Pollyanna Grows Up Eleanor H. Porter (booksvooks .TXT) đ
- Author: Eleanor H. Porter
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âOh, yes. I stayed in bed all day with my feet done up in rags and read four newspapers and one magazine. Then at night I hobbled out to a restaurant where I had to blow in thirty-five cents for chicken pie instead of a quarter.â
âBut what ailed your feet?â
âBlistered. Standinâ on âemâ âChristmas rush.â
âOh!â shuddered Pollyanna, sympathetically. âAnd you didnât have any tree, or party, or anything?â she cried, distressed and shocked.
âWell, hardly!â
âO dear! How I wish you could have seen mine!â sighed the little girl. âIt was just lovely, andâ âBut, oh, say!â she exclaimed joyously. âYou can see it, after all. It isnât gone yet. Now, canât you come out tonight, or tomorrow night, andâ ââ
âPollyanna!â interrupted Mrs. Carew in her chilliest accents. âWhat in the world does this mean? Where have you been? I have looked everywhere for you. I even went âway back to the suit department.â
Pollyanna turned with a happy little cry.
âOh, Mrs. Carew, Iâm so glad youâve come,â she rejoiced. âThis isâ âwell, I donât know her name yet, but I know her, so itâs all right. I met her in the Public Garden ever so long ago. And sheâs lonesome, and doesnât know anybody. And her father was a minister like mine, only heâs alive. And she didnât have any Christmas tree only blistered feet and chicken pie; and I want her to see mine, you knowâ âthe tree, I mean,â plunged on Pollyanna, breathlessly. âIâve asked her to come out tonight, or tomorrow night. And youâll let me have it all lighted up again, wonât you?â
âWell, really, Pollyanna,â began Mrs. Carew, in cold disapproval. But the girl behind the counter interrupted with a voice quite as cold, and even more disapproving.
âDonât worry, madam. Iâve no notion of goinâ.â
âOh, but please,â begged Pollyanna. âYou donât know how I want you, andâ ââ
âI notice the lady ainât doinâ any askinâ,â interrupted the salesgirl, a little maliciously.
Mrs. Carew flushed an angry red, and turned as if to go; but Pollyanna caught her arm and held it, talking meanwhile almost frenziedly to the girl behind the counter, who happened, at the moment, to be free from customers.
âOh, but she will, she will,â Pollyanna was saying. âShe wants you to comeâ âI know she does. Why, you donât know how good she is, and how much money she gives toâ âto charitable âsociations and everything.â
âPollyanna!â remonstrated Mrs. Carew, sharply. Once more she would have gone, but this time she was held spellbound by the ringing scorn in the low, tense voice of the salesgirl.
âOh, yes, I know! Thereâs lots of âem thatâll give to rescue work. Thereâs always plenty of helpinâ hands stretched out to them that has gone wrong. And thatâs all right. I ainât findinâ no fault with that. Only sometimes I wonder there donât some of âem think of helpinâ the girls before they go wrong. Why donât they give good girls pretty homes with books and pictures and soft carpets and music, and somebody âround âem to care? Maybe then there wouldnât be so manyâ âGood heavens, what am I sayinâ?â she broke off, under her breath. Then, with the old weariness, she turned to a young woman who had stopped before her and picked up a blue bow.
âThatâs fifty cents, madam,â Mrs. Carew heard, as she hurried Pollyanna away.
XIII A Waiting and a WinningIt was a delightful plan. Pollyanna had it entirely formulated in about five minutes; then she told Mrs. Carew. Mrs. Carew did not think it was a delightful plan, and she said so very distinctly.
âOh, but Iâm sure theyâll think it is,â argued Pollyanna, in reply to Mrs. Carewâs objections. âAnd just think how easy we can do it! The tree is just as it wasâ âexcept for the presents, and we can get more of those. It wonât be so very long till just New Yearâs Eve; and only think how glad sheâll be to come! Wouldnât you be, if you hadnât had anything for Christmas only blistered feet and chicken pie?â
âDear, dear, what an impossible child you are!â frowned Mrs. Carew. âEven yet it doesnât seem to occur to you that we donât know this young personâs name.â
âSo we donât! And isnât it funny, when I feel that I know her so well?â smiled Pollyanna. âYou see, we had such a good talk in the Garden that day, and she told me all about how lonesome she was, and that she thought the lonesomest place in the world was in a crowd in a big city, because folks didnât think nor notice. Oh, there was one that noticed; but he noticed too much, she said, and he hadnât ought to notice her anyâ âwhich is kind of funny, isnât it, when you come to think of it. But anyhow, he came for her there in the Garden to go somewhere with him, and she wouldnât go, and he was a real handsome gentleman, tooâ âuntil he began to look so cross, just at the last. Folks arenât so pretty when theyâre cross, are they? Now there was a lady today looking at bows, and she saidâ âwell, lots of things that werenât nice, you know. And she didnât look pretty, either, afterâ âafter she began to talk. But you will let me have the tree New Yearâs Eve, wonât you, Mrs. Carew?â âand invite this girl who sells bows, and Jamie? Heâs better, you know, now, and he could come. Of course Jerry would have to wheel himâ âbut then, weâd want Jerry, anyway.â
âOh, of course, Jerry!â exclaimed Mrs. Carew in ironic scorn. âBut why stop with Jerry? Iâm sure Jerry has hosts of friends who would love to come. Andâ ââ
âOh, Mrs. Carew, may I?â broke in Pollyanna, in uncontrollable delight. âOh, how good, good, good you are! Iâve so wantedâ ââ But Mrs. Carew fairly gasped aloud in surprise and dismay.
âNo, no, Pollyanna, Iâ ââ she began, protestingly. But Pollyanna, entirely mistaking the meaning of her interruption, plunged in again in stout championship.
âIndeed you are goodâ âjust the bestest ever; and I shanât let you
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