Tom, with the natural perversity of his tribe.
“If they ask me, I shall tell, of course; if they don’t ask, I think there’s no harm in keeping still. I shouldn’t have done it, if I hadn’t known my mother was willing; but I don’t wish to trouble your mother by telling of it. Do you think it was very dreadful of me?” asked Polly, looking at him.
“I think it was downright jolly; and I won’t tell, if you don’t want me to. Now, come up and have another,” said Tom, heartily.
“Just one more; the little girls want to go, and this is their sled.”
“Let ’em take it, ’tisn’t good for much; and you come on mine. Mazeppa’s a stunner; you see if he isn’t.”
So Polly tucked herself up in front, Tom hung on behind in some mysterious manner, and Mazeppa proved that he fully merited his master’s sincere if inelegant praise. They got on capitally now, for Tom was in his proper sphere, and showed his best side, being civil and gay in the bluff boy-fashion that was natural to him; while Polly forgot to be shy, and liked this sort of “toughening” much better than the other. They laughed and talked, and kept taking “just one more,” till the sunshine was all gone, and the clocks struck dinnertime.
“We shall be late; let’s run,” said Polly, as they came into the path after the last coast.
“You just sit still, and I’ll get you home in a jiffy;” and before she could unpack herself, Tom trotted off with her at a fine pace.
“Here’s a pair of cheeks! I wish you’d get a color like this, Fanny,” said Mr. Shaw, as Polly came into the dining room after smoothing her hair.
“Your nose is as red as that cranberry sauce,” answered Fan, coming out of the big chair where she had been curled up for an hour or two, deep in “Lady Audley’s Secret.”
“So it is,” said Polly, shutting one eye to look at the offending feature. “Never mind; I’ve had a good time, anyway,” she added, giving a little prance in her chair.
“I don’t see much fun in these cold runs you are so fond of taking,” said Fanny, with a yawn and a shiver.
“Perhaps you would if you tried it;” and Polly laughed as she glanced at Tom.
“Did you go alone, dear?” asked grandma, patting the rosy cheek beside her.
“Yes’m; but I met Tom, and we came home together.” Polly’s eyes twinkled when she said that, and Tom choked in his soup.
“Thomas, leave the table!” commanded Mr. Shaw, as his incorrigible son gurgled and gasped behind his napkin.
“Please, don’t send him away, sir. I made him laugh,” said Polly, penitently.
“What’s the joke?” asked Fanny, waking up at last.
“I shouldn’t think you’d make him laugh, when he’s always making you cwy,” observed Maud, who had just come in.
“What have you been doing now, sir?” demanded Mr. Shaw, as Tom emerged, red and solemn, from his brief obscurity.
“Nothing but coast,” he said, gruffly, for papa was always lecturing him, and letting the girls do just as they liked.
“So’s Polly; I saw her. Me and Blanche were coming home just now, and we saw her and Tom widing down the hill on his sled, and then he dwagged her ever so far!” cried Maud, with her mouth full.
“You didn’t?” and Fanny dropped her fork with a scandalized face.
“Yes, I did, and liked it ever so much,” answered Polly, looking anxious but resolute.
“Did anyone see you?” cried Fanny.
“Only some little girls, and Tom.”
“It was horridly improper; and Tom ought to have told you so, if you didn’t know any better. I should be mortified to death if any of my friends saw you,” added Fan, much disturbed.
“Now, don’t you scold. It’s no harm, and Polly shall coast if she wants to; mayn’t she, grandma?” cried Tom, gallantly coming to the rescue, and securing a powerful ally.
“My mother lets me; and if I don’t go among the boys, I can’t see what harm there is in it,” said Polly, before Madam could speak.
“People do many things in the country that are not proper here,” began Mrs. Shaw, in her reproving tone.
“Let the child do it if she likes, and take Maud with her. I should be glad to have one hearty girl in my house,” interrupted Mr. Shaw, and that was the end of it.
“Thank you, sir,” said Polly, gratefully, and nodded at Tom, who telegraphed back “All right!” and fell upon his dinner with the appetite of a young wolf.
“Oh, you sly-boots! You’re getting up a flirtation with Tom, are you?” whispered Fanny to her friend, as if much amused.
“What!” and Polly looked so surprised and indignant, that Fanny was ashamed of herself, and changed the subject by telling her mother she needed some new gloves.
Polly was very quiet after that, and the minute dinner was over, she left the room to go and have a quiet “think” about the whole matter. Before she got halfway upstairs, she saw Tom coming after, and immediately sat down to guard her feet. He laughed, and said, as he perched himself on the post of the banisters, “I won’t grab you, honor bright. I just wanted to say, if you’ll come out tomorrow some time, we’ll have a good coast.”
“No,” said Polly, “I can’t come.”
“Why not? Are you mad? I didn’t tell.” And Tom looked amazed at the change which had come over her.
“No; you kept your word, and stood by me like a good boy. I’m not mad, either; but I don’t mean to coast any more. Your mother don’t like it.”
“That isn’t the reason, I know. You nodded to me after she’d freed her mind, and you meant to go then. Come, now, what is it?”
“I shan’t tell you; but I’m not going,” was Polly’s determined answer.
“Well, I did think you had more sense than most girls; but you haven’t, and I wouldn’t give a sixpence for you.”
“That’s polite,” said Polly, getting ruffled.
“Well, I hate cowards.”
“I ain’t a coward.”
“Yes, you are. You’re afraid of what folks will say; ain’t you, now?”
Polly knew she was, and held her peace, though she longed to speak; but how could she?
“Ah, I knew you’d back out.” And Tom walked away with an air of scorn that cut Polly to the heart.
“It’s too bad! Just as he was growing kind to me, and I was going to have a good time, it’s all spoilt by Fan’s nonsense. Mrs. Shaw don’t like it, nor grandma either, I dare say. There’ll be a fuss if I go, and Fan will plague me; so I’ll give it up, and let Tom think I’m afraid. Oh, dear! I never did see such ridiculous
