Pollyanna Grows Up Eleanor H. Porter (booksvooks .TXT) đ
- Author: Eleanor H. Porter
Book online «Pollyanna Grows Up Eleanor H. Porter (booksvooks .TXT) đ». Author Eleanor H. Porter
From somewhere the boy produced a small pasteboard box which he opened guardedly, mindful of the numberless bright little eyes that were watching every move. All about him now sounded the whir and flutter of wings, the cooing of doves, the saucy twitter of the sparrows. Sir Lancelot, alert and eager, occupied one arm of the wheel chair. Another bushy-tailed little fellow, less venturesome, sat back on his haunches five feet away. A third squirrel chattered noisily on a neighboring tree-branch.
From the box the boy took a few nuts, a small roll, and a doughnut. At the latter he looked longingly, hesitatingly.
âDid youâ âbring anything?â he asked then.
âLotsâ âin here,â nodded Pollyanna, tapping the paper bag she carried.
âOh, then perhaps I will eat it today,â sighed the boy, dropping the doughnut back into the box with an air of relief.
Pollyanna, on whom the significance of this action was quite lost, thrust her fingers into her own bag, and the banquet was on.
It was a wonderful hour. To Pollyanna it was, in a way, the most wonderful hour she had ever spent, for she had found someone who could talk faster and longer than she could. This strange youth seemed to have an inexhaustible fund of marvelous stories of brave knights and fair ladies, of tournaments and battles. Moreover, so vividly did he draw his pictures that Pollyanna saw with her own eyes the deeds of valor, the knights in armor, and the fair ladies with their jeweled gowns and tresses, even though she was really looking at a flock of fluttering doves and sparrows and a group of frisking squirrels on a wide sweep of sunlit grass.
The Ladiesâ Aiders were forgotten. Even the glad game was not thought of. Pollyanna, with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes was trailing down the golden ages led by a romance-fed boy whoâ âthough she did not know itâ âwas trying to crowd into this one short hour of congenial companionship countless dreary days of loneliness and longing.
Not until the noon bells sent Pollyanna hurrying homeward did she remember that she did not even yet know the boyâs name.
âI only know it isnât âSir James,âââ she sighed to herself, frowning with vexation. âBut never mind. I can ask him tomorrow.â
VIII JamiePollyanna did not see the boy âtomorrow.â It rained, and she could not go to the Garden at all. It rained the next day, too. Even on the third day she did not see him, for, though the sun came out bright and warm, and though she went very early in the afternoon to the Garden and waited long, he did not come at all. But on the fourth day he was there in his old place, and Pollyanna hastened forward with a joyous greeting.
âOh, Iâm so glad, glad to see you! But whereâve you been? You werenât here yesterday at all.â
âI couldnât. The pain wouldnât let me come yesterday,â explained the lad, who was looking very white.
âThe pain! Oh, does itâ âache?â stammered Pollyanna, all sympathy at once.
âOh, yes, always,â nodded the boy, with a cheerfully matter-of-fact air. âMost generally I can stand it and come here just the same, except when it gets too bad, same as âtwas yesterday. Then I canât.â
âBut how can you stand itâ âto have it acheâ âalways?â gasped Pollyanna.
âWhy, I have to,â answered the boy, opening his eyes a little wider. âThings that are so are so, and they canât be any other way. So whatâs the use thinking how they might be? Besides, the harder it aches one day, the nicer âtis to have it letup the next.â
âI know! Thatâs like the gaâ ââ began Pollyanna; but the boy interrupted her.
âDid you bring a lot this time?â he asked anxiously. âOh, I hope you did! You see I couldnât bring them any today. Jerry couldnât spare even a penny for peanuts this morning and there wasnât really enough stuff in the box for me this noon.â
Pollyanna looked shocked.
âYou meanâ âthat you didnât have enough to eatâ âyourself?â âfor your luncheon?â
âSure!â smiled the boy. âBut donât worry. Tisnât the first timeâ âand âtwonât be the last. Iâm used to it. Hi, there! here comes Sir Lancelot.â
Pollyanna, however, was not thinking of squirrels.
âAnd wasnât there any more at home?â
âOh, no, thereâs never any left at home,â laughed the boy. âYou see, mumsey works outâ âstairs and washingsâ âso she gets some of her feed in them places, and Jerry picks his up where he can, except nights and mornings; he gets it with us thenâ âif weâve got any.â
Pollyanna looked still more shocked.
âBut what do you do when you donât have anything to eat?â
âGo hungry, of course.â
âBut I never heard of anybody who didnât have anything to eat,â gasped Pollyanna. âOf course father and I were poor, and we had to eat beans and fish balls when we wanted turkey. But we had somethiing. Why donât you tell folksâ âall these folks everywhere, that live in these houses?â
âWhatâs the use?â
âWhy, theyâd give you something, of course!â
The boy laughed once more, this time a little queerly.
âGuess again, kid. Youâve got another one coming. Nobody I know is dishinâ out roast beef and frosted cakes for the askinâ. Besides, if you didnât go hungry once in a while, you wouldnât know how good âtaters and milk can taste; and you wouldnât have so much to put in your Jolly Book.â
âYour what?â
The boy gave an embarrassed laugh and grew suddenly red.
âForget it! I didnât think, for a minute, but you was mumsey or Jerry.â
âBut what is your Jolly Book?â pleaded Pollyanna. âPlease tell me. Are there knights and lords and ladies in that?â
The boy shook his head. His eyes lost their laughter and grew dark and fathomless.
âNo; I
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