"Yes," said Polly, hurrying away. Then she thought of what Mamsie had said, and slackened her speed.
Tom cleared his throat, and tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come nicely, so he burst out, "I say, I wish you'd write to my granddaddy, both of you," and then he stood quite still, and very red in the face.
Polly looked up quickly, her pen dropping from her fingers, and Jasper deserted his fourth letter and stared.
"Why," said Polly, finding her tongue, "we wouldn't dare, Tom Selwyn."
"Dare!" said Tom, delighted to think that no terrible result had really ensued from his words, that after they were out, had scared him mightily. "Oh, if you knew granddaddy!" And he sank into a chair by the table, and played with the heap of picture postal cards that Polly was going to address next.
"We might," said Polly, slowly, "write a letter, all of us. A kind of a
Round Robin thing, you know, and send that."
"So we could," cried Jasper; "how would that do, Tom?"
"The very thing!" exclaimed Tom, striking his hand so heavily on the table, that for a minute it looked as if the ink-bottle hopped.
"Take care, there's no reason you should knock things over because you are overjoyed," cried Jasper, gaily. "Well, let's leave our letters to-day, Polly, and set to on the Round Robin."
"All right," said Polly, glad to think there was anything she could really do to please the little old earl, "but would your mother like it, Tom?" She stopped slowly in putting her unfinished letter into the little writing-case, and looked at him.