"Oh, Polly!"

"I don't see a thing to laugh at. It was as solemn as—as a sermon."

"I rather think it was a sermon—to him!"

"Perhaps. Anyway, I'm glad I went."

"I wonder that your father and mother allowed you to go."

Polly smiled, a tiny, flushed smile. "They don't know it."

"Why, Polly Dudley!"

"Well, it had to be done, and there was nobody but me to do it. I didn't dare say anything beforehand, for fear they wouldn't let me. Now I'm going home, to tell them all about it."

Miss Sterling smiled. "You'll do, Polly! When I have a hard errand on hand, I'll commit it to you."

CHAPTER XXVII