Polly Dill rode very well and very fearlessly, and occasionally was assisted to “a mount” by some country gentleman, who combined gallantry with profit, and knew that the horse he lent could never be seen to greater advantage. Yet, even in this, she avoided display, quite satisfied, as it seemed, to enjoy herself thoroughly, and not attract any notice that could be avoided. Indeed, she never tried for “a place,” but rather attached herself to some of the older and heavier weights, who grew to believe that they were especially in charge of her, and nothing was more common, at the end of a hard run, than to hear such self-gratulations as, “I think I took great care of you, Miss Dill?” “Eh, Miss Polly! you see I'm not such a bad leader!” and so on.
Such was the doctor's “little girl,” whom I am about to present to my readers under another aspect. She is at home, dressed in a neatly fitting but very simple cotton dress, her hair in two plain bands, and she is seated at a table, at the opposite of which lounges her brother Tom with an air of dogged and sleepy indolence, which extends from his ill-trimmed hair to his ill-buttoned waistcoat.
“Never mind it to-day, Polly,” said he, with a yawn. “I've been up all night, and have no head for work. There's a good girl, let's have a chat instead.”
“Impossible, Tom,” said she, calmly, but with decision. “To-day is the third. You have only three weeks now and two days before your examination. We have all the bones and ligaments to go over again, and the whole vascular system. You 've forgotten every word of Harrison.”
“It does n't signify, Polly. They never take a fellow on anything but two arteries for the navy. Grove told me so.”
“Grove is an ass, and got plucked twice. It is a perfect disgrace to quote him.”
“Well, I only wish I may do as well. He's assistant-surgeon to the 'Taurus' gun-brig on the African station; and if I was there, it's little I 'd care for the whole lot of bones and balderdash.”
“Come, don't be silly. Let us go on with the scapula. Describe the glenoid cavity.”
“If you were the girl you might be, I'd not be bored with all this stupid trash, Polly.”
“What do you mean? I don't understand you.”