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
âYes, dear; but never mind. Justâ âjust rest.â
âBut, Aunt Polly, I feel so funny, and so bad! My legs feel soâ âso queerâ âonly they donât feelâ âat all!â
With an imploring look into the nurseâs face, Miss Polly struggled to her feet, and turned away. The nurse came forward quickly.
âSuppose you let me talk to you now,â she began cheerily. âIâm sure I think itâs high time we were getting acquainted, and Iâm going to introduce myself. I am Miss Hunt, and Iâve come to help your aunt take care of you. And the very first thing Iâm going to do is to ask you to swallow these little white pills for me.â
Pollyannaâs eyes grew a bit wild.
âBut I donât want to be taken care ofâ âthat is, not for long! I want to get up. You know I go to school. Canât I go to school tomorrow?â
From the window where Aunt Polly stood now there came a half-stifled cry.
âTomorrow?â smiled the nurse, brightly.
âWell, I may not let you out quite so soon as that, Miss Pollyanna. But just swallow these little pills for me, please, and weâll see what theyâll do.â
âAll right,â agreed Pollyanna, somewhat doubtfully; âbut I must go to school day after tomorrowâ âthere are examinations then, you know.â
She spoke again, a minute later. She spoke of school, and of the automobile, and of how her head ached; but very soon her voice trailed into silence under the blessed influence of the little white pills she had swallowed.
XXIV John PendletonPollyanna did not go to school âtomorrow,â nor the âday after tomorrow.â Pollyanna, however, did not realize this, except momentarily when a brief period of full consciousness sent insistent questions to her lips. Pollyanna did not realize anything, in fact, very clearly until a week had passed; then the fever subsided, the pain lessened somewhat, and her mind awoke to full consciousness. She had then to be told all over again what had occurred.
âAnd so itâs hurt that I am, and not sick,â she sighed at last. âWell, Iâm glad of that.â
âG-glad, Pollyanna?â asked her aunt, who was sitting by the bed.
âYes. Iâd so much rather have broken legs like Mr. Pendletonâs than lifelong-invalids like Mrs. Snow, you know. Broken legs get well, and lifelong-invalids donât.â
Miss Pollyâ âwho had said nothing whatever about broken legsâ âgot suddenly to her feet and walked to the little dressing table across the room. She was picking up one object after another now, and putting each down, in an aimless fashion quite unlike her usual decisiveness. Her face was not aimless-looking at all, however; it was white and drawn.
On the bed Pollyanna lay blinking at the dancing band of colors on the ceiling, which came from one of the prisms in the window.
âIâm glad it isnât smallpox that ails me, too,â she murmured contentedly. âThat would be worse than freckles. And Iâm glad âtisnât whooping coughâ âIâve had that, and itâs horridâ âand Iâm glad âtisnât appendicitis nor measles, âcause theyâre catchingâ âmeasles are, I meanâ âand they wouldnât let you stay here.â
âYou seem toâ âto be glad for a good many things, my dear,â faltered Aunt Polly, putting her hand to her throat as if her collar bound.
Pollyanna laughed softly.
âI am. Iâve been thinking of âemâ âlots of âemâ âall the time Iâve been looking up at that rainbow. I love rainbows. Iâm so glad Mr. Pendleton gave me those prisms! Iâm glad of some things I havenât said yet. I donât know but Iâm âmost glad I was hurt.â
âPollyanna!â
Pollyanna laughed softly again. She turned luminous eyes on her aunt. âWell, you see, since I have been hurt, youâve called me âdearâ lots of timesâ âand you didnât before. I love to be called âdearââ âby folks that belong to you, I mean. Some of the Ladiesâ Aiders did call me that; and of course that was pretty nice, but not so nice as if they had belonged to me, like you do. Oh, Aunt Polly, Iâm so glad you belong to me!â
Aunt Polly did not answer. Her hand was at her throat again. Her eyes were full of tears. She had turned away and was hurrying from the room through the door by which the nurse had just entered.
It was that afternoon that Nancy ran out to Old Tom, who was cleaning harnesses in the barn. Her eyes were wild.
âMr. Tom, Mr. Tom, guess whatâs happened,â she panted. âYou couldnât guess in a thousand yearsâ âyou couldnât, you couldnât!â
âThen I calâlate I wonât try,â retorted the man, grimly, âspecially as I hainât got moreân ten ter live, anyhow, probably. Youâd better tell me first off, Nancy.â
âWell, listen, then. Who do you sâpose is in the parlor now with the mistress? Who, I say?â
Old Tom shook his head.
âThereâs no tellinâ,â he declared.
âYes, there is. Iâm tellinâ. Itâsâ âJohn Pendleton!â
âSho, now! Youâre jokinâ, girl.â
âNot much I amâ âanâ me a-lettinâ him in myselfâ âcrutches anâ all! Anâ the team he come in a-waitinâ this minute at the door for him, jest as if he waânât the cranky old crosspatch he is, what never talks ter no one! jest think, Mr. Tomâ âhim a-callinâ on her!â
âWell, why not?â demanded the old man, a little aggressively.
Nancy gave him a scornful glance.
âAs if you didnât know betterân me!â she derided.
âEh?â
âOh, you neednât be so innercent,â she retorted with mock indignation; ââ âyou what led me wildgoose chasinâ in the first place!â
âWhat do ye mean?â
Nancy glanced through the open barn door toward the house, and came a step nearer to the old man.
âListen! âTwas you that was tellinâ me Miss Polly had a lover in the first place, waânât it? Well, one day I thinks I finds two and two, and I puts âem tergether anâ makes four. But it turns out ter be fiveâ âanâ no four at all, at all!â
With a gesture of indifference Old Tom turned and fell to work.
âIf youâre goinâ ter talk ter me, youâve got ter talk plain horse sense,â he declared testily. âI never was
Comments (0)