her hair.
“Your nose is as red as that cranberry sauce,” answered Fan,
coming out of the big chair where she had been curled up for an
hour or two, deep in “Lady Audley’s Secret.”
“So it is,” said Polly, shutting one eye to look at the offending
feature. “Never mind; I ‘ve had a good time, anyway,” she added,
giving a little prance in her chair.
“I don’t see much fun in these cold runs you are so fond of taking,”
said Fanny, with a yawn and a shiver.
“Perhaps you would if you tried it;” and Polly laughed as she
glanced at Tom.
“Did you go alone, dear?” asked grandma, patting the rosy cheek
beside her.
“Yes ‘m; but I met Tom, and we came home together.” Polly’s eyes
twinkled when she said that, and Tom choked in his soup.
“Thomas, leave the table!” commanded Mr. Shaw, as his
incorrigible son gurgled and gasped behind his napkin.
“Please don’t send him away, sir. I made him laugh,” said Polly,
penitently.
“What’s the joke?” asked Fanny, waking up at last.
“I should n’t think you ‘d make him laugh, when he ‘s always
making you cwy,” observed Maud, who had just come in.
“What have you been doing now, sir?” demanded Mr. Shaw, as
Tom emerged, red and solemn, from his brief obscurity.
“Nothing but coast,” he said, gruffly, for papa was always lecturing
him, and letting the girls do just as they liked.
“So ‘s Polly; I saw her. Me and Blanche were coming home just
now, and we saw her and Tom widing down the hill on his sled,
and then he dwagged her ever so far!” cried Maud, with her mouth
full.
“You did n’t?” and Fanny dropped her fork with a scandalized face.
“Yes, I did, and liked it ever so much,” answered Polly, looking
anxious but resolute.
“Did any one see you?” cried Fanny.
“Only some little girls, and Tom.”
“It was horridly improper; and Tom ought to have told you so, if
you did n’t know any better. I should be mortified to death if any of
my friends saw you,” added Fan, much disturbed.
“Now, don’t you scold. It ‘s no harm, and Polly shall coast if she
wants to; may n’t she, grandma?” cried Tom, gallantly coming to
the rescue, and securing a powerful ally.
“My mother lets me; and if I don’t go among the boys, I can’t see
what harm there is in it,” said Polly, before Madam could speak.
“People do many things in the country that are not proper here,”
began Mrs. Shaw, in her reproving tone.
“Let the child do it if she likes, and take Maud with her. I should
be glad to have one hearty girl in my house,” interrupted Mr.
Shaw, and that was the end of it.
“Thank you, sir,” said Polly, gratefully, and nodded at Tom, who
telegraphed back “All right!” and fell upon his dinner with the
appetite of a young wolf.
“Oh, you sly-boots! you ‘re getting up a flirtation with Tom, are
you?” whispered Fanny to her friend, as if much amused.
“What!” and Polly looked so surprised and indignant, that Fanny
was ashamed of herself, and changed the subject by telling her
mother she needed some new gloves.
Polly was very quiet after that, and the minute dinner was over, she
left the room to go and have a quiet “think” about the whole
matter. Before she got half-way up stairs, she saw Tom coming
after, and immediately sat down to guard her feet. He laughed, and
said, as he perched himself on the post of the banisters, “I won’t
grab you, honor bright. I just wanted to say, if you ‘ll come out
to-morrow some time, we ‘ll have a good coast.”
“No,” said Polly, “I can’t come.”
“Why not? Are you mad? I did n’t tell.” And Tom looked amazed at
the change which had come over her.
“No; you kept your word, and stood by me like a good boy. I ‘m not
mad, either; but I don’t mean to coast any more. Your mother don’t
like it.”
“That is n’t the reason, I know. You nodded to me after she ‘d freed