Page 70 - pollyanna

CHAPTER IX. WHICH

TELLS OF THE MAN

t rained the next time Pollyanna saw the Man. She greet-
Ied him, however, with a bright smile.
‘It isn’t so nice to-day, is it?’ she called blithesomely. ‘I’m
glad it doesn’t rain always, anyhow!’
The man did not even grunt this time, nor turn his head.
Pollyanna decided that of course he did not hear her. The
next time, therefore (which happened to be the following
day), she spoke up louder. She thought it particularly nec-
essary to do this, anyway, for the Man was striding along,
his hands behind his back, and his eyes on the ground—
which seemed, to Pollyanna, preposterous in the face of the
glorious sunshine and the freshly-washed morning air: Pol-
lyanna, as a special treat, was on a morning errand to-day.
‘How do you do?’ she chirped. ‘I’m so glad it isn’t yester-
day, aren’t you?
The man stopped abruptly. There was an angry scowl on
his face.
‘See here, little girl, we might just as well settle this thing
right now, once for all,’ he began testily. ‘I’ve got something
besides the weather to think of. I don’t know whether the
sun shines or not.’ Pollyanna beamed joyously.
‘No, sir; I thought you didn’t. That’s why I told you.’