at's why he wanted--but never mind that part,"
she added hastily, remembering just in time her promise to Pollyanna
not to tell that Mr. Pendleton had wished her to come and live with him.
"Well, I've been askin' folks about him some, since, and I've found out
that him an' Miss Polly hain't been friends for years, an' that she's
been hatin' him like pizen owin' ter the silly gossip that coupled their
names tergether when she was eighteen or twenty."

"Yes, I remember," nodded Old Tom. "It was three or four years after
Miss Jennie give him the mitten and went off with the other chap. Miss
Polly knew about it, of course, and was sorry for him. So she tried ter
be nice to him. Maybe she overdid it a little--she hated that minister
chap so who had took off her sister. At any rate, somebody begun ter
make trouble. They said she was runnin' after him."

"Runnin' after any man--her!" interjected Nancy.

"I know it; but they did," declared Old Tom, "and of course no gal of
any spunk'll stand that. Then about that time come her own lover an'
the trouble with HIM. After that she shut up like an oyster an' wouldn't
have nothin' ter do with nobody fur a spell. Her heart jest seemed to
turn bitter at the core."

"Yes, I know. I've heard about that now," rejoined Nancy; "an' that's
why you could 'a' knocked me down with a feather when I see HIM at the
door--him, what she hain't spoke to for years! But I let him in an' went
an' told her."

"What did she say?" Old Tom held his breath suspended.

"Nothin'--at first. She was so still I thought she hadn't heard; and I
was jest goin' ter say it over when she speaks up quiet like: 'Tell Mr.
Pendleton I will be down at once.' An' I come an' told him. Then I come
out here an' told you," finished Nancy, casting another backward glance
toward the house.

"Humph!" grunted Old Tom; and fell to work again.

In the ceremonious "parlor" of the Harrington homestead, Mr. John
Pendleton did not have to wait long before a swift step warned him of
Miss Polly's coming. As he attempted to rise, she made a gesture of
remonstrance. She did not offer her hand, however, and her face was
coldly reserved.

"I called to ask for--Pollyanna," he began at once, a little brusquely.

"Thank you. She is about the same," said Miss Polly.

"And that is--won't you tell me HOW she is?" His voice was not quite
steady this time.

A quick spasm of pain crossed the woman's face.

"I can't, I wish I could!"