Pollyanna Grows Up

band about the letter that had come in the morning mail. For that matter, she would have had to wait, anyway, for

d his wife's sitting-room. His tired face lighted at sight

, what is it?" he

gave a ru

I didn't mean you should fin

ok so I can," he smi

pursed her lips, then pi

she said. "It's from

s' Sana

man, throwing himself at full length

cumulating through twenty years of lovelessness and loneliness. Nor did the doctor-who had been forty-five on his wedding day, and who could remember nothing but loneliness and lovelessness-on his part object in the least to this concentrated "tending." He acted, indeed, as if he quite enjoyed it-though he was careful not to show it too ardentl

nced a letter to you, and torn it up; so now I have decided not to 'commence' at

usband last March whe

presume you don't reme

very well) to write y

r to trust your dear

lyanna; and so I am making so bold as to ask you to let us take her. Indeed, I a

wish I could tell you what she has done for the Sanatorium here, but nobody could TELL. You would have to see it. I long ago discovered that you can't TELL about Pollyanna. The minute you try to, she sounds priggish and preachy, and-impossible. Yet you and I know she is anythin

just want to keep talking and talking, for fear, if I stop, it'll give you a chance to say no. And so, if you ARE tempted to sa

fully

A WET

tter down. "Did you ever read such a remarkable lett

d the doctor. "I don't think i

in her sister's heart, and all that. One woul

d outright, and r

ould a box of pills; and Charlie Ames says they always made it a point at the Sanatorium to give their pa

ed!" scorned

't think you'

such strangers! Why, Thomas, I should expect that that nurse would have her all bottled and labe

artily, but only for a moment. His face changed per

h an odd something in his voice that brought a puzzled fro

cter,' which I am very glad to do. I have known the Wetherby girls from babyhood. They come

He was bitterly angry at the Wetherbys' attitude toward him, and there was little communication between the families until the baby came. The Wetherbys worshiped the little boy, James-'Jamie,' as they called him. Doris, the mother, died when the boy w

married and widowed. Her husband was a man named Carew, very wealthy, and much older than herself.

have all but moved heaven and earth; but without avail. In time Della took up nursing. She is doing splendid work, and has become the cheerful, efficient, sane

ney can buy, of course, is at her command; but nothing pleases her, nothing interests her. Della feels that the time has come when she must be gotten out of herself, at all hazards; and Della believes that your wife's sunny little niece, Pollyanna, possesses the magic key that will unlock the door to a ne

silence, so long a silence that the

face closely, saw that the usually firm lips and chin wer

nk-they'll expect he

lf Dr. Chilton ga

you WILL let he

turned in

hat a question! Do you

anything BUT let her g

Do you think, after wh

efuse him ANYTHING-no

sk for-for YOU, my love," murmured the husband-of-a-year, with a whimsical

us full instructions. It must be sometime before the tenth of next month, of course, for you

you tell

row, pr

ll you t

er happens, Thomas, we don't want to spoil Pollyanna; and no child could hel

full instructions for taking?" int

her unconsciousness that saves the

ow," nodde

ore steadily. "But if, consciously, she should begin to be anything but her own natural, sunny, happy little self, playing the game that her father taught her, she would be-just what that nurse said she sou

hink you're wise,"

e next day; and this

re alone together that morning, "how would

th

. Carew, a dear friend of Dr. Ames, has asked you to come and

na's fa

or Mr. Pendleton, or Mrs. Snow, o

have them when you came

gave a sud

to Boston there are some Jimmys and Mr. Pendletons and M

, de

ught of the folks down there waiting for me to know them. And there's such a lot of 'em, too! I saw some of them wh

a little girl. They live in Boston. They said they did. The little girl's name was Susie Smith. Perhaps I could get to know them. Do you suppose I could? And there was a boy, and a

p up with your tongue, much less your thoughts, when they skip to Honolulu and back again in two seconds! No, Mrs.

clapped

tories. I only had her two months, though, because she only got there a little while before I came away. At first I was sorry that I hadn't had her ALL the time, but afterwards I was glad; for you see

w in her breath

ust not expect that they'll

ay when she was complaining that people called her Mrs. Peck, and I said if they'd only look for the wart as I did, they'd know right off. But she acted real cross-I mean displeased, and I'm afraid she didn't like it-though I don't see why; for I should have thought she'd been glad there was something they could be told apart by, 'specially as she was the president, and didn't like it when folks didn't ACT as if sh

n on, Pollyanna, especially if you g

yway, if I do plague you about those Ladies' Aiders, you can be kind o' glad, for if I'm thinking of the Aiders, I'm sure to be thinkin

g to leave the room, and feeling suddenly very guilty that she was conscious so

y in Boston were flying back and forth, Pollyanna herself was preparing f

e of ignorance of what the glad game was. So to one house after another Pollyanna carried the news now that she was going down to Boston to spend the winter; an

to say-to every one e

ton trip all foolishnes

ad to take Miss Pollya

would; and then Mrs. P

all she

As for Jimmy, the twelve-year-old boy whom John Pendleton had taken into his home because Pollyanna wanted him to, and

in the tone of voice a small boy is apt to use wh

of March. Besides, it isn't as if I was g

u was going away again right off, the first thing, I wouldn't have helped one mite

pride, she observed: "I'm sure I didn't ASK you to meet me with bands and things-and you made two mistakes in

o cares i

s grew still mo

to tell you when you said things wrong, because

y a whole lot of old women who didn't have anything to do but tell you how to talk rig

en-that is, not many of them, so very old," she corrected hastily, her

, either," interrupted th

Be- -What do you mean?"

to it. Now he's done it. I'm to be called 'Jimmy Pendleton' and I'm to call him Uncle John, only I

trace of displeasure had fled from the little girl

u know. And you won't ever have to explain that he wasn't BORN you

s felt hot, and his eyes smarted with tears. It was to Pollyanna that he owed it all-this great go

ll over and roll down his cheeks in spite of himself. He kicked another stone, then another; then he picked up a thir

ne tree down there before yo

d Pollyanna, scrambli

of the forbidden luxuries for her. But so far as Jimmy was concerned, it did not matter. His cheek