air set her
blood dancing and her eyes sparkling with youth, health, and overflowing
spirits. "I really must break out somewhere and have a good time. It 's
quite impossible to keep steady any longer. Now what will I do?" Polly
sprinkled crumbs to the doves, who came daily to be fed, and while she
watched the gleaming necks and rosy feet, she racked her brain to devise
some unusually delightful way of enjoying herself, for she really had
bottled up her spirits so long, they were in a state of uncontrollable
effervescence.

"I 'll go to the opera," she suddenly announced to the doves. "It 's
expensive, I know, but it 's remarkably good, and music is such a treat
to me. Yes, I 'll get two tickets as cheap as I can, send a note to
Will, poor lad, he needs fun as much as I do, and we 'll go and have a
nice time in some corner, as Charles Lamb and his sister used to."

With that Polly slammed down the window, to the dismay of her gentle
little pensioners, and began to fly about with great energy, singing and
talking to herself as if it was impossible to keep quiet. She started
early to her first lesson that she might have time to buy the tickets,
hoping, as she put a five-dollar bill into her purse, that they would
n't be very high, for she felt that she was not in a mood to resist
temptation. But she was spared any struggle, for when she reached the
place, the ticket office was blocked up by eager purchasers and the
disappointed faces that turned away told Polly there was no hope for
her.

"Well, I don't care, I 'll go somewhere, for I will have my fun," she
said with great determination, for disappointment only seemed to whet
her appetite. But the playbills showed her nothing inviting and she was
forced to go away to her work with the money burning her pocket and all
manner of wild schemes floating in her head. At noon, instead of going
home to dinner, she went and took an ice, trying to feet very gay and
festive all by herself. It was rather a failure, however, and after a
tour of the picture shops she went to give Maud a lesson, feeling that
it was very hard to quench her longings, and subside into a prim little
music teacher.

Fortunately she did not have to do violence to her feelings very long,
for the first thing Fanny said to her was: "Can you go?"

"Where?"

"Did n't you get my note?"

"I did n't go home to dinner."

"Tom wants us to go to the opera to-night and" Fan got no further, for
Polly uttered a c