Polly didn't sleep much more on her shake-down on the floor than if she had watched with Ben; for Phronsie cried and moaned, and wanted a drink of water every two minutes, it seemed to her. As she went back into her nest after one of these travels, Polly thought: "Well, I don't care, if nobody else gets sick; if Ben'll only get well. To-morrow I'm goin' to do mammy's sack she's begun for Mr. Jackson; it's all plain sew-in', just like a bag; and I can do it, Iknow----" and so she fell into a troubled sleep, only to be awakened by Phronsie's fretful little voice: "I want a drink of water, Polly, I do.""Don't she drink awfully, mammy?" asked Polly, after one of these excursions out to the kitchen after the necessary draught.
"Yes," said Mrs. Pepper; "and she mustn't have any more; 'twill hurt her." But Phronsie fell into a delicious sleep after that, and didn't want any more, luckily.
"Here, Joe," said Mrs. Pepper, the next morning, "take this coat up to Mr. Peterses; and be sure you get the money for it.""How'll I get it?" asked Joe, who didn't relish the long, hot walk.
"Why, tell 'em we're sick--Ben's sick," added Mrs. Pepper, as the most decisive thing; "and we must have it; and then wait for it.""Tisn't pleasant up at the Peterses," grumbled Joel, taking the parcel and moving slowly off.
"No, no, Polly," said Mrs. Pepper, "you needn't do that," seeing Polly take up some sewing after doing up the room and finishing the semi-weekly bake; "you're all beat out with that tussle over the stove; that sack'll have to go till next week.""It can't, mammy," said Polly, snipping off a basting thread; "we've got to have the money; how much'll he give you for it?""Thirty cents," replied Mrs. Pepper.
"Well," said Poily, "we've got to get all the thirty centses we can, mammy dear; and I know I can do it, truly--try me once," she implored.
"Well." Mrs. Pepper relented, slowly.
"Don't feel bad, mammy dear," comforted Polly, sewing away briskly; "Ben'll get well pretty soon, and then we'll be all right.""Maybe," said Mrs. Pepper; and went back to Phronsie, who could scarcely let her out of her sight.
Polly stitched away bravely. "Now if I do this good, mammy'll let me do it other times," she said to herself.
Davie, too, worked patiently out of doors, trying to do Ben's chores. The little fellow blundered over things that Ben would have accomplished in half the time, and he had to sit down often on the steps of the little old shed where the tools were kept, to wipe his hot face and rest.
"Polly," said Mrs. Pepper, "hadn't you better stop a little? Dear me! how fast you sew, child!"
Polly gave a delighted little hum at her mother's evident approval.
"I'm going to do 'em all next week, mammy," she said; "then Mr. Atkins won't take 'em away from us, I guess."Mr. Atkins kept the store, and gave out coats and sacks of coarse linen and homespun to Mrs. Pepper to make; and it was the fear of losing the work that had made the mother's heart sink.
"I don't believe anybody's got such children as I have," she said;and she gave Polly a motherly little pat that the little daughter felt clear to the tips of her toes with a thrill of delight.
About half-past two, long after dinner, Joe came walking in, hungry as a beaver, but flushed and triumphant.
"Why, where have you been all this time?" asked his mother.
"Oh, Joe, you didn't stop to play?" asked Polly, from her perch where she sat sewing, giving him a reproachful glance.
"Stop to play!" retorted Joe, indignantly; "no, I guess I didn't! I've been to Old Peterses.""Not all this time!" exclaimed Mrs. Pepper.
"Yes, I have too," replied Joel, sturdily marching up to her. "And there's your money, mother;" and he counted out a quarter of a dollar in silver pieces and pennies, which he took from a dingy wad of paper, stowed away in the depths of his pocket.
"Oh, Joe," said Mrs. Pepper, sinking back in her chair and looking at him; "what do you mean?"Polly put her work in her lap, and waited to hear.
"Where's my dinner, Polly?" asked Joel; "I hope it's a big one.
