"Oh, thank you, Uncle John!" cried the little girl gratefully. "They are lovely! Oh, how stupid I was to shut myself up in the clock case like that, when I might have had such a nice time!"
"Never mind," said Mr. Marsh good-naturedly; "you shall come again, eh, Janie?" he asked, appealing to his wife.
"Of course," she agreed. "How would you like to spend a day with me when my visitors are gone, Polly?"
"Alone?" questioned the little girl dubiously. Then, as Mrs. Marsh smilingly assented, she inquired impulsively, "Should I go for a drive with you in your carriage, Aunt Janie?"
"Yes, certainly."
"Oh, I should like that! I never drove in a carriage with a pair of horses in my life. But—" she paused for a moment in hesitation, then added, "but I think, if you don't mind, I would rather you invited mother instead."
"Why?" queried Mrs. Marsh, very surprised.
"Because it would be such a treat for mother to have a drive. You know she is not very strong, and she cannot walk far because she so soon gets tired."
"But I thought your mother did not care about going out," Mrs. Marsh observed. "She is always such a home bird. I am sure I have often advised her to go out more."
"Well, you see, she has a good bit of house work to do, and after that she's very tired, and that's why she stays at home," Polly explained in a matter-of-fact tone. "I daresay you would be tired yourself, Aunt Janie, if you had to do all the things mother does."