And Polly got a little old towel, very clean and nice, and spread it on the tray, and she put the big pink-and-white cup upon it, and Mamsie poured the tea into it, and dished out some crisp potato-bits on a plate, and Polly put some little biscuits around it all, and there was a dinner fit for a king!
“Oh, my!” howled Joel, smelling the potatoes; “what have you got?” jumping up, and nearly upsetting Polly, and tray, and all, as she carried it slowly across the kitchen to the old man’s chair.
“Take care, Joe,” warned Mrs. Pepper, following to help Polly.
“Oh—oh!” Joel seemed to lose sight of everything but Father Pepper’s pink-and-white cup, and he pointed an astonished finger at it.
“I know it,” said Mrs. Pepper, setting her lips together firmly; “Father’d like to have us let the old man take it. Now, Polly, you can feed him the potato, and”—
“No, let me,” said Joel, crowding in between, and trying to get possession of the two-tined fork.
“No, I think Polly better; but you can break the biscuits apart,” said Mrs. Pepper. So pretty soon the old man was sitting up quite straight for him; and after he had taken one or two good draughts of the steaming tea, he felt quite revived, and let Polly feed him the crisp potato-bits, and the biscuits which Joel industriously broke apart, until Mrs. Pepper put down the empty cup, and regarded Polly’s plate, on which there wasn’t a scrap of anything left but the fork.
“I can’t thank you,” said the old man, quite heartened up, and looking around at them all.
“No, don’t try,” said Mrs. Pepper; “you can go to sleep now. Come, children;” and she drew them off into the bedroom.
“Now, Polly,” she said, when the door was shut, “you must run down to Parson Henderson’s at once. He’ll know what to do with the poor old man, for we can’t let him go. He’ll tumble down in the road.”