Pollyanna Eleanor H. Porter (classic english novels txt) đ
- Author: Eleanor H. Porter
Book online «Pollyanna Eleanor H. Porter (classic english novels txt) đ». Author Eleanor H. Porter
âHumph!â she vouchsafed. Then, showing her old-time interest, she went on: âBut, say, it is queer, his speakinâ to you, honestly, Miss Pollyanna. He donât speak ter no one; and he lives all alone in a great big lovely house all full of jest grand things, they say. Some says heâs crazy, and some jest cross; and some says heâs got a skeleton in his closet.â
âOh, Nancy!â shuddered Pollyanna. âHow can he keep such a dreadful thing? I should think heâd throw it away!â
Nancy chuckled. That Pollyanna had taken the skeleton literally instead of figuratively, she knew very well; but, perversely, she refrained from correcting the mistake.
âAnd everybody says heâs mysterious,â she went on. âSome years he jest travels, week in and week out, and itâs always in heathen countriesâ âEgypt and Asia and the Desert of Sarah, you know.â
âOh, a missionary,â nodded Pollyanna.
Nancy laughed oddly.
âWell, I didnât say that, Miss Pollyanna. When he comes back he writes booksâ âqueer, odd books, they say, about some gimcrack heâs found in them heathen countries. But he donât never seem ter want ter spend no money hereâ âleastways, not for jest livinâ.â
âOf course notâ âif heâs saving it for the heathen,â declared Pollyanna. âBut he is a funny man, and heâs different, too, just like Mrs. Snow, only heâs a different different.â
âWell, I guess he isâ ârather,â chuckled Nancy.
âIâm gladderân ever now, anyhow, that he speaks to me,â sighed Pollyanna contentedly.
X A Surprise for Mrs. SnowThe next time Pollyanna went to see Mrs. Snow, she found that lady, as at first, in a darkened room.
âItâs the little girl from Miss Pollyâs, mother,â announced Milly, in a tired manner; then Pollyanna found herself alone with the invalid.
âOh, itâs you, is it?â asked a fretful voice from the bed. âI remember you. Anybodyâd remember you, I guess, if they saw you once. I wish you had come yesterday. I wanted you yesterday.â
âDid you? Well, Iâm glad âtisnât any farther away from yesterday than today is, then,â laughed Pollyanna, advancing cheerily into the room, and setting her basket carefully down on a chair. âMy! but arenât you dark here, though? I canât see you a bit,â she cried, unhesitatingly crossing to the window and pulling up the shade. âI want to see if youâve fixed your hair like I didâ âoh, you havenât! But, never mind; Iâm glad you havenât, after all, âcause maybe youâll let me do itâ âlater. But now I want you to see what Iâve brought you.â
The woman stirred restlessly.
âJust as if how it looks would make any difference in how it tastes,â she scoffedâ âbut she turned her eyes toward the basket. âWell, what is it?â
âGuess! What do you want?â Pollyanna had skipped back to the basket. Her face was alight. The sick woman frowned.
âWhy, I donât want anything, as I know of,â she sighed. âAfter all, they all taste alike!â
Pollyanna chuckled.
âThis wonât. Guess! If you did want something, what would it be?â
The woman hesitated. She did not realize it herself, but she had so long been accustomed to wanting what she did not have, that to state offhand what she did want seemed impossibleâ âuntil she knew what she had. Obviously, however, she must say something. This extraordinary child was waiting.
âWell, of course, thereâs lamb brothâ ââ
âIâve got it!â crowed Pollyanna.
âBut thatâs what I didnât want,â sighed the sick woman, sure now of what her stomach craved. âIt was chicken I wanted.â
âOh, Iâve got that, too,â chuckled Pollyanna.
The woman turned in amazement.
âBoth of them?â she demanded.
âYesâ âand calfâs-foot jelly,â triumphed Pollyanna. âI was just bound you should have what you wanted for once; so Nancy and I fixed it. Oh, of course, thereâs only a little of eachâ âbut thereâs some of all of âem! Iâm so glad you did want chicken,â she went on contentedly, as she lifted the three little bowls from her basket. âYou see, I got to thinking on the way hereâ âwhat if you should say tripe, or onions, or something like that, that I didnât have! Wouldnât it have been a shameâ âwhen Iâd tried so hard?â she laughed merrily.
There was no reply. The sick woman seemed to be tryingâ âmentally to find something she had lost.
âThere! Iâm to leave them all,â announced Pollyanna, as she arranged the three bowls in a row on the table. âLike enough itâll be lamb broth you want tomorrow. How do you do today?â she finished in polite inquiry.
âVery poorly, thank you,â murmured Mrs. Snow, falling back into her usual listless attitude. âI lost my nap this morning. Nellie Higgins next door has begun music lessons, and her practicing drives me nearly wild. She was at it all the morningâ âevery minute! Iâm sure, I donât know what I shall do!â
Polly nodded sympathetically.
âI know. It is awful! Mrs. White had it onceâ âone of my Ladiesâ Aiders, you know. She had rheumatic fever, too, at the same time, so she couldnât thrash âround. She said âtwould have been easier if she could have. Can you?â
âCan Iâ âwhat?â
âThrash âroundâ âmove, you know, so as to change your position when the music gets too hard to stand.â
Mrs. Snow stared a little.
âWhy, of course I can moveâ âanywhereâ âin bed,â she rejoined a little irritably.
âWell, you can be glad of that, then, anyhow, canât you?â nodded Pollyanna. âMrs. White couldnât. You canât thrash when you have rheumatic feverâ âthough you want to something awful, Mrs. White says. She told me afterwards she reckoned sheâd have gone raving crazy if it hadnât been for Mr. Whiteâs sisterâs earsâ âbeing deaf, so.â
âSisterâsâ âears! What do you mean?â
Pollyanna laughed.
âWell, I reckon I didnât tell it all, and I forgot you didnât know Mrs. White. You see, Miss White was deafâ âawfully deaf; and she came to visit âem and to help take care of Mrs. White and the house. Well, they had such an awful time making her understand anything, that after that, every time the piano commenced to play across the street, Mrs. White felt so glad she could hear it, that she didnât mind so much that she did hear it, âcause she
Comments (0)