Polly

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Polly

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Polly, by L. T. Meade This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Polly A New-Fashioned Girl
Author: L. T. Meade
Release Date: June 23, 2006 [EBook #18666]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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POLLY A NEW-FASHIONED GIRL
BY L. T. MEADE
Author of "A World of Girls," "Daddy's Girl," "Light of the Morning," "Palace Beautiful," "A Girl in Ten Thousand," etc.
NEW YORK THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY 1910
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[Illustration: Polly]
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"But if thou wilt be constant then, And faithful of thy word, I'll make thee glorious by my pen And famous by my sword. I'll serve thee in such noble ways Was never heard before: I'll crown and deck thee all with bays And love thee evermore."
--James Graham.
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CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.
A GREAT MISFORTUNE. 1">
PART I
CHAPTER I.
A GREAT MISFORTUNE. 1

CHAPTER II.
ALL ABOUT THE FAMILY. 4
CHAPTER III.
"BE BRAVE, DEAR." 6
CHAPTER IV.
QUITE A NEW SORT OF SCHEME. 10
CHAPTER V.
A SAFETY-VALVE. 13
CHAPTER VI.
POLLY'S RAID. 16
CHAPTER VII.
THE GROWN-UPS. 19
CHAPTER VIII.
SHOULD THE STRANGERS COME? 24
CHAPTER IX.
LIMITS. 28
CHAPTER X.
INDIGESTION WEEK. 32
CHAPTER XI.
A--WAS AN APPLE PIE. 36
CHAPTER XII.
POTATOES--MINUS POINT. 42
CHAPTER XIII.
IN THE ATTIC. 45
CHAPTER XIV.
AUNT MARIA. 50
CHAPTER XV.
PUNISHMENT. 55
CHAPTER XVI.
DR. MAYBRIGHT versus SCORPION. 60
CHAPTER XVII.
WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN? 64
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE WIFE OF MICAH JONES. 68
CHAPTER XIX.
DISTRESSED HEROINES. 73
CHAPTER XX.
LIMITS. 75
CHAPTER XXI.
THE HIGH MOUNTAINS. 78

CHAPTER I.
A COUPLE OF BARBARIANS. 82">
PART II
CHAPTER I.
A COUPLE OF BARBARIANS. 82

CHAPTER II.
A YOUNG QUEEN. 86
CHAPTER III.
NOT LIKE OTHERS. 94
CHAPTER IV.
A YOUNG AUSTRALIAN. 98
CHAPTER V.
FORSAKEN. 103
CHAPTER VI.
WITHOUT HER TREASURE. 108
CHAPTER VII.
MAGGIE TO THE RESCUE. 113
CHAPTER VIII.
THE HERMIT'S HUT. 117
CHAPTER IX.
AN OLD SONG. 121
CHAPTER X.
LOOKING AT HERSELF. 126
CHAPTER XI.
THE WORTH OF A DIAMOND. 131
CHAPTER XII.
RELICS AND A WELCOME. 135
CHAPTER XIII.
VERY ROUGH WEATHER. 139
CHAPTER XIV.
A NOVEL HIDING-PLACE. 144
CHAPTER XV.
A DILEMMA. 149
CHAPTER XVI.
FIREFLY. 151
CHAPTER XVII.
TO THE RESCUE. 155
CHAPTER XVIII.
OH, FIE! POLLY. 159
CHAPTER XIX.
ONE YEAR AFTER. 165
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POLLY: A NEW-FASHIONED GIRL.
CHAPTER I.
A GREAT MISFORTUNE.
It was an intensely hot July day--not a cloud appeared in the high blue vault of the sky; the trees, the flowers, the grasses, were all motionless, for not even the gentlest zephyr of a breeze was abroad; the whole world seemed lapped in a sort of drowsy, hot, languorous slumber. Even the flowers bowed their heads a little weariedly, and the birds after a time ceased singing, and got into the coolest and most shady parts of the great forest trees. There they sat and talked to one another of the glorious weather, for they liked the heat, although it made them too lazy to sing.
It was an open plain of country, and although there were clumps of trees here and there, great clumps with cool shade under them, there were also acres and acres of common land on which the sun beat remorselessly. This land was covered with heather, not yet in flower, and with bracken, which was already putting on its autumn glory of yellow and red. Neither the bracken nor the heather minded the July heat, but the butterflies thought it a trifle uncomfortable, and made for the clumps of trees, and looked longingly and regretfully at what had been a noisy, babbling little brook, but was now a dry and stony channel, deserted even by the dragon-flies.
At the other side of the brook was a hedge, composed principally of wild roses and hawthorn bushes, and beyond the hedge was a wide dyke, and at the top of the dyke a wire paling, and beyond that again, a good-sized vegetable garden.
From the tops of the trees, had any one been energetic enough to climb up there, or had any bird been sufficiently endowed with curiosity to glance his bright eyes in that direction, might have been seen smoke, ascending straight up into the air, and proceeding from the kitchen chimneys of a square-built gray house.
The house was nearly covered with creepers, and had a trellis porch, sheltering and protecting its open hall-door. Pigeons were cooing near, and several dogs were lying flat out in the shade which the wide eaves of the house afforded. There was a flower garden in front, and a wide gravel sweep, and a tennis court and croquet lawn, and a rose arbor, and even a great, wide, cool-looking tent. But as far as human life was concerned the whole place looked absolutely deserted. The pigeons cooed languidly, and the dogs yapped and yawned, and made ferocious snaps at audacious and troublesome flies. But no one handled the tennis bats, nor took up the croquet mallets; no one stopped to admire the roses, and no one entered the cool, inviting tent. The whole place might have been dead, as