper hall crying, “Polly! Polly! I’m home again! Where are you, Polly -dear?” - -But no jolly little figure came bounding forward in answer to her call -and the only sounds to be heard were those of her own quick-coming -breaths and the solemn ticking of the big clock in the corner. Then the -dimness, the quiet and the sense of her loneliness and disappointment -overcame Priscilla and with a long, quivering sob she cast herself face -downward upon the nursery-couch, where she and Polly had played so many -happy times and cried the bitterest tears she had ever shed. - -Down-stairs all was in the greatest confusion, for it seemed that no -one was able to inform Mrs. Duer where Polly was. Lawrence and Richard, -the coachman and groom, declared they had not seen her near the stables -all day: “And she never missed a morning all the time you were gone, -madam, to come out and give Oh-my an apple or a lump of sugar.” - -Theresa declared she had served the child her breakfast but hadn’t had -a glimpse of her since. - -“I was so busy getting the place in order, to receive you, that I -hadn’t a minute to think of Polly,” she confessed. “And when she -didn’t come in to luncheon I didn’t feel I could spare the time to hunt -for her.” - -“And yet I left her especially in your charge,” Mrs. Duer said, in -stern rebuke. - -Poor Hannah, tired as she was, set out immediately with Lawrence and -Richard to scour the grounds, while Mrs. Duer bade the household -servants search the house from garret to cellar. - -She herself hastened up to the nursery in the hope of finding some -clue to the mystery of the child’s disappearance. But all she saw -on entering the room was Priscilla crouching on the rug before -the nursery-couch and crying her heart out from loneliness and -disappointment. - -“My dearest, what is it?” asked Mrs. Duer anxiously hastening to her -and gathering her up tenderly in her arms. - -Priscilla hid her tear-stained face in her mother’s neck. “I want -Polly,” she sobbed out brokenly. - -“Yes, darling, I know you do,” Mrs. Duer said gently, “and I have no -doubt she will be found in a very little while. She was here, safe and -well, this morning, and she cannot have wandered far, for I forbade her -to go beyond the gates and I cannot believe she has disobeyed me.” - -“I have something I must p’rtic’larly tell her right away,” the shaken -little voice continued. - -“I wonder what it can be?” ventured Mrs. Duer, encouragingly. “Don’t -you think you can confide it to mother?” - -“I don’t know.” - -“Try.” - -The big clock in the corner ticked out the seconds with melancholy -distinctness. It seemed to Priscilla to be reproachfully repeating: -“Pol-ly’s gone! Pol-ly’s gone!” until she could endure it no longer. - -“I wanted to tell Polly I was sorry,” she gasped in a difficult whisper. - -“Sorry for what, dearest?” - -“The day I fell--I--I was horrid to Polly,” went on the penitent little -voice in a broken undertone. “I--I wouldn’t play with her first-off -when she wanted me to and then, when she went out to Pine Lodge, I was -lonesome and I wanted her, and so I went there too. I didn’t have my -doll and we couldn’t play. I asked her to get it ’cause I was tired. -She was tired too; she had a big bump on her head that hurt her; she -let me feel it thump. But--I teased her to get my doll; I kept right on -teasing.--She would have gone then but you’d told her not to leave me -alone there and then--and then--I felt wicked in my heart and wanted -to be horrid and--I thought it would frighten her if I got up on the -bench where you said I mustn’t. She begged me to get down--but I -leaned over--just to tease her. And I said I’d get down if she’d fetch -my doll. At last, after ever so long, she said she’d go and then I got -down.--But--but I guess she was ’xasp’rated, I had teased her so, and -leaned over the edge when she said I shouldn’t, and wouldn’t even let -her hold on to my skirt and--and--so--she shook me. She ’most cried the -minute she had done it and asked me to forgive her and make up. But I -wouldn’t.--I don’t know why I was so horrid;--it was awful--it choked -me--but I couldn’t vanquish it--I just kept on teasing her to get my -doll.--Then she did.--While she was gone I tried to think of a way to -pay her back for shaking me--and by and by I thought of one.--When -she brought the doll I just walked over to the bench and got up on it -again. I did it to pay her back.--She begged me not to--and I did--and -then--I fell--and it wasn’t Polly’s fault and--I--I want Polly!” - -And this was how Priscilla fought her first great battle with her -conscience and won. Her mother, hearing her heart flutter and bound, -and feeling the cold drops of moisture on her temples, knew that the -struggle had been a fierce one and loved her all the better for it. - -And somehow Priscilla had never felt so happy in all her life, in spite -of her unhappiness, as she did in that moment when her beautiful young -mother, of whom she had always stood a little in awe, kissed her -tenderly on her forehead and said: “God bless my little girl for being -honest enough to tell the truth and brave enough to confess her fault,” -and they had both cried and clung together and felt that they were very -fast friends indeed. - -But in the meantime it was growing darker every moment and still Polly -had not been found. Hannah came hastening up to report that no trace of -her had been discovered anywhere out of doors and Theresa had no better -news to tell of their search within. - -“She was all right and well this morning, I do assure you, madam,” the -maid insisted. “I served her breakfast with my own hands. She seemed -terribly upset, I will own, when you went away, but after a while it -seemed as if she had found something to take up her mind for she was -more contented-like. Since she’s been missing it has occurred to me -that perhaps she intended to run away and that she was planning how to -do it all the time I thought she was just amusing herself with books -and so on. I never was the prying kind, but I wonder if it would be -a good idea to look around and see if her things are all here--her -clothes, I mean, and such-like.” - -Mrs. Duer thought it would be an extremely good idea and Hannah made -haste to the little girl’s bureau drawers and closet. A great lump rose -in her throat as she discovered that the very finest and daintiest -of her garments--the ones Polly had liked the best--were missing from -their customary places. - -But Theresa was fingering the articles on Polly’s little table in the -corner, pulling the books and papers about and rummaging among them -busily. Suddenly she gave a start and exclamation: - -“It seems to me I remember that there used to be a little iron bank -here somewhere, full of loose change, wasn’t there, Hannah?” - -“Yes! Why?” responded Hannah almost harshly. - -“Because it isn’t here now,” replied Theresa. - -“It was Polly’s own bank,” Priscilla whispered in her mother’s ear. -“The money belonged to her, to do what she liked with. When Cousin -Cissy gave her some or Uncle Arthur did, or anybody, Polly always put -it in her bank, and she said she meant to buy things with it for some -people she knew; and I guess she meant us.” - -While Priscilla was talking Theresa, with a great ado, pulled open -the little drawer of the table. It came out with a jerk and there, -directly before her, lay the broken fragments of the bank. Without -a word she gathered them up and brought them to her mistress. They -seemed convincing proof that Polly had deliberately planned to go away -(without doubt back to the city) and had taken her savings to pay her -fare. - -Mrs. Duer rose. “That is enough, Theresa,” she said sadly. “Put -those pieces back where you found them, please, and then you can go -down-stairs. I shall not need you here any longer.” - -She was anxious to be alone with Hannah. - -As soon as the maid had left the room she turned to the nurse -exclaiming: “Oh, Hannah, it seems impossible! I can’t believe it of -the child. She promised me faithfully not to go beyond the gates and I -trusted her perfectly.” - -Hannah hesitated. “Polly thought you didn’t trust her,” she said -quietly. “It was only the night before we left home that she told me -you had said you couldn’t trust her any more. If it’s true that she has -deliberately gone away I think there’s no doubt but that’s why. But I’m -not ready to believe she’s run off so without a word of thanks for all -the love and kindness and generosity’s been shown her in this house. It -wouldn’t be like her. I won’t believe it till I must.” - -But Mrs. Duer’s thoughts were traveling back to the last time she had -seen the little girl: that afternoon in the living-room when she had -asked her about Priscilla’s accident, when she had told her she could -not trust her any more. She remembered the hurt look in Polly’s eyes -and the quiver in her voice as she asked to be permitted to go back to -the store where--where--(it was all clear to her now) where they did -trust her, where they thought she was “a good cash-girl.” Like a flash -the whole thing explained itself to Mrs. Duer. Polly had gone back to -the city, back to her old place. In a few hurried words she told Hannah -of what she was thinking: - -“I shall telephone at once to the station-master and learn if she has -taken any of the trains from the depot to-day and if she has I will go -to the city the first thing in the morning and find her, wherever she -is, and bring her back.” - -Priscilla’s tears had ceased. The thought of Polly alone, far off, -somewhere in the distant, dangerous darkness, made her heart stand -still with horror. She followed her mother and Hannah silently -down-stairs and stood by trembling while the telephone bell tinkled -merrily and the dreadful news came back over the wire that Polly had -indeed taken the earliest morning train that very day for the city and -that if there was anything wrong the station-master was very sorry, but -he had thought it was all right to let her go, although, now he came to -think of it, he had wondered at her being permitted to take such a long -journey alone. The ticket-seller said he remembered her particularly, -“because she seemed such a young one to be shifting for herself.” He -recollected that she had bought a ticket to town, but not back, and had -paid for it with a lot of loose change--“quarters and dimes and nickles -and such.” If he could do anything for Mrs. Duer she’d oblige him by -letting him know. - -But even now Hannah would not believe that Polly had run away. - -“Why, don’t you see, Mrs. Duer, it’s impossible,” she exclaimed in real -distress. “Polly isn’t disobedient nor ungrateful nor disloyal and -she’d be all of these and more if she’d gone off so and left us without -a word. There must be some way of explaining it.” - -But Mrs. Duer was not so sure. She felt terribly anxious and harassed. -What could she say to Polly’s sister if anything had happened to the -child? What could she do? - -Well, certainly nothing to-night. She would take the earliest train to -the city in the morning and in the meantime they must all get what rest -they could. Priscilla looked white and worn and ought to be put to bed -as soon as she had eaten her supper. But Priscilla could only choke -over her food and beg to be “excused” from the table. It was a sad -ending to a day that had begun so merrily. - -And how was Polly faring all this time? - -The journey in the train proved to be tediously long and dreary. -Quite, quite different from the one she had taken last, when she and -Priscilla had passed over the same road some months ago, in coming to -the country. After a while she began to feel faint and sick from the -motion of the cars and, though she did not realize it, from hunger. -The cold milk and hard biscuits of her breakfast were all Theresa had -provided her with, so her usual luncheon time came and went and she -had nothing to eat. Her empty little stomach rebelled. But she had -no thought for herself, her mind and heart were brimful of sister, -while the train that was carrying her to the city where sister lay -sick--worse--seemed to do no more than slowly crawl. The wheels refused -to grind out pleasant tunes, the hot sun blazed viciously through the -window next which she sat and the dust and smoke and cinders blew in -and settled upon her until she was covered with grime and grit. - -Put at last the end of the journey was reached. Polly took up her -heavy, cumbersome bundle and stumbled blindly out into the vast, busy -station, amid a babel of voices and a hurrying, struggling press -of passengers. She pushed forward in the thickest of the crowd and -presently found herself in the street, almost deafened by the clang and -clatter of trolley cars, the shouts of eager hackmen and the piercing -cries of shrill-voiced newsboys. The midday sun glared blindly into -her eyes and beat pitilessly upon her burning cheeks. She looked -about her in dismay, for she did not know her way about this part of -town and, for the first time in her life, the confusion of the city -terrified her. Theresa had bade her speak to no one and so she did -not venture to ask her way. Tugging wearily at her bulky burden she, -somehow, got past the line of shouting hackmen standing about the -station steps, and managed to cross the street. People pushed and -jostled her; draymen, with rough, hoarse voices, ordered her out of -the way, and motormen clanged their bells to warn her off the track. -She stumbled blindly along, hardly knowing where she set her feet and -really wandering straight in the wrong direction. It seemed to her that -she was forgotten and forsaken by all the world. - -She had known her way to and from the store and around and about the -streets near Priscilla’s house, but here she was all astray. She -stood still and tried to recall Theresa’s directions for reaching the -hospital: “You go through the station and up Madison Avenue for a while -and there you are!” - -She had left the station far, far behind and Madison Avenue was nowhere -within sight. - -The twine that Theresa had fastened about her bundle and that had -threatened to break from the time she started out, gave way with a -snap. She would have to gather up the loose ends and knot them as best -she could to prevent her clothes from strewing the pavement. While -she was bungling awkwardly over this, balancing the bundle unsteadily -against her knee, some one ran heavily against her and in an instant -her bundle was on the sidewalk. She dared not turn her head or look -around for she felt pretty sure that whoever had jostled her had done -it “on purpose,” since there was no crowd here and the street was wide. -But the next instant she heard a shrill whistle, a coarse laugh and -then a rough voice crying jeeringly: - -“My eyes! But if this ain’t a go! Blest if here isn’t the fine young -lady that lives on the Avenoo! The lady that ran away with my papers -one day along las’ spring! Hi, though, you don’t get off so easy this -time, sis! I owes you one an’ I’m honest, I am. When I owes, I pays, -see?” - -She turned her head, lifted her eyes and stared straight into the -mischievous, leering face of her old enemy--the newsboy. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -HOME AGAIN - - -Strangely enough the sight seemed to give her courage. She looked -fearlessly up at him and met his twinkling eyes without flinching. - -“Well, you are a cool one!” he exclaimed appreciatively. - -Polly’s fingers fumbled with the string of her recaptured bundle, but -she said nothing, nor did she remove her gaze from his face. - -“Say now--you needn’t go to the trouble of tyin’ up that bundle,” the -fellow continued. “I’m goin’ to carry it for you, see? and I won’t want -a string. You didn’t need a string the time you carried my papers for -me, did you? Droppin’ things behind you, one by one, can be done better -without a string!” - -Polly simply made a knot in the cord she was fingering and did not -reply. - -“I say!” exclaimed the newsboy at last, “what kind of a girl are you, -anyway? Why don’t you cry?” - -“There’s nothing to cry for,” said Polly, stoutly. - -“Oh, ain’t there! How do you know but I’m goin’ to cuff you over the -ear, same’s you did me?” - -“Because you won’t. It’s cowardly for a boy to hit a girl.” - -“And how about a girl hittin’ a fellow? Hey?” - -“You took my Priscilla’s doll! You made my Priscilla cry!” - -“Why, so I did! And you wouldn’t stand it! And so you hit me! Well, -you’re an out-an’-outer, and no mistake! Say now, d’you want to know -all I have against you?” - -Polly looked at him squarely but was too cautious to reply. - -“You can’t take a joke. You don’t know when a feller’s funnin’. Why, -bless your boots, I wouldn’t have took the kid’s doll off of her for a -farm! I was only foolin’, just to see what ye’d do and--my eye! but the -joke was on me--for you did it! you gave me as good a chase as I want -in a hurry! Say now, I like you a lot! I like any feller a lot that’s -got nerve and grit and when I like a feller a lot I stand by him! I’m -going to stand by you, see?” - -Then suddenly and without any warning Polly felt her eyes fill. - -The newsboy’s face fell. “Say now,” he exclaimed in a tone of anxious -reproach, “you ain’t goin’ to weaken now, are ye? When there ain’t -anything to cry for? An’ me thinkin’ you was an out-an’-outer, and -countin’ on your grit and savin’ I’d stand by you!” - -Polly smiled through the mist in her eyes. “I guess that’s just what -made me,” she confessed. “You see, I don’t know my way, and my sister’s -sick at the hospital and I can’t find her, and I thought I was all -alone, and when you said you’d stand by me--why----” - -The newsboy nodded. “I know,” he assured her bluffly. “But now, just -you leave that whole business to me. I’ll find the ’ospittle for you -without any trouble at all an’ you wait an’ see if your sister ain’t -better by the time you get there. That bundle of yours ’s no good. Who -did it up? Well, they--they didn’t know how, that’s all. Now you see -this leather? It’s what goes around my papers! Just you watch me strap -it round your bundle, fast an’ tight, like this--so-fashion! There y’ -are. See! Now come along. Step lively and keep off the grass!” - -Polly followed as fast as she could in his swinging steps. He guided -her across the crowded streets as safely and swiftly as if they had -been country lanes and, though it proved a long, long walk, almost -before she knew it, she found herself at the door of the hospital. - -“Now, I tell you what it is,” explained her escort, as she turned -to thank him. “I’ll wait out here till you give me the word that -everything’s O.K. inside. If ’tis, why, good enough! I’ll go about my -business, but if it isn’t--well--all you’ve got to do is to give me a -nod and I’ll be there for whatever ’s to be done.” - -So Polly went up the steps and timidly rang the bell. Her heart beat -suffocatingly as she asked for her sister, but no one in the office -seemed to be able to tell anything about her. Some one was sent -up-stairs to enquire and, meanwhile, she sat upon a wooden bench in -the cool, tiled hall and waited. It seemed ages before the messenger -returned. Nurses flitted through the corridors, laughing and chatting -together, telephone-bells rang, dispatch-boys came and went and the -office was astir with business. But Polly’s mind and heart were too -full for her to feel any concern in all the interesting bustle and -commotion about her. All she longed for was to be led to that quiet -room up-stairs where sister lay. - -The minutes dragged slowly, slowly by, and the hands of the round-faced -clock over the desk in the office seemed scarcely to move at all. Then, -just as she was beginning to think the messenger had forgotten her, -he returned accompanied by a cheerful-looking young woman in nurse’s -uniform, who came directly up to Polly and said in a kindly voice: -“You are enquiring about Miss Ruth Carter?” - -Polly nodded. - -“Well, her nurse has been called away and I don’t really know much more -than this--that a lady came for Miss Carter yesterday and took her -away. She isn’t here any more. Another patient has her room.” - -Polly stared hopelessly up at the cheerful-looking young woman and her -lips moved but she could not speak. - -“Perhaps you are Miss Carter’s little sister? Yes, I thought you might -be. Well, you’ll probably hear all about her when you get home. If her -nurse hadn’t been called away she could tell you just how the case -stands. I’m new here and don’t know anything more about Miss Carter -than what I’ve told you.” - -“Then you don’t know if she’s worse?” stammered Polly. - -“Why, no--I don’t,” admitted the nurse. - -“Do they--do they--ever take them away when they’re worse?” The -cheerful-looking nurse examined her cuffs with a good deal of interest. - -“Why, yes--sometimes they do,” she replied hesitatingly. “You know this -isn’t a hospital for incurables. If your sister had been here some time -and she couldn’t be cured, or if she grew worse she would have to be -removed.” - -Polly moved slowly toward the door. The cheerful-looking nurse did -not think it was worth while to take the trouble of looking up Ruth -Carter’s case in the hospital records just to satisfy a child. She had -something she wanted very much more to do, and so she let Polly out of -the great building with a pleasant, encouraging smile. The newsboy came -whistling around the corner as soon as the little girl appeared upon -the outer steps. - -“Everything O.K.?” he enquired. - -Polly shook her head. - -“O, I say, nothin’ ’s wrong with the sick lady, is there?” - -Polly nodded. - -“She ain’t--gone?” - -Again Polly nodded. - -“Well, I’m--I’m sorry! I say, you’re hard hit and that’s a fact! -Come--cry if you want to. Never mind me! It’ll do you good, p’raps. -Even a feller’d be let cry if--if--his folks at the ’ospittle -was--gone.” - -But Polly did not cry. She was too stunned. The newsboy joined her and -they walked slowly and silently down the street. At last Polly spoke: - -“I--don’t quite know--what I’d better do,” she said drearily. “I -haven’t any place to go and I haven’t any money.” - -Her companion whistled. - -“Why, I thought you were one of the four-hundred! You live on the -Avenoo!” - -“Yes, but the house is shut up. No one is there. They’re all in the -country.” - -“What’d they mean then, by lettin’ you come away alone with no money in -your pocket, eh?” - -Polly sighed. “I don’t know,” she said wearily. “A telegram came and -Theresa--she’s the parlor-maid--told me it was about sister’s being -worse and wanting me, and Theresa got me ready and--and--that’s all.” - -The newsboy considered. “Well, Tresser hasn’t got much sense--or -else--she’s got too much, that’s all I have to say about it,” he -exclaimed. “But that ain’t our business just now. What’s our business -just now is this: What are you goin’ to do? Now just you think. Ain’t -there any one--not a single soul you know in this friendly town? Not a -one? Just make a try at it, an’ fish up one! One ain’t much! Oh, I say, -I’d be willing to--to--declare you can think of one!” - -Polly shook her head. - -“We used to live down-town,” she explained. “But sister and I didn’t -know many people there, and besides they move about a great deal--the -down-town people do. And all Priscilla’s relations are in the country. -And sister’s nurse at the hospital is away too and----” - -“Did you, may be, know any one at the ’ospittle besides your sister?” - -“Only Mrs. Bell.” - -“Who’s Mrs. Bell?” - -“She’s the mother of little Cicely. She isn’t at the hospital any more. -Miss Cissy said she had moved into a nice little flat.” - -“Where?” - -Polly gave the street and number. - -The newsboy hailed a trolley and the next moment they were flashing -up-town as fast as electricity would take them. She was too bewildered -to know how or where they went, but blindly followed her leader and let -him pilot her from one car to another without a word. - -Dazed by the heat and her hunger, and stunned by the blow she had -received at the hospital, Polly did not even realize that they had -reached the street in which, Miss Cissy said, Mrs. Bell lived and was -not conscious of the fact that her companion had rung the bell of the -ground-floor flat and that they were standing before the door waiting -for it to be opened to them. But, in another moment her wits returned, -for the door was flung open, a flood of mellow sunlight streamed into -the dim hall in which they stood, and Mrs. Bell’s hearty voice, full of -amazement, was crying out: - -“Why, Polly!--Polly Carter! What brings you here?” - -The newsboy chuckled. Baby Cicely, in her mother’s arms, crowed lustily -and Polly uttered a sharp cry of joy--for there, just before her--not -two yards away--stood sister! Smiling and happy and--well! - -Nobody could understand how it had all come about, perhaps because -nobody could keep still long enough to listen to explanations, but one -can be very, very glad and thankful without quite understanding just -the way the things have occurred that make one so. - -Mrs. Bell would not hear of Polly’s protector leaving her house till he -had promised faithfully to come back again as soon as he had sold out -his “Extry ’Dition! Evenin’ Papers!” But when he had given his word and -gone whistling away she set about getting Polly something to eat, for -it was easy to see, in spite of her joy and excitement, that the child -was worn out with fatigue and faint from hunger. - -It was nothing less than luxury to sit in Mrs. Bell’s best chair, -sipping cool, fresh milk and eating a soft-boiled egg and buttered -bread, and seeing sister walk--really walk (somewhat slowly, to be -sure, and with the help of a stick, as yet) but still walk--back and -forth and about the room. - -Then, little by little, everything began to explain itself. Polly’s -coming to town on account of the telegram that had never been sent -(at which gentle sister’s eyes shot sparks of righteous indignation); -her meeting with her old enemy, who proved such a friend (at which -sister’s eyes grew soft again); sister’s having left the hospital the -day before, because she was entirely cured and because Miss Cicely -had arranged to take her up to the country the following morning as a -surprise for Polly, and Mrs. Bell having the dearest little flat in -the world because her husband had got a good position in Mr. Cameron’s -office and could afford to give her a comfortable home now, in which -she had begged to be allowed to entertain sister the first day she was -out of the hospital. It all seemed very wonderful and yet very simple, -when the tangles were unraveled. Even the cloud that had hung over -Polly since Priscilla’s accident seemed to grow lighter when sister -knew of it and pointed out the way to explain the matter to Mrs. Duer. -“We ought to send a dispatch to her at once,” Ruth Carter declared. -“She will be anxious about you, dear,” but Polly soon explained that -Priscilla, her mother and Hannah were still at the seashore and would -not be back for a week at least, and that as they had not known she was -absent they would hardly worry about her safety. So it was decided to -wait until to-morrow when Polly would go up to the country with Miss -Cicely and sister and they would all three be there together to welcome -the travelers on their return. - -So, while Priscilla and her mother and Hannah were spending the -dolefulest of evenings in the great country-house, Polly and sister and -little Cicely’s parents and Jim Conroy, the newsboy, were having the -happiest of ones in the little city flat. - -Priscilla, in her lonely night-nursery, fell asleep at last with her -cheek pressed against one of Polly’s old pinafores, which she had -smuggled into bed with her and was clasping lovingly to her breast, -while Mrs. Duer and Hannah sat up late, talking and planning about the -next day and the hurried trip to the city in search of Polly that both -of them felt should be made without delay. As it happened they were -both so tired that when they did, finally, go to bed, they slept so -soundly that they were late in waking the next morning and Mrs. Duer -missed her train. - -Her plan had been to go, directly upon reaching the city, to the store -where she felt pretty confident Polly had meant to return. But now this -idea must be given up and she must think of another way to get news of -the child. She sent a telegram to the firm and within an hour received -the reply: - -“Polly Carter left us in spring. Know nothing of her present -whereabouts.” - -It was a sort of comfort to Hannah and Priscilla when James returned, -as he did that morning. James had always seemed to like Polly and he -would surely grieve to hear she had gone. The good nurse told him -everything that had happened, as far as she knew it, with tears in her -voice as well as in her eyes, but when she came to the part where the -broken bank was made to prove that Polly had used her money to pay her -fare to the city, he sprang up with a shout and Hannah’s eyes grew dry -in a twinkling. - -“Why, bless your heart,” the butler exclaimed, “I can tell you all -about that bank. I smashed it myself--the night of the kirmess. It was -this way:----” - -And then out came the story of the little “chamois bag.” - -“And, by the way,” James concluded, “that bag is somewhere down the -ravine this minute, and I’m going to find it. I was on the way to, -when Miss Priscilla fell and then, in all the hurry and worry, I clean -forgot about it. But the five dollars in it belongs to Polly--fair and -square--and I’m going to get it for her, or my name’s not James Craig.” - -“But James,” interposed Hannah, “even if Polly didn’t take the money to -pay her fare, the fact remains that she’s gone.” - -“Why, yes, true enough,” admitted James, “but if Mrs. Duer told Polly -not to go out of the gates unless Theresa gave her leave, you may be -pretty certain Polly didn’t do it. The kind of character a person has -stands for something, as I look at it, and Polly has proved she’s the -right sort, clear through. You mark my words, Hannah, there’s a screw -loose somewhere, but it ain’t with Polly.” - -[Illustration: SHE RUSHED WILDLY FORWARD] - -So James strode off to the ravine to search for the little “chamois -bag,” and Hannah hastened back to Mrs. Duer to repeat to her what the -butler had just been saying. His cheery air and encouraging words -seemed to lift a weight from the heart of every one in the house except -Theresa. She was plunged in the deepest gloom, for she seemed to see -possibilities of her deception being discovered and she made up her -mind that if the truth of the telegram were brought to light she would -leave the house of her own accord rather than risk the disgrace of -being discharged by Mrs. Duer. She had not had an easy moment since -she saw the train sweep by that was carrying Polly into the sweltering -city on her hopeless errand. She had been haunted by the vision of her -trusting, sorrowful eyes as they had looked when she, Theresa, had told -her of the telegram and Polly had thought it contained bad news for -her. The memory seemed to stab her every time she thought of the child, -and, somehow, she thought of the child continually. She did not really -believe Polly would come back. The chances were too many against -her. She had no money, no friends in the city save the sister whom it -was improbable she would find and the heat in town was reported to be -prostrating. To her surprise Theresa found herself worrying about the -little girl’s danger and her heart softened in spite of herself. - -“The poor scrap,” she muttered uneasily, “I hope she’ll come to no -harm. Who knows, if Angeline had been like her, I might have been -different--better!--And then, again, who knows, if I’d been like her, -Angeline might have been different--better. Perhaps I’ll try, if I go -away from here, to be nicer to Angeline and maybe, if I am, and her -mother helps me, we can make a good child of her, after all. And maybe -we’ll be better, helping her, you can’t tell.” - -Theresa’s eyes grew curiously blurred and dim at the vision and her -hard, handsome face took on a very gentle, softened look. But all of a -sudden its expression changed to one of eager anxiety. She dropped Mrs. -Duer’s brush and comb, with a handful of other toilet articles she had -been in the act of replacing in the traveling-bag, which her mistress -intended taking with her when she went to the city, as she expected -to do, that afternoon; flew to the window and gazed out in a sort of -trance of amazement, for there, coming around the driveway, was one of -the station hacks and in it were Miss Cicely, Polly and some one else -whom, she knew at a glance, to be sister herself. - -Priscilla had lain hidden away in a shady corner of the veranda since -breakfast, mourning lonesomely, and refusing to be comforted, when -the sound of wheels upon the gravel made her look up. One glance was -enough. She was on her feet in an instant, rushing wildly to the -carriage entrance and crying: “Polly! Oh, my Polly! My Polly!” between -a shower of happy tears and a quiver of joyous laughter. - -Polly’s wistful face lit up with sudden surprise. Her lips trembled and -her cheeks grew pale. For a moment she could not speak; her heart was -too full. But Priscilla, frantic with delight, noticed nothing but that -she had her Polly back again. - -“Polly, oh, my Polly! My Polly!” she repeated over and over, while -James came running around the side of the house at the sound of her -happy voice, victoriously swinging the recaptured “chamois bag” above -his head, and Mrs. Duer and Hannah appeared simultaneously from the -house to join in the general jollification. - -It was a reception to be remembered. - -Priscilla clung to Polly and would not let her out of her sight for an -instant. Even the beloved Cousin Cicely had to take second place on -this occasion, but far from objecting, she joined with the others in -giving the little wanderer a royal welcome home and told the story of -her trials with so much truth and tenderness that--well, even James was -guilty of a stealthy sniff as he listened to the recital. - -Lawrence and Richard came up from the stables for the express purpose -of shaking Polly by the hand and telling her they were glad to have her -back again and Bridget and the rest had to be allowed to give their -greeting too, while the only one who did not appear was Theresa and -even she, it proved, had left her message behind her, for later in the -day Polly, on going to the nursery, discovered a hurriedly-written note -upon her bureau which read: - - “I’m going away. I’m sorry I acted mean to you. Tell them to - send my trunk where it’s directed to. - - “THERESA.” - -So Polly’s cup of bliss was filled to the brim and, as if it needed -one drop more for good measure, pressed down and running over, Miss -Cicely supplied it in the wonderful secret she had to tell and which -sounded very much like the ending to the story she had told sister that -memorable day of the tea-party in the hospital. - -“But,” concluded Miss Cicely, “if the Person and -The-Real-one-with-the-Heart are to get married, as they certainly -hope to do very soon, why, I’m afraid they will have to ask two -little girls they know to assist them through the ceremony. The two -little girls must consent to be dressed in white and lead the bridal -procession up the church aisle, for though there will be plenty -of blossoms to be had for the buying, there are none the Person -and The-Real-one-with-the-Heart like quite so much as the ones we -call--Sweet-P’s.” - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sweet P's, by Julie Mathilde Lippmann - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SWEET P'S *** - -***** This file should be named 53663-0.txt or 53663-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/6/6/53663/ - -Produced by MFR and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from -images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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