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
âBut it wouldnât be a common boarding house, dear. âTwill be an uncommon one. Besides, theyâre our friends. It would be like having our friends come to see us; only theyâd be paying guests, so meanwhile weâd be earning moneyâ âmoney that we need, auntie, money that we need,â she emphasized significantly.
A spasm of hurt pride crossed Polly Chiltonâs face. With a low moan she fell back in her chair.
âBut how could you do it?â she asked at last, faintly. âYou couldnât do the work part alone, child!â
âOh, no, of course not,â chirped Pollyanna. (Pollyanna was on sure ground now. She knew her point was won.) âBut I could do the cooking and the overseeing, and Iâm sure I could get one of Nancyâs younger sisters to help about the rest. Mrs. Durgin would do the laundry part just as she does now.â
âBut, Pollyanna, Iâm not well at allâ âyou know Iâm not. I couldnât do much.â
âOf course not. Thereâs no reason why you should,â scorned Pollyanna, loftily. âOh, auntie, wonât it be splendid? Why, it seems too good to be trueâ âmoney just dropped into my hands like that!â
âDropped into your hands, indeed! You still have some things to learn in this world, Pollyanna, and one is that summer boarders donât drop money into anybodyâs hands without looking very sharply to it that they get ample return. By the time you fetch and carry and bake and brew until you are ready to sink, and by the time you nearly kill yourself trying to serve everything to order from fresh-laid eggs to the weather, you will believe what I tell you.â
âAll right, Iâll remember,â laughed Pollyanna. âBut Iâm not doing any worrying now; and Iâm going to hurry and write Miss Wetherby at once so I can give it to Jimmy Bean to mail when he comes out this afternoon.â
Mrs. Chilton stirred restlessly.
âPollyanna, I do wish youâd call that young man by his proper name. That âBeanâ gives me the shivers. His name is âPendletonâ now, as I understand it.â
âSo it is,â agreed Pollyanna, âbut I do forget it half the time. I even call him that to his face, sometimes, and of course thatâs dreadful, when he really is adopted, and all. But you see Iâm so excited,â she finished, as she danced from the room.
She had the letter all ready for Jimmy when he called at four oâclock. She was still quiveringâ âwith excitement, and she lost no time in telling her visitor what it was all about.
âAnd Iâm crazy to see them, besides,â she cried, when she had told him of her plans. âIâve never seen either of them since that winter. You know I told youâ âdidnât I tell you?â âabout Jamie.â
âOh, yes, you told me.â There was a touch of constraint in the young manâs voice.
âWell, isnât it splendid, if they can come?â
âWhy, I donât know as I should call it exactly splendid,â he parried.
âNot splendid that Iâve got such a chance to help Aunt Polly out, for even this little while? Why, Jimmy, of course itâs splendid.â
âWell, it strikes me that itâs going to be rather hardâ âfor you,â bridled Jimmy, with more than a shade of irritation.
âYes, of course, in some ways. But I shall be so glad for the money coming in that Iâll think of that all the time. You see,â she sighed, âhow mercenary I am, Jimmy.â
For a long minute there was no reply; then, a little abruptly, the young man asked:
âLetâs see, how old is this Jamie now?â
Pollyanna glanced up with a merry smile.
âOh, I rememberâ âyou never did like his name, âJamie,âââ she twinkled. âNever mind; heâs adopted now, legally, I believe, and has taken the name of Carew. So you can call him that.â
âBut that isnât telling me how old he is,â reminded Jimmy, stiffly.
âNobody knows, exactly, I suppose. You know he couldnât tell; but I imagine heâs about your age. I wonder how he is now. Iâve asked all about it in this letter, anyway.â
âOh, you have!â Pendleton looked down at the letter in his hand and flipped it a little spitefully. He was thinking that he would like to drop it, to tear it up, to give it to somebody, to throw it away, to do anything with itâ âbut mail it.
Jimmy knew perfectly well that he was jealous, that he always had been jealous of this youth with the name so like and yet so unlike his own. Not that he was in love with Pollyanna, he assured himself wrathfully. He was not that, of course. It was just that he did not care to have this strange youth with the sissy name come to Beldingsville and be always around to spoil all their good times. He almost said as much to Pollyanna, but something stayed the words on his lips; and after a time he took his leave, carrying the letter with him.
That Jimmy did not drop the letter, tear it up, give it to anybody, or throw it away was evidenced a few days later, for Pollyanna received a prompt and delighted reply from Miss Wetherby; and when Jimmy came next time he heard it readâ âor rather he heard part of it, for Pollyanna prefaced the reading by saying:
âOf course the first part is just where she says how glad they are to come, and all that. I wonât read that. But the rest I thought youâd like to hear, because youâve heard me talk so much about them. Besides, youâll know them yourself pretty soon, of course. Iâm depending a whole lot on you, Jimmy, to help me make it pleasant for them.â
âOh, are you!â
âNow donât be sarcastic, just because you donât like Jamieâs name,â reproved Pollyanna, with mock severity. âYouâll like him, Iâm sure, when you know him; and youâll love Mrs. Carew.â
âWill I, indeed?â retorted Jimmy huffily. âWell, that is a serious prospect. Let us hope, if I do, the lady will be so gracious as to reciprocate.â
âOf course,â dimpled Pollyanna. âNow listen, and
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