‘Has Polly come?’ was the first question Patty asked every morning.
And every night when she went to bed she said, ‘Please wake me up if Polly comes to-night.’
But Polly did not come.
So Grandmother wrote to Uncle Charles to ask if he had forgotten to send Polly. And Uncle Charles wrote back that he had sent her off the very day that Grandmother and Patty left Four Corners.
Next Father went to the express office, and the express office promised to find Polly Perkins, if it possibly could.
‘Perhaps she has been shipped out West. Perhaps she is lying in the Four Corners office,’ said the express people. ‘We will find out and let you know.’
Meanwhile Patty watched, and talked, and wondered what could have become of Polly Perkins.
‘My darling Polly! She is as beautiful as a butterfly, Mother,’ said Patty, not once, nor twice, but many times. ‘You don’t know how beautiful she is. Grandmother thinks so, too. That is why I named her Polly Perkins. She has a pink dress and brown curls and the prettiest brown eyes. And pockets with her name on them, Mother. Just think! I can’t wait to have you see her. I do wish she would come home.’
But still Polly did not come.
Where is Polly Perkins? What can have happened to her? Where can she be?