head under the bedclothes.

"Oh, are you worse? is she, Polly?" cried Miss Rhys all in a flutter. "I
heard her cry, I thought."

"No, I was laughing," said Alexia, pulling up her face red and shining.
"Do go right away, aunt. Dr. Fisher said Polly was to tell me things."

"Well, if you are not worse," said her aunt, slowly turning away.

"No," said Alexia. "Polly Pepper, do get up and shut that door," she
cried; "slam it, and lock it."

"Oh, no," said Polly, in dismay at the very thought, "I couldn't ever do
that, Alexia."

"Well, then I will." Alexia threw back the bedclothes with a desperate
hand, and thrust one foot out.

"If you do," said Polly, not moving from where she sat on the foot of
the bed, "I shall go out of this room, and not come back to-day."

"Shall you really?" cried Alexia, fixing her pale eyes on her.

"Yes, indeed I shall," said Polly firmly.

"Oh, then I'm not going." Alexia drew in her foot, and huddled all the
clothes up over her head. "Polly Pepper," she said in muffled tones,
"you're a perfectly dreadful creature, and if you'd gone and sprained
your arm in a horrible old railway accident and were tied in bed, I'd do
just everything you said, I would."

"Oh, I hope you wouldn't," said Polly.

"Hope I wouldn't!" screamed Alexia, flinging all the clothes away again
to stare at Polly out of very wide eyes. "Whatever do you mean, Polly
Pepper?"

"I hope you wouldn't do as I wanted you to," said Polly distinctly, "if
I wanted something that was bad."

"Well, that's a very different thing," mumbled Alexia. "Oh dear me!" She
gave a grimace at a twinge of pain in her arm. "This isn't bad; I only
wanted that door shut."

"Oh now, Alexia, you've hurt your arm!" cried Polly; "do keep still,
else Papa-Doctor won't let me stay in here."

"Oh dear, dear! I'll keep still," promised Alexia, making up her mind
that horses shouldn't drag any expression of pain from her after that.

"I mean, do sit up straight against your pillows; you've got 'em all
mussed up again," cried Polly. So she hopped off from the bed, and
thumped them into shape once more.

"I wish you'd turn 'em over," said Alexia: "they're so hot on that
side." So Polly whisked over the pillows, and patted them straight, and
Alexia sank back against them again.

"Wouldn't you like me to smooth your hair, Alexia?" asked Polly. "Mamsie
does that to me when I don't feel good."

"Yes, I should," said Alexia, "like it very much ind