Page 78 - pollyanna

thing awful, Mrs. White says. She told me afterwards she
reckoned she’d have gone raving crazy if it hadn’t been for
Mr. White’s sister’s ears—being deaf, so.’
‘Sister’s—EARS! What do you mean?’
Pollyanna laughed.
‘Well, I reckon I didn’t tell it all, and I forgot you didn’t
know Mrs. White. You see, Miss White was deaf—awful-
ly deaf; and she came to visit ‘em and to help take care of
Mrs. White and the house. Well, they had such an awful
time making her understand ANYTHING, that after that,
every time the piano commenced to play across the street,
Mrs. White felt so glad she COULD hear it, that she didn’t
mind so much that she DID hear it, ‘cause she couldn’t help
thinking how awful ‘twould be if she was deaf and couldn’t
hear anything, like her husband’s sister. You see, she was
playing the game, too. I’d told her about it.’
‘The—game?’
Pollyanna clapped her hands.
‘There! I ‘most forgot; but I’ve thought it up, Mrs. Snow—
what you can be glad about.’
‘GLAD about! What do you mean?’
‘Why, I told you I would. Don’t you remember? You asked
me to tell you something to be glad about—glad, you know,
even though you did have to lie here abed all day.’
‘Oh!’ scoffed the woman. ‘THAT? Yes, I remember that;
but I didn’t suppose you were in earnest any more than I
was.’
‘Oh, yes, I was,’ nodded Pollyanna, triumphantly; ‘and I
found it, too. But ‘TWAS hard. It’s all the more fun, though,