Kate did not think at all. After the manner
of parents, she said that, but her head was full
of something she thought vastly more important just
then; of course Polly should have her share in it.
Left alone to wash the dishes and cook supper while
her mother went to town, it was Polly, who did the
thinking. She thought entirely too much, thought
bitterly, thought disappointedly, and finally thought
resentfully, and then alas, Polly thought deceitfully.
Her mother had said: “Never let me see
you.” Very well, she would be extremely
careful that she was not seen; but before she
slept she rather thought she would find a way to let
Henry know how she was being abused, and about that
plan to send her away all the long winter to school.
She rather thought Henry would have something to
say about how his “Little Beautiful” was
being treated. Here Polly looked long and searchingly
in the mirror to see if by any chance Henry was mistaken,
and she discovered he was. She stared in amazement
at the pink-cheeked, shining eyed girl she saw mirrored.
She pulled her hair looser around the temples, and
drew her lips over her teeth. Surely Henry was
mistaken. “Little Beautiful” was
too moderate. She would see that he said “perfectly
lovely,” the next time, and he did.
KATE’S HEAVENLY TIME
One evening Kate and Polly went to the front
porch to rest until bedtime and found a shining big
new trunk sitting there, with Kate’s initials
on the end, her name on the check tag, and a key in
the lock. They unbuckled the straps, turned the
key, and lifted the lid. That trunk contained
underclothing, hose, shoes, two hats, a travelling
dress with half a dozen extra waists, and an afternoon
and an evening dress, all selected with especial reference
to Kate’s colouring, and made one size larger
than Nancy Ellen wore, which fitted Kate perfectly.
There were gloves, a parasol, and a note which read:
DearKate: Here are some clothes.
I am going to go North a week after harvest.
You can be spared then as well as not. Come
on! Let’s run away and have one good time
all by ourselves. It is my treat from start
to finish. The children can manage the farm
perfectly well. Any one of her cousins will stay
with Polly, if she will be lonely. Cut loose
and come on, Kate. I am going. Of course
Robert couldn’t be pried away from his precious
patients; we will have to go alone; but we do not
care. We like it. Shall we start about
the tenth, on the night train, which will be cooler?
NancyEllen.
“We shall!” said Kate emphatically, when
she finished the note. “I haven’t
cut loose and had a good time since I was married;
not for eighteen years. If the children are
not big enough to take care of themselves, they never
will be. I can go as well as not.”
She handed the note to Polly, while she shook out
dresses and gloated over the contents of the trunk.
