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
âMy! how glad you must have been!â
âI was. It took a whole page of my Jolly Book to tell about that chair.â
âBut canât you ever walk again?â Pollyannaâs eyes were blurred with tears.
âIt donât look like it. They said I couldnât.â
âOh, but thatâs what they said about me, and then they sent me to Dr. Ames, and I stayed âmost a year; and he made me walk. Maybe he could you!â
The boy shook his head.
âHe couldnâtâ âyou see; I couldnât go to him, anyway. âTwould cost too much. Weâll just have to call it that I canât everâ âwalk again. But never mind.â The boy threw back his head impatiently. âIâm trying not to think of that. You know what it is whenâ âwhen your think gets to going.â
âYes, yes, of courseâ âand here I am talking about it!â cried Pollyanna, penitently. âI said you knew how to play the game better than I did, now. But go on. You havenât told me half, yet. Where do you live? And is Jerry all the brothers and sisters youâve got?â
A swift change came to the boyâs face. His eyes glowed.
âYesâ âand he ainât mine, really. He ainât any relation, nor mumsey ainât, neither. And only think how good theyâve been to me!â
âWhatâs that?â questioned Pollyanna, instantly on the alert. âIsnât thatâ âthat âmumseyâ your mother at all?â
âNo; and thatâs what makesâ ââ
âAnd havenât you got any mother?â interrupted Pollyanna, in growing excitement.
âNo; I never remember any mother, and father died six years ago.â
âHow old were you?â
âI donât know. I was little. Mumsey says she guesses maybe I was about six. Thatâs when they took me, you see.â
âAnd your name is Jamie?â Pollyanna was holding her breath.
âWhy, yes, I told you that.â
âAnd whatâs the other name?â Longingly, but fearfully, Pollyanna asked this question.
âI donât know.â
âYou donât know!â
âI donât remember. I was too little, I suppose. Even the Murphys donât know. They never knew me as anything but Jamie.â
A great disappointment came to Pollyannaâs face, but almost immediately a flash of thought drove the shadow away.
âWell, anyhow, if you donât know what your name is, you canât know it isnât âKentâ!â she exclaimed.
âââKentâ?â puzzled the boy.
âYes,â began Pollyanna, all excitement. âYou see, there was a little boy named Jamie Kent thatâ ââ She stopped abruptly and bit her lip. It had occurred to Pollyanna that it would be kinder not to let this boy know yet of her hope that he might be the lost Jamie. It would be better that she make sure of it before raising any expectations, otherwise she might be bringing him sorrow rather than joy. She had not forgotten how disappointed Jimmy Bean had been when she had been obliged to tell him that the Ladiesâ Aid did not want him, and again when at first Mr. Pendleton had not wanted him, either. She was determined that she would not make the same mistake a third time; so very promptly now she assumed an air of elaborate indifference on this most dangerous subject, as she said:
âBut never mind about Jamie Kent. Tell me about yourself. Iâm so interested!â
âThere isnât anything to tell. I donât know anything nice,â hesitated the boy. âThey said father wasâ âwas queer, and never talked. They didnât even know his name. Everybody called him âThe Professor.â Mumsey says he and I lived in a little back room on the top floor of the house in Lowell where they used to live. They were poor then, but they wasnât near so poor as they are now. Jerryâs father was alive them days, and had a job.â
âYes, yes, go on,â prompted Pollyanna.
âWell, mumsey says my father was sick a lot, and he got queerer and queerer, so that they had me downstairs with them a good deal. I could walk then, a little, but my legs wasnât right. I played with Jerry, and the little girl that died. Well, when father died there wasnât anybody to take me, and some men were goinâ to put me in an orphan asylum; but mumsey says I took on so, and Jerry took on so, that they said theyâd keep me. And they did. The little girl had just died, and they said I might take her place. And theyâve had me ever since. And I fell and got worse, and theyâre awful poor now, too, besides Jerryâs father dyinâ. But theyâve kept me. Now ainât that what you call beinâ pretty good to a feller?â
âYes, oh, yes,â cried Pollyanna. âBut theyâll get their rewardâ âI know theyâll get their reward!â Pollyanna was quivering with delight now. The last doubt had fled. She had found the lost Jamie. She was sure of it. But not yet must she speak. First Mrs. Carew must see him. Thenâ âthenâ â! Even Pollyannaâs imagination failed when it came to picturing the bliss in store for Mrs. Carew and Jamie at that glad reunion.
She sprang lightly to her feet in utter disregard of Sir Lancelot who had come back and was nosing in her lap for more nuts.
âIâve got to go now, but Iâll come again tomorrow. Maybe Iâll have a lady with me that youâll like to know. Youâll be here tomorrow, wonât you?â she finished anxiously.
âSure, if itâs pleasant. Jerry totes me up here âmost every morninâ. They fixed it so he could, you know; and I bring my dinner and stay till four oâclock. Jerryâs good to meâ âhe is!â
âI know, I know,â nodded Pollyanna. âAnd maybe youâll find somebody else to be good to you, too,â she caroled. With which cryptic statement and a beaming smile, she was gone.
IX Plans and PlottingsOn the way home Pollyanna made joyous plans. Tomorrow, in some way or other, Mrs. Carew must be persuaded to go with her for
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