Pollyanna Eleanor H. Porter (classic english novels txt) đ
- Author: Eleanor H. Porter
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âWhen the specialist comes, and I know anythingâ âdefinite about Pollyanna, I will let you hear from me,â said a trembling voice. âGoodbyeâ âand thank you for coming. Pollyanna will be pleased.â
XXV A Waiting GameOn the day after John Pendletonâs call at the Harrington homestead, Miss Polly set herself to the task of preparing Pollyanna for the visit of the specialist.
âPollyanna, my dear,â she began gently, âwe have decided that we want another doctor besides Dr. Warren to see you. Another one might tell us something new to doâ âto help you get well faster, you know.â
A joyous light came to Pollyannaâs face.
âDr. Chilton! Oh, Aunt Polly, Iâd so love to have Dr. Chilton! Iâve wanted him all the time, but I was afraid you didnât, on account of his seeing you in the sun parlor that day, you know; so I didnât like to say anything. But Iâm so glad you do want him!â
Aunt Pollyâs face had turned white, then red, then back to white again. But when she answered, she showed very plainly that she was trying to speak lightly and cheerfully.
âOh, no, dear! It wasnât Dr. Chilton at all that I meant. It is a new doctorâ âa very famous doctor from New York, whoâ âwho knows a great deal aboutâ âabout hurts like yours.â
Pollyannaâs face fell.
âI donât believe he knows half so much as Dr. Chilton.â
âOh, yes, he does, Iâm sure, dear.â
âBut it was Dr. Chilton who doctored Mr. Pendletonâs broken leg, Aunt Polly. Ifâ âif you donât mind very much, I would like to have Dr. Chiltonâ âtruly I would!â
A distressed color suffused Miss Pollyâs face. For a moment she did not speak at all; then she said gentlyâ âthough yet with a touch of her old stern decisiveness:
âBut I do mind, Pollyanna. I mind very much. I would do anythingâ âalmost anything for you, my dear; but Iâ âfor reasons which I do not care to speak of now, I donât wish Dr. Chilton called in onâ âon this case. And believe me, he can not know so much aboutâ âabout your trouble, as this great doctor does, who will come from New York tomorrow.â
Pollyanna still looked unconvinced.
âBut, Aunt Polly, if you loved Dr. Chiltonâ ââ
âWhat, Pollyanna?â Aunt Pollyâs voice was very sharp now. Her cheeks were very red, too.
âI say, if you loved Dr. Chilton, and didnât love the other one,â sighed Pollyanna, âseems to me that would make some difference in the good he would do; and I love Dr. Chilton.â
The nurse entered the room at that moment, and Aunt Polly rose to her feet abruptly, a look of relief on her face.
âI am very sorry, Pollyanna,â she said, a little stiffly; âbut Iâm afraid youâll have to let me be the judge, this time. Besides, itâs already arranged. The New York doctor is coming tomorrow.â
As it happened, however, the New York doctor did not come âtomorrow.â At the last moment a telegram told of an unavoidable delay owing to the sudden illness of the specialist himself. This led Pollyanna into a renewed pleading for the substitution of Dr. Chiltonâ ââwhich would be so easy now, you know.â
But as before, Aunt Polly shook her head and said âno, dear,â very decisively, yet with a still more anxious assurance that she would do anythingâ âanything but thatâ âto please her dear Pollyanna.
As the days of waiting passed, one by one, it did indeed, seem that Aunt Polly was doing everything (but that) that she could do to please her niece.
âI wouldnât âaâ believed itâ âyou couldnât âaâ made me believe it,â Nancy said to Old Tom one morning. âThere donât seem ter be a minute in the day that Miss Polly ainât jest hanginâ âround waitinâ ter do somethinâ for that blessed lamb if âtainât more than ter let in the catâ âanâ her what wouldnât let Fluff nor Buff upstairs for love nor money a week ago; anâ now she lets âem tumble all over the bed jest âcause it pleases Miss Pollyanna!
âAnâ when she ainât doinâ nothinâ else, sheâs movinâ them little glass danglers âround ter diffârent winders in the room so the sunâll make the ârainbows dance,â as that blessed child calls it. Sheâs sent Timothy down ter Cobbâs greenhouse three times for fresh flowersâ âanâ that besides all the posies fetched in ter her, too. Anâ the other day, if I didnât find her sittinâ âfore the bed with the nurse actually doinâ her hair, anâ Miss Pollyanna lookinâ on anâ bossinâ from the bed, her eyes all shininâ anâ happy. Anâ I declare ter goodness, if Miss Polly hainât wore her hair like that every day nowâ âjest ter please that blessed child!â
Old Tom chuckled.
âWell, it strikes me Miss Polly herself ainât lookinâ none the worseâ âfor wearinâ them âere curls âround her forehead,â he observed dryly.
âââCourse she ainât,â retorted Nancy, indignantly. âShe looks like folks, now. Sheâs actually almostâ ââ
âKeerful, now, Nancy!â interrupted the old man, with a slow grin. âYou know what you said when I told ye she was handsome once.â
Nancy shrugged her shoulders.
âOh, she ainât handsome, of course; but I will own up she donât look like the same woman, what with the ribbons anâ lace jiggers Miss Pollyanna makes her wear âround her neck.â
âI told ye so,â nodded the man. âI told ye she waânâtâ âold.â
Nancy laughed.
âWell, Iâll own up she hainât got quite so good an imitation of itâ âas she did have, âfore Miss Pollyanna come. Say, Mr. Tom, who was her lover? I hainât found that out, yet; I hainât, I hainât!â
âHainât ye?â asked the old man, with an odd look on his face. âWell, I guess ye wonât then from me.â
âOh, Mr. Tom, come on, now,â wheedled the girl. âYe see, there ainât many folks here that I can ask.â
âMaybe not. But thereâs one, anyhow, that ainât answerinâ,â grinned Old Tom. Then, abruptly, the light died from his eyes. âHow is she, ter-dayâ âthe little gal?â
Nancy shook her head. Her face, too, had sobered.
âJust the same, Mr. Tom. There ainât no special diffârence, as I
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