POLLY ***
Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
POLLY A NEW-FASHIONED GIRL
BY L. T. MEADE
Author of "A World of Girls," "Daddy's Girl," "Light of the Morning," "Palace Beautiful," "A Girl in Ten Thousand," etc.
NEW YORK THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY 1910
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[Illustration: Polly]
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"But if thou wilt be constant then, And faithful of thy word, I'll make thee glorious by my pen And famous by my sword. I'll serve thee in such noble ways Was never heard before: I'll crown and deck thee all with bays And love thee evermore."
--James Graham.
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CONTENTS
PART I CHAPTER I. A GREAT MISFORTUNE. 1 CHAPTER II. ALL ABOUT THE FAMILY. 4 CHAPTER III. "BE BRAVE, DEAR." 6 CHAPTER IV. QUITE A NEW SORT OF SCHEME. 10 CHAPTER V. A SAFETY-VALVE. 13 CHAPTER VI. POLLY'S RAID. 16 CHAPTER VII. THE GROWN-UPS. 19 CHAPTER VIII. SHOULD THE STRANGERS COME? 24 CHAPTER IX. LIMITS. 28 CHAPTER X. INDIGESTION WEEK. 32 CHAPTER XI. A--WAS AN APPLE PIE. 36 CHAPTER XII. POTATOES--MINUS POINT. 42 CHAPTER XIII. IN THE ATTIC. 45 CHAPTER XIV. AUNT MARIA. 50 CHAPTER XV. PUNISHMENT. 55 CHAPTER XVI. DR. MAYBRIGHT _versus_ SCORPION. 60 CHAPTER XVII. WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN? 64 CHAPTER XVIII. THE WIFE OF MICAH JONES. 68 CHAPTER XIX. DISTRESSED HEROINES. 73 CHAPTER XX. LIMITS. 75 CHAPTER XXI. THE HIGH MOUNTAINS. 78
PART II CHAPTER I. A COUPLE OF BARBARIANS. 82 CHAPTER II. A YOUNG QUEEN. 86 CHAPTER III. NOT LIKE OTHERS. 94 CHAPTER IV. A YOUNG AUSTRALIAN. 98 CHAPTER V. FORSAKEN. 103 CHAPTER VI. WITHOUT HER TREASURE. 108 CHAPTER VII. MAGGIE TO THE RESCUE. 113 CHAPTER VIII. THE HERMIT'S HUT. 117 CHAPTER IX. AN OLD SONG. 121 CHAPTER X. LOOKING AT HERSELF. 126 CHAPTER XI. THE WORTH OF A DIAMOND. 131 CHAPTER XII. RELICS AND A WELCOME. 135 CHAPTER XIII. VERY ROUGH WEATHER. 139 CHAPTER XIV. A NOVEL HIDING-PLACE. 144 CHAPTER XV. A DILEMMA. 149 CHAPTER XVI. FIREFLY. 151 CHAPTER XVII. TO THE RESCUE. 155 CHAPTER XVIII. OH, FIE! POLLY. 159 CHAPTER XIX. ONE YEAR AFTER. 165
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POLLY: A NEW-FASHIONED GIRL.
CHAPTER I.
A GREAT MISFORTUNE.
It was an intensely hot July day--not a cloud appeared in the high blue vault of the sky; the trees, the flowers, the grasses, were all motionless, for not even the gentlest zephyr of a breeze was abroad; the whole world seemed lapped in a sort of drowsy, hot, languorous slumber. Even the flowers bowed their heads a little weariedly, and the birds after a time ceased singing, and got into the coolest and most shady parts of the great forest trees. There they sat and talked to one another of the glorious weather, for they liked the heat, although it made them too lazy to sing.
It was an open plain of country, and although there were clumps of trees here and there, great clumps with cool shade under them, there were also acres and acres of common land on which the sun beat remorselessly. This land was covered with heather, not yet in flower, and with bracken, which was already putting on its autumn glory of yellow and red. Neither the bracken nor the heather minded the July heat, but the butterflies thought it a trifle uncomfortable, and made for the clumps of trees, and looked longingly and regretfully at what had been a noisy, babbling little brook, but was now a dry and stony channel, deserted even by the dragon-flies.
