Polly of Pebbly Pit

Polly of Pebbly Pit

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Title: Polly of Pebbly Pit
Author: Lillian Elizabeth Roy
Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6001] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on October 12, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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POLLY OF PEBBLY PIT
BY
LILLIAN ELIZABETH ROY
Author of Polly and Eleanor, Polly in New York, Polly and Her Friends Abroad, Polly's Business Venture.
Illustrated 1922

TO MY DEAR FRIENDS, SARAH J. BATTEY, M.D., AND BRYAN M. BATTEY.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I THE FARM IN PEBBLY PIT
II A MOMENTOUS LETTER
III PREPARING FOR THE UNKNOWN
IV THE "SERVANT PROBLEM" SOLVED
V UNPLEASANT SURPRISES
VI THE HARROWING DETAILS
VII A LITTLE SCHEME THAT WORKED
VIII ACCLIMATING THE CITY GIRLS
IX SEVERAL MISUNDERSTANDINGS
X THE DANCE AT BEAR FORKS
XI IN THE WILDERNESS
XII THE BLIZZARD ON GRIZZLY SLIDE
XIII A NIGHT IN THE CAVE
XIV OLD MONTRESOR'S LEGACY
XV MONTRESOR'S CLAIM is JUSTIFIED
XVI A YOUNG STRANGER IN OAK CREEK
XVII SARY'S AMBITIONS

CHAPTER I
THE FARM IN PEBBLY PIT
"Polly! Poll-ee!" sounded musically from the direction of the kitchen doorway in a ranch-house, and reached Polly Brewster as she knelt beside her pet in the barn.
"Run outside and see what Maw wants, Poll," said Mr. Brewster, who was working faithfully over the object of Polly's solicitous devotion.
Obediently, Polly ran out and shaded her eyes as she gazed across the great depression of the volcanic crater which had made such a wonderful farm for the Brewsters. At the door of the long, squat homestead, stood Mrs. Brewster, waiting for an answer.
The moment she saw Polly, she called: "Din-ner-r's ready!"
"All right!" shouted the girl, waving her sun-bonnet to signify she had heard the message.
Mrs. Brewster returned to the kitchen and Polly went back to her father's side. He glanced up as she entered the barn, and Polly replied to his questioning look.
"Maw said dinner's ready."
"Well, Ah reckon Noddy's all right now, Poll," said the rancher, as he stood up to stretch his tired muscles.
"I felt sure she would be, Paw," returned Polly, positively.
"If only Jeb was about, now, Ah could leave him with Noddy, with directions about the medicine, till we-all get back from dinner," mused Mr. Brewster, standing in the doorway to look about for Jeb.
"Why, Daddy! Do you suppose I'd leave Noddy with Jeb for a single moment? And just as we saved her life, too! I reckon not! I'll stop here myself and watch her," declared Polly with finality, as she assumed the post vacated by her father, and held the little burro's fuzzy head upon her knees.
Sam Brewster smiled as he watched Polly bend over her pet and whisper affectionately in the long, sensitive ear.
"Poll, Jeb will shore say you used witchcraft on the burro; he said Noddy was done for--being buried under that slide the way she was."
"Noddy would have been done for if Jeb had had her in charge; but she just couldn't refuse to live, with me right here calling her back, you know. She loves me so, she had to listen to my voice," explained Polly, with suspicious moisture in her big blue eyes.
"Ah reckon that's it, Poll! Love works wonders if we'd only let it. And you love everything in a way that everything loves you back again. It beats me, how the beavers, and foxes, and even the bears treat you as if you were one of them, instead of running to cover. As for the chicks and colts and lambs on the ranch--why, they'd follow you to Oak Creek, if they could!"
Polly smiled happily as she looked away over the distant mountain-sides where Nature's creatures roamed unrestrained. And then her eyes rested upon the pastures nearer home, where the farm pets grazed. Every one of them, wild or tame, were her friends.
"Reckon Ah'll go now, Poll. What shall Maw do about the dinner?"
"Tell her not to bother about me. I'll wash the dishes' when I get