For a brief instant Pollyannas countenance showed disappointment; but it cleared as she set the bowl of jelly down.
Didnt you? Well, if you didnt, then you cant know you DONT like it, anyhow, can you? So I reckon Im glad you havent, after all. Now, if you knew-
Yes, yes; well, theres one thing I know all right, and that is that Im flat on my back right here this minute, and that Im liable to stay here-till doomsday, I guess.
Pollyanna looked shocked.
Oh, no! It couldnt be till doomsday, you know, when the angel Gabriel blows his trumpet, unless it should come quicker than we think it will-oh, of course, I know the Bible says it may come quicker than we think, but I dont think it will-that is, of course I believe the Bible; but I mean I dont think it will come as much quicker as it would if it should come now, and-
John Pendleton laughed suddenly-and aloud. The nurse, coming in at that moment, heard the laugh, and beat a hurried-but a very silent-retreat. He had the air of a frightened cook who, seeing the danger of a breath of cold air striking a half-done cake, hastily shuts the oven door.
Arent you getting a little mixed? asked John Pendleton of Pollyanna.
The little girl laughed.
Maybe. But what I mean is, that legs dont last-broken ones, you know-like lifelong invalids, same as Mrs. Snow has got. So yours wont last till doomsday at all. I should think you could be glad of that.
Oh, I am, retorted the man grimly.
And you didnt break but one. You can be glad twasnt two. Pollyanna was warming to her task.
Of course! So fortunate, sniffed the man, with uplifted eyebrows; looking at it from that standpoint, I suppose I might be glad I wasnt a centipede and didnt break fifty!
Pollyanna chuckled.
Oh, thats the best yet, she crowed. I know what a centipede is; theyve got lots of legs. And you can be glad-
Oh, of course, interrupted the man, sharply, all the old bitterness coming back to his voice; I can be glad, too, for all the rest, I suppose-the nurse, and the doctor, and that confounded woman in the kitchen!
Why, yes, sir-only think how bad twould be if you DIDNT have them!
Well, I-eh? he demanded sharply.
Why, I say, only think how bad it would be if you didnt have em-and you lying here like this!
As if that wasnt the very thing that was at the bottom of the whole matter, retorted the man, testily, because I am lying here like this! And yet you expect me to say Im glad because of a fool woman who disarranges the whole house and calls it regulating, and a man who aids and abets her in it, and calls it nursing, to say nothing of the doctor who eggs em both on-and the whole bunch of them, meanwhile, expecting me to pay them for it, and pay them well, too!
Pollyanna frowned sympathetically.
Yes, I know. THAT part is too bad-about the money-when youve been saving it, too, all this time.
When-eh?
Saving it-buying beans and fish balls, you know. Say, DO you like beans? or do you like turkey better, only on account of the sixty cents?
Look a-here, child, what are you talking about?
Pollyanna smiled radiantly.
About your money, you know-denying yourself, and saving it for the heathen. You see, I found out about it. Why, Mr. Pendleton, thats one of the ways I knew you werent cross inside. Nancy told me.
The mans jaw dropped.
Nancy told you I was saving money for the-Well, may I inquire who Nancy is?
Our Nancy. She works for Aunt Polly.
Aunt Polly! Well, who is Aunt Polly?
Shes Miss Polly Harrington. I live with her.
The man made a sudden movement.
Miss-Polly-Harrington! he breathed. You live with-HER!
Yes; Im her niece. Shes taken me to bring up-on account of my mother, you know, faltered Pollyanna, in a low voice. She was her sister. And after father-went to be with her and the rest of us in Heaven, there wasnt any one left for me down here but the Ladies Aid; so she took me.
The man did not answer. His face, as he lay back on the pillow now, was very white-so white that Pollyanna was frightened. She rose uncertainly to her feet.
I reckon maybe Id better go now, she proposed. II hope youll like-the jelly.
The man turned his head suddenly, and opened his eyes. There was a curious longing in their dark depths which even Pollyanna saw, and at which she marvelled.
And so you are-Miss Polly Harringtons niece, he said gently.
Yes, sir.
Still the mans dark eyes lingered on her face, until Pollyanna, feeling vaguely restless, murmured:
II suppose you know-her.
John Pendletons lips curved in an odd smile.
Oh, yes; I know her. He hesitated, then went on, still with that curious smile. But-you dont mean-you cant mean that it was Miss Polly Harrington who sent that jelly-to me? he said slowly.
Pollyanna looked distressed.
N-no, sir: she didnt. She said I must be very sure not to let you think she did send it. But I-
I thought as much, vouchsafed the man, shortly, turning away his head. And Pollyanna, still more distressed, tiptoed from the room.
Under the porte-cochere she found the doctor waiting in his gig. The nurse stood on the steps.
Well, Miss Pollyanna, may I have the pleasure of seeing you home? asked the doctor smilingly. I started to drive on a few minutes ago; then it occurred to me that Id wait for you.
Thank you, sir. Im glad you did. I just love to ride, beamed Pollyanna, as he reached out his hand to help her in.
Do you? smiled the doctor, nodding his head in farewell to the young man on the steps. Well, as near as I can judge, there are a good many things you love to do-eh? he added, as they drove briskly away.
Pollyanna laughed.
Why, I dont know. I reckon perhaps there are, she admitted. I like to do most everything thats LIVING. Of course I dont like the other things very well-sewing, and reading out loud, and all that. But THEY arent LIVING.
No? What are they, then?
Aunt Polly says theyre learning to live, sighed Pollyanna, with a rueful smile.
The doctor smiled now-a little queerly.
Does she? Well, I should think she might say-just that.
Yes, responded Pollyanna. But I dont see it that way at all. I dont think you have to LEARN how to live. I didnt, anyhow.
The doctor drew a long sigh.
After all, Im afraid some of us-do have to, little girl, he said. Then, for a time he was silent. Pollyanna, stealing a glance at his face, felt vaguely sorry for him. He looked so sad. She wished, uneasily, that she could do something. It was this, perhaps, that caused her to say in a timid voice:
Dr. Chilton, I should think being a doctor would, be the very gladdest kind of a business there was.
The doctor turned in surprise.
Gladdest!-when I see so much suffering always, everywhere I go? he cried.
She nodded.
I know; but youre HELPING it-dont you see? and of course youre glad to help it! And so that makes you the gladdest of any of us, all the time.
The doctors eyes filled with sudden hot tears. The doctors life was a singularly lonely one. He had no wife and no home save his two-room office in a boarding house. His profession was very dear to him. Looking now into Pollyannas shining eyes, he felt as if a loving hand had been suddenly laid on his head in blessing. He knew, too, that never again would a long days work or a long nights weariness be quite without that new-found exaltation that had come to him through Pollyannas eyes.
God bless you, little girl, he said unsteadily. Then, with the bright smile his patients knew and loved so well, he added: And Im thinking, after all, that it was the doctor, quite as much as his patients, that needed a draft of that tonic! All of which puzzled Pollyanna very much-until a chipmunk, running across the road, drove the whole matter from her mind.
The doctor left Pollyanna at her own door, smiled at Nancy, who was sweeping off the front porch, then drove rapidly away.
Ive had a perfectly beautiful ride with the doctor, announced Pollyanna, bounding up the steps. Hes lovely, Nancy!