Polly Pepper

“ And to-day, Polly Pepper, you can’t think”—
“I decidedly object to having my wife called Polly Pepper,” said Jasper, trying to get on a grave look. “Polly Pepper King is all right. But be sure to put on the King.”
“Oh! we girls shall never call her anything [36] else but Polly Pepper—never in all this world, Jasper,” said Alexia carelessly. “Well, you tell what baby did to-day, Pickering. I’m quite tired out with all my trial of getting here, and the disappointment of my surprise spoiled.” ”

“ Polly, feeling as if she must get away from the bonnets and clothes.
"Yes, and the Bois de Boulogne to drive in, that's elegant. Only Mademoiselle won't take us there very often. I wish I was rich, and I'd have a span of long-tailed, grey horses, and drive up and down there every day."
Polly laughed. "Well, I should like the tram-ways and the stages," said
Polly.
"Oh, those don't go into the Bois de Boulogne," cried Adela, in a tone of horror. "Why, Polly Pepper, what are you thinking of?" she exclaimed. ”

“ She was a tall, thin girl, who got over the ground amazingly, to touch the green wicket gate certainly three seconds before Polly Pepper came flying up.
“You did that just splendidly, Cathie,” cried Polly breathlessly. “Oh dear me, that was a race!”
“Goodness me!” cried Alexia, her eyes flying open, “my face never'll get out of that knot in all this world. My! I feel as if my jaws were all tied up. Well, Polly, this time you beat for sure,” she added confidently, as the girls came running up to throw themselves on the grass again.
“But I didn't,” said Polly merrily. “Oh dear! I am so hot.” ”

“ Polly turned her head, and tried to laugh. “Maybe,” she said.
“You do,” cried Joel triumphantly, “want to go awfully. There’s pigs and chickens there, and lots and lots of things, Polly Pepper! I’m going! I’ll get on behind the wagon, when Mr. Brown doesn’t know it. Oh, Polly, you come, too—I’ll help you!” He spun round and round her, broom and all.
“Joel Pepper!” cried Polly, quite aghast, and whirling with him, to lay hold of his jacket-sleeve. “Stop! Oh, Joel, aren’t you ashamed to want to go when you’re not invited?” ”

“ Phronsie Pepper.
It is the story of Phronsie, the youngest and dearest of all the Peppers.
The Stories Polly Pepper Told.
Wherever there exists a child or a “grown-up,” there will be a welcome for these charming and delightful “Stories Polly Pepper told.”
The Adventures of Joel Pepper.
As bright and just as certain to be a child’s favorite as the others in the famous series. Harum-scarum “Joey” is lovable. ”

“ Only supposing that Polly's letter hadn't gone to the little old earl, Jasper kept saying over and over to himself. Just for one minute, suppose it!
And in the midst of it all, the horn sounded; the intermission was over, chairs were pushed back hastily, and all flocked off. No one must be late, and there must be no noisy or bustling entrances into the opera house.
And if Polly Pepper sat entranced through the rest of the matchless performance, Tom Selwyn—three seats back and off to the left—was just as quietly happy. But he wasn't thinking so much of "Parsifal" as might have been possible. ”

“ Meantime Polly, who had taken her recreation hour the day before to plan out this story of “The Green Umbrella and the Queer Little Man,” was sitting down on the floor, her head in Mother Pepper’s lap, while Mamsie’s hands softly smoothed the brown hair.
“I don’t see how I came to say it,” she mourned for about the fortieth time; “the words seemed to slip out, Mamsie, without my saying them; and then I couldn’t stop.”
“No, that is generally the way,” observed Mother Pepper; “when any one lets ill temper say the first word, good-by to all peace of mind. So watch the first word, Polly.” ”

“ Cummings."
"If you're really sure you are not struck," said Alexia, eying her askance, as if in considerable doubt, "we'll go; and Polly Pepper is there and that tiresome old Mr. Filbert."
"If Polly is there, she must stay to luncheon," said Miss Rhys, gathering up her skirts and preparing to descend the stairs.
"Oh, how fine!" exclaimed Alexia, hopping after, losing sight of the thunderstorm in the delight of having Polly Pepper to herself for so many hours. "Oh, Aunt, what's that tagging after you?"—catching sight of the piece of embroidery dangling from her aunt's long figure. ”

“ Pepper took her up firmly in her arms, as if she were Phronsie, and sat down in the old rocking-chair and just patted her back.
“There, there,” she whispered, soothingly, “don't think of it, Polly; mother's got home.”
“Oh, mammy,” said Polly, crawling up to the comfortable neck for protection, “I ought not to mind; but 'twas Miss Jerusha Henderson; and she said—”
“What did she say?” asked Mrs. Pepper, thinking perhaps it to be the wiser thing to let Polly free her mind. ”

“ And instead of the great, dreadful thing crying out, ‘I’ve got you!’ he began to whimper and beg. ‘Oh, let me go! let me go!’ And pretty soon all the whole bunch of Nutcrackerses, and their cousins who had come to help, just lifted up that bad, wicked, horrid thing with the green eyes, that had stolen into their house, and they pitched him, head over heels through the doorway, and down—down; and he was ten feet long; so he was dreadful slow in”—
“O Polly Pepper!” roared Joel, “what you saying? why, there isn’t any man so big as that.”
“It wasn’t a man,” said Polly coolly. ”

“ Pepper, who to their extreme astonishment, after all, said “yes,” and smiled encouragingly on the plan.
“Isn't mammy good?” said Polly, with loving gratitude, as they seated themselves again.
“Now we're all right,” exclaimed Ben, “and I tell you we can make the tree look perfectly splendid, Polly Pepper!”
“And I'll tell you another thing, Ben,” Polly said, “oh! something elegant! You must get ever so many hickory nuts; and you know those bits of bright paper I've got in the bureau drawer? Well, we can paste them on to the nuts and hang 'em on for the balls Jappy tells of.” ”

“ That's no end queer."
"No," said Polly, "it didn't come till then. And I wrote to your grandfather the next morning and thanked him."
"Now you did!" exclaimed Tom, in huge delight, and slapping his knee with one long hand. "That's no end good of you." He couldn't conceal how glad he was, and grinned all over his face.
At this moment Mrs. Vanderburgh, who, seeing Fanny so happy again, concluded to stay on the strength of resurrected hopes of Polly Pepper's friendship, sailed into the opera house, with her daughter. ”

“ I just had to wear it over to show you before Pickering sees it, and to let off steam, because I don’t want to worry him, poor boy. It’s quite bad enough to pay the bills. Oh, that horrible old Miss Flint! Polly Pepper, what shall I do?”
Polly dropped the brush with which she was brushing out her bright brown hair, and ran over. “I’ll tell you what, Alexia,” she said cheerily, “I think it’s these dreadful bows that are not put on rightly, that make half the trouble,” picking out one of them; “and then she has the shoulder-puffs too big.” ”

“ Joel was splendid too,” said Polly, turning a radiant face on him; “he gave things too, and helped to do the stuffing. I don’t know what I should ever have done in all this world [275] without those two boys;” and she beamed at them. “Well, I must hurry, or you never will hear about Phronsie’s new shoes. Oh! where was I?”
“Why, you were stuffing up the old stove to make it burn,” said all the Whitney boys together. “Don’t you know, Polly Pepper?”
“Oh, yes! Well, and I was in the midst of it, when Phronsie came out of the bedroom and said, ‘Oh! I am so hungry, Polly.’ Dear me, and there I was ”

“ Pepper wisely, as she sliced away. So Polly ran, and kneeled down before the stove, and drew out first one pan and then the other—the one with the lonely little lumps in it—
“O Mamsie!” she exclaimed happily; “see, they’re as fine as they can be!”
And sure enough they were; every biscuit had turned a lovely brown, and it had puffed up in just the right place, as much as to say, “You see, we did our duty.”
“So they are,” cried Mrs. Pepper, pleased to see Polly all right once more; “it beats all, Polly, to see how nicely you can bake things. Mother’s proud of you.” ”

“ Phronsie snuggled down into Polly’s lap, and held tightly to her.
“‘Pretty creature with the shining eyes, look out for the birds!’ screamed the old woman in the brown cloak, mounting the sky, and holding the green umbrella tightly in her skinny hands. And then she laughed a dreadful laugh. And Araminta Sophia sat down on a big stone by the roadside, and put her face in her two hands, and cried as hard as she could.” ”

“ Jasper in front, and wishing for nothing so much as a race.
"I should think we might try it," said Jasper; "there is no one near to see. Come on, Polly, do."
"I suppose we ought not to," said Polly, with a sigh, as Adela overtook them.
"Ought not to what?" she asked eagerly.
"Jasper and I were wanting to run a race," said Polly.
"Why, Polly Pepper! You are in Paris!" exclaimed Adela, quite shocked.
"I know it," said Polly, "and I wish we weren't. O dear! this seems just like the country, and—"
Just then a child screamed. "That's Phronsie!" exclaimed Polly, her cheek turning quite white. ”

“ Every bit of the fuss and parade in getting the big company started—for all the scholars went to the annual picnic—was a special delight to the girls. The only trouble was that the seats were not all end ones, while the favorite places up by the driver were necessarily few in each vehicle.
“Come on, Polly,” screamed Alexia. Everybody had agreed that she should have one of189 these choice positions because of her lame arm, which Dr. Fisher had said must be carried in its sling this day. So there she was, calling lustily for Polly Pepper, and beating the cushion impatiently with her well hand. ”

“ It isn't elegant to race along."
When Polly said "elegant" with such an air, the children always felt very much impressed, and little David now hung his head quite ashamed.
"I'm sorry I ran, Polly," he said.
"Oh, it's no matter in here," said Polly, "but when we get outside, then you must walk in a nice way. Mamsie'd want you to. Oh, now, Ben, go on with your plan and tell the rest."
"Oh, now you've been talking up things, you and Ben; you're always doing that, Polly Pepper," cried Joel, loudly. And he tried to crowd in between Polly and Phronsie. ”

“ Why, we must have a bushel of them."
"Oh, Polly Pepper!" cried the others, "a bushel of letters!"
"And no one can have a letter who doesn't write some," announced Polly firmly—"the very idea! So we must all work like everything to get ready for the post office."
III CLEM FORSYTHE Phronsie sat on the stairs, halfway down the long flight. It was the same staircase on which Jasper had found her, with Polly waiting patiently on the lower step, when she first came to Grandpapa King's. Now she held Clorinda in her arms, tightly pressed to her bosom. ”

“ And Polly stood quite still.
“Run, I say, Polly,” commanded Mrs. Pepper; and she pulled the old tea-kettle into a hotter part of the stove. “A fine cup of tea will do his bones good, more’n anything else.”
“There’s such a little bit left,” gasped Polly, not moving.
“Polly!” Mrs. Pepper turned suddenly on her. “Why, Polly—hush, he’ll hear you. For shame, child; he’s such a very poor old man.”
“And then you won’t have any,” said Polly, at her end of self-control. “O Mamsie! ”

“ V AT SILVIA HORNE'S
60
But they weren't—not a bit of it—and had ten minutes to spare as they came rushing up to the station platform.
“Oh, look—look, girls.” Polly Pepper pointed up to the clock, pushing back the damp rings of hair from her forehead. “Oh dear me—I'm so hot!”
“And so am I,” panted the other girls, dashing up. One of them sank down on the upper step, and fanned herself in angry little puffs with her hat, which she twitched off for that purpose.
“Just like you, Alexia,” cried one when she could get her breath, “you're always scaring us to death.” ”

“ And Miss Anstice said the same; although, try as hard as she would, her smile never could be sweet like Miss Salisbury's. And then off the girls would go to “exploring,” as they called rambling in the Glen, the under-teachers taking them in charge.
And now Polly Pepper ran to her hamper, which she saw in a pile where the baskets had been heaped by the maids. “There it is,” pointing to the tag sticking up; “oh, help me,—not you, Alexia,” as Alexia ran up as usual, to help forward any undertaking Polly Pepper might have in mind. “Dear me! you might almost kill your arm.” ”

“ Dr. Fisher gave Polly this one after she had the measles; but it was a lumbering old affair that was full of holes that had to be stopped up with anything we could get. And leather was the best; and Davie saved all the old boot-heels and tops he could find, you know."
"Oh!" said the old gentleman, wondering if other revelations would come to light about the early days of the Peppers.
"Isn't Dr. Fisher lovely?" cried Polly, with sparkling eyes, "just the same as ever. Mamsie, I ought to do something for him.
"He is as good as gold," assented Mrs. Pepper heartily. ”

“ Pepper?”
“She didn't ever mention her,” said Mr. Whitney, turning around to face his questioner, “not as Mrs. Pepper—never once by name. It was always either 'Polly's mother,' or 'Phronsie's mother.' Just like a woman,” he added, with a mischievous glance at his wife, “not to be explicit.”
“And just like a man,” she retorted, with a happy little laugh, “not to ask for explanations.”
“I hear Jappy,” cried Polly, in a glad voice, “and Ben—oh, good!” ”