Pollyanna | Page 5

changes those twenty-five years had brought to her.
She was forty now, and quite alone in the world. Father, mother,
sisters--all were dead. For years, now, she had been sole mistress of the
house and of the thousands left her by her father. There were people
who had openly pitied her lonely life, and who had urged her to have
some friend or companion to live with her; but she had not welcomed
either their sympathy or their advice. She was not lonely, she said. She
liked being by herself. She preferred quiet. But now--
Miss Polly rose with frowning face and closely-shut lips. She was glad,
of course, that she was a good woman, and that she not only knew her
duty, but had sufficient strength of character to perform it.
But--POLLYANNA!--what a ridiculous name!

CHAPTER II.
OLD TOM AND NANCY
In the little attic room Nancy swept and scrubbed vigorously, paying
particular attention to the corners. There were times, indeed, when the
vigor she put into her work was more of a relief to her feelings than it
was an ardor to efface dirt--Nancy, in spite of her frightened
submission to her mistress, was no saint.
"I--just--wish--I could--dig--out the corners--of--her--soul!" she
muttered jerkily, punctuating her words with murderous jabs of her
pointed cleaning-stick. "There's plenty of 'em needs cleanin' all right,
all right! The idea of stickin' that blessed child 'way off up here in this
hot little room--with no fire in the winter, too, and all this big house ter
pick and choose from! Unnecessary children, indeed! Humph!"
snapped Nancy, wringing her rag so hard her fingers ached from the
strain; "I guess it ain't CHILDREN what is MOST unnecessary just
now, just now!
For some time she worked in silence; then, her task finished, she
looked about the bare little room in plain disgust.
"Well, it's done--my part, anyhow," she sighed. "There ain't no dirt
here--and there's mighty little else. Poor little soul!--a pretty place this
is ter put a homesick, lonesome child into!" she finished, going out and
closing the door with a bang, "Oh!" she ejaculated, biting her lip. Then,
doggedly: "Well, I don't care. I hope she did hear the bang,--I do, I do!"
In the garden that afternoon, Nancy found a few minutes in which to
interview Old Tom, who had pulled the weeds and shovelled the paths
about the place for uncounted years.
"Mr. Tom," began Nancy, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder to
make sure she was unobserved; "did you know a little girl was comin'
here ter live with Miss Polly?"
"A--what?" demanded the old man, straightening his bent back with

difficulty.
"A little girl--to live with Miss Polly."
"Go on with yer jokin'," scoffed unbelieving Tom. "Why don't ye tell
me the sun is a-goin' ter set in the east ter-morrer?"
"But it's true. She told me so herself," maintained Nancy. "It's her niece;
and she's eleven years old."
The man's jaw fell.
"Sho!--I wonder, now," he muttered; then a tender light came into his
faded eyes. "It ain't--but it must be--Miss Jennie's little gal! There
wasn't none of the rest of 'em married. Why, Nancy, it must be Miss
Jennie's little gal. Glory be ter praise! ter think of my old eyes a-seein'
this! "
"Who was Miss Jennie?
"She was an angel straight out of Heaven," breathed the man, fervently;
"but the old master and missus knew her as their oldest daughter. She
was twenty when she married and went away from here long years ago.
Her babies all died, I heard, except the last one; and that must be the
one what's a-comin'."
"She's eleven years old."
"Yes, she might be," nodded the old man.
"And she's goin' ter sleep in the attic--more shame ter HER!" scolded
Nancy, with another glance over her shoulder toward the house behind
her.
Old Tom frowned. The next moment a curious smile curved his lips.
I'm a-wonderin' what Miss Polly will do with a child in the house," he
said.

"Humph! Well, I'm a-wonderin' what a child will do with Miss Polly in
the house!" snapped Nancy.
The old man laughed.
"I'm afraid you ain't fond of Miss Polly," he grinned.
"As if ever anybody could be fond of her!" scorned Nancy.
Old Tom smiled oddly. He stooped and began to work again.
"I guess maybe you didn't know about Miss Polly's love affair," he said
slowly.
"Love affair--HER! No!--and I guess nobody else didn't, neither."
"Oh, yes they did," nodded the old man. "And the feller's livin'
ter-day--right in this town, too."
"Who is he?"
"I ain't a-tellin' that. It ain't fit that I should." The old man drew himself
erect. In his dim blue eyes, as he faced the house, there was the loyal
servant's honest pride in the