Miss Pole

“ No, my dear. No. You must not exert yourself one bit more to-day. Now mind what I tell you, honey. It is for your good and Its!” replied Mrs. Pole, with a solemn warning shake of her head.
“Very well, Poley, I will obey you. Cleve and uncle are shut up in the parlor, talking business, I suppose, so I will sit here and sew until dinner time, or until I am called,” said Palma.
Mrs. Pole got up and went to the shelf in the closet and returned with Palma’s workbasket, in which her sewing was already neatly arranged, and set it down on the floor beside its owner. ”

“ You are a model of proportion—and I am only too happy to do you justice in that respect—but, at the same time, on the score of embonpoint, there is, possibly, something to be desired."
"And that," replied Miss Poles, "is entirely due to the life of inaction I have led in England for the last two years. Luxury does not suit my temperament at all. In peace and quietness I lose flesh, to regain it as soon as ever I resume an active existence. At the end of a month of Africa you will not recognize me, and, even now, by reason of the life I am leading in Paris, I have gained a pound." ”

“ With him died the last descendant in the male line of William Pole, the Hull merchant.
By one of the strange chances of history, another family of the name of Pole, having no kinship with the house of Suffolk, owed, like the Suffolks, their advancement and their fall to a match with a princess of the royal house. Sir Richard Pole, a Buckinghamshire knight, was the son of Geoffrey Pole, a squire whose wife, Edith St John, was sister of the half-blood to the mother of Henry VII. About 1490 or 1491 he married the Lady Margaret, daughter of George, duke of Clarence. ”

“ She has yore name on 'er tongue every minute in the day. You know she's always said she had as many childem as she wanted”—Pole laughed impulsively—“but she says now she'd go through it all ag'in ef she knowed it 'ud be a boy so she could call it after you.”
“Well, I certainly would take it as a great honor,” Floyd said. “Your children are going to make great men, Pole. They show it in their heads and faces.”
“Well, I hope so, Nelson.” Pole suddenly bent his head to listen. “That's Sally talkin' now,” he said, with a knowing smile. ”

“ Madame de Guéran is mounted on her mule, our two friends and myself on horseback, Joseph on his ass, and the remainder of the servants on their more gigantic steeds. Miss Poles, in a most picturesque travelling costume, with a cap on her head, a large green veil, a plaid round her body, a whole heap of useful articles pendant from a belt, her dress hooked up, and her huge feet in yellow boots and gaiters, moves to and fro, here, there, and every-where, gives a piece of her mind to one person, and an order to another, and winds up by setting out at the head of the caravan. ”

“ Nevertheless, we could not shake off our feelings of anxiety, for Miss Poles, despite her eccentricities and her ridiculousness, is such a thoroughly good creature, and so courageous a woman, that she has quite won us over. So, when Périères proposed to me that we should gallop on in search of our companion, I jumped at the idea, and we left the caravan for several hours under the command of Madame de Guéran and the Doctor. ”

“ And Pole, with a softened face, held out his big, warm hand. “Shake, old boy. Let it all pass. Now that you understand me, I'm goin' to trust you like a friend. No good man will harm the sister of a friend, noway, an' that's what she is to me. She's my little sister, Nelson. Now, you go take 'er home. I don't like the looks o' that cloud in the west,' an' I don't like the way that hoss o' your'n keeps layin' back his ears an' snortin' at ever' leaf that blows by.”
XVI FLOYD drove on to the bush-arbor and helped Cynthia into the buggy.
“Was that Pole Baker talking to you?” she questioned. ”

“ You and he are rather intimate, are you not?”
“Jest about as friendly as two men can be,” said Pole, “when one's rising in the world an' t'other is eternally at a stand-still or goin' down like a round rock on the side of a mountain. Or maybe I ought to say, when one of 'em has had the pluck to educate hisse'f, an' t'other hardly knows B from a bull's foot. I don't know, captain, why Nelson Floyd's friendly to me. I like him beca'se he is a man from his toe-nails to the end o' the longest hair on his head.” ”

“ Bote she"—he pointed to the little girl—"komes, takes th' skole, lairns us. We bay gote to pay hair back." He shifted till he stood over the young Pole. "So eef somebodey no bay gote," he added, with a threatening note in his voice, "ay make hame." Then he sank to his seat again, having for the second time in that school-room saved her from bitter humiliation.
The next morning the school-house withstood its last throe. At ten o'clock, in the midst of a reading-lesson, there entered the young Pole's father. His ox-gad was in his hand ”

“ The lady, therefore, who was very fertile in resources, suggested to the handsome Pole that he might just as well transform himself into a handsome Polish lady, so that he might, under the cover of the ever feminine, be able to visit her undisturbed, and as it was winter, the thick, heavy, capacious dress assisted the metamorphosis. ”

“ Was not that impenetrable mist the curtain of vapours which he had seen in his delirium? I peered into it, seeking for those luminous rays which had streaked the sky from east to west! I sought in its depths for that limitless cataract, rolling in silence from the height of some immense rampart lost in the vastness of the zenith! I sought for the awful white giant of the South Pole! ”

“ And, as Pole came up at the moment, he told him what had occurred.
“Father Jerome must have much confidence in this friar if he imagines he will succeed where we have failed,” remarked Pole. “I will question him, and judge of his fitness 238for the task. ”

“ Baker, as she appeared suddenly. “Boys an' gals that git together fer a good time don't want to listen to an old married man talk.”
“But one married man likes to listen to that woman talk, folks,” Pole broke in, “fer her voice makes sweet music to his ear. That's a fact, gentlemen an' ladies; here's one individual that could set an' listen to that sweet woman's patient voice from dark to sun-up, an' then pray fer more dark, an' more talk. I hain't the right sort of a man to yoke to, but she is the right sort of a woman. ”

“ Her feet are beautiful, her eyes are beautiful, her arms and breasts are paradise, her charm is potent beyond all charm that has ever dazzled men; and, as the pole willy-nilly draws the needle, just so, willy-nilly, does she draw men. ”

“ But we have been to the Pole and we shall die like gentlemen. I regret only for the women we leave behind. ”

“ I fear we have shot our bolt—but we have been to Pole and done the longest journey on record. ”

“ Of these stars some situate near the Æquator would seem to be borne around at a very rapid rate, others nearer the pole to have a somewhat gentler motion, others, apparently motionless, to have a slight rotation. Yet no differences in point of light, mass or colours are apparent to us: for they are as brilliant, clear, glittering and duskish toward the poles, as they are near the Æquator and the Zodiack: those which remain set in those positions do not hang, and are neither fixed, nor bound to anything of the nature of a vault. ”

“ When Mr. Polly re-entered the house he found three entirely strange young women with pink faces, demonstrative manners and emphatic mourning, engaged in an incoherent conversation with Mrs. Johnson. All three kissed him with great gusto after the ancient English fashion. “These are your cousins Larkins,” said Mrs. Johnson; “that’s Annie (unexpected hug and smack) , that’s Miriam (resolute hug and smack) , and that’s Minnie (prolonged hug and smack) .” ”

“ He says when I'm at her house the next time, he'll buy ice cream almost every day."
"Isn't he generous? And he says: 'Tell Princess Polly to hurry up and come,' and Rose says she can hardly wait 'til she sees me."
"Oh, Polly!" cried Lena, as a happy thought occurred to her, "if she's to be here when school has commenced, you can bring her to school. Teacher'll let us have guests. ”

“ Just think who he's painted! Two dukes, one is that man with the red hair, and the eyes that laugh at you. It's out in the big room," said Rose, "don't you remember it?"
"Yes, but I like the big lady in velvet, and lace, that hangs next to him," said Polly.
"That's his wife, Mr. Kirtland said so," said Rose.
"Oh, would you think a lovely lady like that would marry a man with red hair?" said Polly.
"P'raps she liked red hair," Rose said, "and Polly, did you ever see anything so cunning as that picture of a little girl with her hands full of roses?" ”

“ I dare say you’ll find plenty to amuse you in the house, and you are free to go anywhere. I’m sure I can trust such a careful, quiet little girl as you are.”
When the door that led into Miss Pomeroy’s room across the hall was fairly shut, Polly executed a silent dance on the soft gray and pink carpet.
“I guess Mrs. Manser’d think I was doing pretty well,” said Polly, thrilling with pride. “I never was called ‘quiet’ or ‘careful’ before. She’d hardly believe it. I must be growing like Eleanor pretty fast. As soon as I’ve put away my things I shall lie right down on that bed. ”

“ After the sweet little letter had been read, and Lena had asked for a second reading, Polly put it back into its envelope, and they talked of what Rose had written.
"Only think," said Polly, "her Aunt Rose doesn't wish her to be away from the house to go to school, so she's to have a private tutor at home, a music teacher, and a dancing teacher, and they're all to come to her house. She won't be in school with other little girls at all." ”

“ In a pretty lodge close to the gates of a magnificent park live Pollie and her dear long-suffering mother, but now as happy as it is possible for mortals to be. The widow continues her needlework, not as formerly, "to keep the wolf from the door," but merely for their beloved lady, or what is required for the house. Pollie, whose cheeks are now truly rosy, goes every day to school, and125 when at home helps her mother, so that in time she will become quite a useful girl to their kind and generous benefactress. ”

“ As we were now only sailing over a part of the sea where we had been before, I directed the course E.S.E. in order to get more to the south. We had the advantage of a fresh gale, and the disadvantage of a thick fog; much snow and sleet, which, as usual, froze on our rigging as it fell; so that every rope was covered with the finest transparent ice I ever saw. ”

“ I judged that the tide rises about four or five feet, and that it is high water on the full and change days about eleven o'clock.
The head of the bay, as well as two places on each side, was terminated by perpendicular ice-cliffs of considerable height. Pieces were continually breaking off, and floating out to sea; and a great fall happened while we were in the bay, which made a noise like cannon.
The inner parts of the country were not less savage and horrible. The wild rocks raised their lofty summits till they were lost in the clouds, and the valleys lay covered with everlasting snow. ”

“ THE POLLY SERIES By DOROTHY WHITEHILL
This lively series for girls is about the adventures of pretty, resourceful Polly Pendleton, a wide awake American girl who goes to boarding school on the Hudson River, several miles above New York. By her pluck and genial smile she soon makes a name for herself and becomes a leader in girl activities.
Besides relating Polly's adventures at school these books tell of her summer vacations and her experiences in many different scenes. Every girl who loves action and excitement will want to follow Polly on her many adventures. ”

“ Indeed, she was so shocked, when Polly, one day, proposed a run down the mall, that her friend never dared suggest such a thing again. At home, Polly ran and rode, coasted and skated, jumped rope and raked hay, worked in her garden and rowed her boat; so no wonder she longed for something more lively than a daily promenade with a flock of giddy girls, who tilted along in high-heeled boots, and costumes which made Polly ashamed to be seen with some of them. ”

“ She surpassed in loveliness the rose-buds that lay on her bosom, and the impertinence that could dare aspire to her broke over the old man in a fresh wave. He had nursed his wrath all the evening.
"Polly!" he blurted out, suddenly rising with a jerk from his arm-chair, and unconsciously striking an attitude [24] before the astonished girl, "do you want to marry Bob?"
"Why, no," cried Polly, utterly shaken out of her composure by the suddenness and vehemence of the attack. ”

“ This house was situated at one corner of the plantation, and had an area before it on which we were seated. The whole was planted round with fruit and other trees, whose spreading branches afforded an agreeable shade, and whose fragrance diffused a pleasing odour through the air. ”

“ Every day her parents went to the village, which was a mile or more away, to work, and they left little Polly in charge of the house, for she was a good and quiet little girl, and never was lonely or sad. One day Polly was sitting by the window, knitting, when she saw a queer-looking old woman coming along the road; such a queer old woman. ”

“ She of the dancing blue eyes, pink cheeks, and reckless little sun-bonnet was Pauline, otherwise Polly Oliver. Did you ever know a Polly without some one of these things? Well, my Polly had them all, and, besides, a saucy freckled nose, a crown of fluffy, reddish-yellow hair, and a shower of coaxing little pitfalls called dimples round her pretty mouth. She made you think of a sunbeam, a morning songbird, a dancing butterfly, or an impetuous little crocus just out after the first spring shower. Dislike her? You couldn’t. Approve of her? You wouldn’t always. Love her? ”