Page 155 - pollyanna

‘Aunt Polly come—HERE!’
Pollyanna’s eyes widened a little.
‘Would you rather go THERE?’ she asked. Of course the
house isn’t quite so pretty, but it’s nearer—‘
‘Pollyanna, what ARE you talking about?’ asked the man,
very gently now.
‘Why, about where we’re going to live, of course,’ re-
joined Pollyanna, in obvious surprise. ‘I THOUGHT you
meant here, at first. You said it was here that you had want-
ed Aunt Polly’s hand and heart all these years to make a
home, and—‘
An inarticulate cry came from the man’s throat. He
raised his hand and began to speak; but the next moment
he dropped his hand nervelessly at his side.
‘The doctor, sir,’ said the maid in the doorway.
Pollyanna rose at once.
John Pendleton turned to her feverishly.
‘Pollyanna, for Heaven’s sake, say nothing of what I asked
you—yet,’ he begged, in a low voice. Pollyanna dimpled into
a sunny smile.
‘Of course not! Just as if I didn’t know you’d rather tell
her yourself!’ she called back merrily over her shoulder.
John Pendleton fell limply back in his chair.
‘Why, what’s up?’ demanded the doctor, a minute later,
his fingers on his patient’s galloping pulse.
A whimsical smile trembled on John Pendleton’s lips.
‘Overdose of your—tonic, I guess,’ he laughed, as he not-
ed the doctor’s eyes following Pollyanna’s little figure down
the driveway.

1 Pollyanna