Polly named her list, and took a secret satisfaction in seeing the impression which certain names made upon her hearers.
'How in the world did you get the Davenports and the Greys, my dear?' said Mrs.
Shaw, sitting erect in her surprise.
'Mrs. Davenport and mother are relations, you know.'
'You never told us that before!' 'The Davenports have been away some years, and I forgot all about them. But when I was making my plan, I knew I must have a good name or two to set me going, so I just wrote and asked Mrs. D. if she would help me. She came and saw us and was very kind, and has got these pupils for me, like a dear, good woman as she is.'
'Where did you learn so much worldly wisdom, Polly?' asked Mr. Shaw, as his wife fell back in her chair, and took out her salts, as if this discovery had been too much for her.
'I learnt it here, sir,' answered Polly, laughing. 'I used to think patronage and things of that sort very disagreeable and not worth having, but I 've got wiser, and to a certain extent I 'm glad to use whatever advantages I have in my power, if they can be honestly got.'
'Why did n't you let us help you in the beginning? We should have been very glad to, I
'm sure,' put in Mrs. Shaw, who quite burned to be known as a joint patroness with Mrs.
Davenport.
'I know you would, but you have all been so kind to me I did n't want to trouble you with my little plans till the first steps were taken. Besides, I did n't know as you would like to recommend me as a teacher, though you like me well enough as plain Polly.'
'My dear, of course I would, and we want you to take Maud at once, and teach her your sweet songs. She has a fine voice, and is really suffering for a teacher.'
A slight smile passed over Polly's face as she returned her thanks for the new pupil, for she remembered a time when Mrs. Shaw considered her 'sweet songs' quite unfit for a fashionable young lady's repertoire. 'Where is your room?' asked Maud.
'My old friend Miss Mills has taken me in, and I am nicely settled. Mother did n't like the idea of my going to a strange boarding-house, so Miss Mills kindly made a place for me.
You know she lets her rooms without board, but she is going to give me my dinners, and I 'm to get my own breakfast and tea, quite independently. I like that way, and it 's very little trouble, my habits are so simple; a bowl of bread and milk night and morning, with baked apples or something of that sort, is all I want, and I can have it when I like.'
'Is your room comfortably furnished? Can't we lend you anything, my dear? An easy-chair now, or a little couch, so necessary when one comes in tired,' said Mrs. Shaw, taking unusual interest in the affair.
'Thank you, but I don't need anything, for I brought all sorts of home comforts with me.
Oh, Fan, you ought to have seen my triumphal entry into the city, sitting among my goods and chattels, in a farmer's cart.' Polly's laugh was so infectious that every one smiled and forgot to be shocked at her performance. 'Yes,' she added, 'I kept wishing I could meet you, just to see your horrified face when you saw me sitting on my little sofa, with boxes and bundles all round me, a bird-cage on one side, a fishing basket, with a kitten's head popping in and out of the hole, on the other side, and jolly old Mr. Brown, in his blue frock, perched on a keg of apples in front. It was a lovely bright day, and I enjoyed the ride immensely, for we had all sorts of adventures.'
'Oh, tell about it,' begged Maud, when the general laugh at Polly's picture had subsided.
'Well, in the first place, we forgot my ivy, and Kitty came running after me, with it. Then we started again, but were soon stopped by a great shouting, and there was Will racing down the hill, waving a pillow in one hand and a squash pie in the other. How we did laugh when he came up and explained that our neighbor, old Mrs. Dodd, had sent in a hop-pillow for me, in case of headache, and a pie to begin house-keeping with. She seemed so disappointed at being too late that Will promised to get them to me, if he ran all the way to town. The pillow was easily disposed of, but that pie! I do believe it was stowed in every part of the wagon, and never staid anywhere. I found it in my lap, then on the floor, next, upside down among the books, then just on the point of coasting off a trunk into the road, and at last it landed in my rocking-chair. Such a remarkable pie as it was, too, for in spite of all its wanderings, it never got spilt or broken, and we finally ate it for lunch, in order to be left in peace. Next, my kitty got away, and I had a chase over walls and brooks before I got her, while Mr. Brown sat shaking with fun, to see me run.
We finished off by having the book-shelves tumble on our heads as we went down a hill, and losing my chair off behind, as we went up a hill. A shout made us pause, and, looking back, there was the poor little chair rocking all by itself in the middle of the road, while a small boy sat on the fence and whooped. It was great fun, I do assure you.'
Polly had run on in her lively way, not because she thought her adventures amounted to much, but from a wish to cheer up her friends, who had struck her as looking rather dull and out of sorts, especially Mr. Shaw; and when she saw him lean back in his chair with the old hearty laugh, she was satisfied, and blessed the unlucky pie for amusing him.
'Oh, Polly, you do tell such interesting things!' sighed Maud, wiping her eyes.
'I wish I 'd met you, I 'd have given you three cheers and a tiger, for it must have been an imposing spectacle,' said Tom.
'No, you would n't; you 'd have whisked round the comer when you saw me coming or have stared straight before you, utterly unconscious of the young woman in the baggage wagon.'
Polly laughed in his face just as she used to do, when she said that, and, in spite of the doubt cast upon his courtesy, Tom rather liked it, though he had nothing to say for himself but a reproachful, 'Now, Polly, that 's too bad.'
'True, nevertheless. You must come and see my pets, Maud, for my cat and bird live together as happily as brother and sister,' said Polly, turning to Maud, who devoured every word she said.
