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
âIâd workâ âdonât forget ter say that,â cautioned the boy.
âOf course not,â promised Pollyanna, happily, sure now that her point was gained. âThen Iâll let you know tomorrow.â
âWhere?â
âBy the roadâ âwhere I found you today; near Mrs. Snowâs house.â
âAll right. Iâll be there.â The boy paused before he went on slowly: âMaybe Iâd better go back, then, for ter-night, ter the Home. You see I hainât no other place ter stay; andâ âand I didnât leave till this morninâ. I slipped out. I didnât tell âem I wasnât cominâ back, else theyâd pretend I couldnât comeâ âthough Iâm thinkinâ they wonât do no worryinâ when I donât show up sometime. They ainât like folks, ye know. They donât care!â
âI know,â nodded Pollyanna, with understanding eyes. âBut Iâm sure, when I see you tomorrow, Iâll have just a common home and folks that do care all ready for you. Goodbye!â she called brightly, as she turned back toward the house.
In the sitting-room window at that moment, Miss Polly, who had been watching the two children, followed with sombre eyes the boy until a bend of the road hid him from sight. Then she sighed, turned, and walked listlesly upstairsâ âand Miss Polly did not usually move listlessly. In her ears still was the boyâs scornful âyou was so good and kind.â In her heart was a curious sense of desolationâ âas of something lost.
XII Before the Ladiesâ AidDinner, which came at noon in the Harrington homestead, was a silent meal on the day of the Ladiesâ Aid meeting. Pollyanna, it is true, tried to talk; but she did not make a success of it, chiefly because four times she was obliged to break off a âgladâ in the middle of it, much to her blushing discomfort. The fifth time it happened, Miss Polly moved her head wearily.
âThere, there, child, say it, if you want to,â she sighed. âIâm sure Iâd rather you did than not if itâs going to make all this fuss.â
Pollyannaâs puckered little face cleared.
âOh, thank you. Iâm afraid it would be pretty hardâ ânot to say it. You see Iâve played it so long.â
âYouâveâ âwhat?â demanded Aunt Polly.
âPlayed itâ âthe game, you know, that fatherâ ââ Pollyanna stopped with a painful blush at finding herself so soon again on forbidden ground.
Aunt Polly frowned and said nothing. The rest of the meal was a silent one.
Pollyanna was not sorry to hear Aunt Polly tell the ministerâs wife over the telephone, a little later, that she would not be at the Ladiesâ Aid meeting that afternoon, owing to a headache. When Aunt Polly went upstairs to her room and closed the door, Pollyanna tried to be sorry for the headache; but she could not help feeling glad that her aunt was not to be present that afternoon when she laid the case of Jimmy Bean before the Ladiesâ Aid. She could not forget that Aunt Polly had called Jimmy Bean a little beggar; and she did not want Aunt Polly to call him thatâ âbefore the Ladiesâ Aid.
Pollyanna knew that the Ladiesâ Aid met at two oâclock in the chapel next the church, not quite half a mile from home. She planned her going, therefore, so that she should get there a little before three.
âI want them all to be there,â she said to herself; âelse the very one that wasnât there might be the one who would be wanting to give Jimmy Bean a home; and, of course, two oâclock always means three, reallyâ âto Ladiesâ Aiders.â
Quietly, but with confident courage, Pollyanna ascended the chapel steps, pushed open the door and entered the vestibule. A soft babel of feminine chatter and laughter came from the main room. Hesitating only a brief moment Pollyanna pushed open one of the inner doors.
The chatter dropped to a surprised hush. Pollyanna advanced a little timidly. Now that the time had come, she felt unwontedly shy. After all, these half-strange, half-familiar faces about her were not her own dear Ladiesâ Aid.
âHow do you do, Ladiesâ Aiders?â she faltered politely. âIâm Pollyanna Whittier. Iâ âI reckon some of you know me, maybe; anyway, I do youâ âonly I donât know you all together this way.â
The silence could almost be felt now. Some of the ladies did know this rather extraordinary niece of their fellow-member, and nearly all had heard of her; but not one of them could think of anything to say, just then.
âIâ âIâve come toâ âto lay the case before you,â stammered Pollyanna, after a moment, unconsciously falling into her fatherâs familiar phraseology.
There was a slight rustle.
âDidâ âdid your aunt send you, my dear?â asked Mrs. Ford, the ministerâs wife.
Pollyanna colored a little.
âOh, no. I came all by myself. You see, Iâm used to Ladiesâ Aiders. It was Ladiesâ Aiders that brought me upâ âwith father.â
Somebody tittered hysterically, and the ministerâs wife frowned.
âYes, dear. What is it?â
âWell, itâ âitâs Jimmy Bean,â sighed Pollyanna. âHe hasnât any home except the Orphan one, and theyâre full, and donât want him, anyhow, he thinks; so he wants another. He wants one of the common kind, that has a mother instead of a Matron in itâ âfolks, you know, thatâll care. Heâs ten years old going on eleven. I thought some of you might like himâ âto live with you, you know.â
âWell, did you ever!â murmured a voice, breaking the dazed pause that followed Pollyannaâs words.
With anxious eyes Pollyanna swept the circle of faces about her.
âOh, I forgot to say; he will work,â she supplemented eagerly.
Still there was silence; then, coldly, one or two women began to question her. After a time they all had the story and began to talk among themselves, animatedly, not quite pleasantly.
Pollyanna listened with growing anxiety. Some of what was said she could not understand. She did gather, after a time, however, that there was no woman there who had a home to give him, though every woman seemed to think that some of the others might take him, as
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