“And he said it the next time,” ran on Polly, “and the next; but when he came around again, he rubbed his eyes, and tried to stop, but his feet wouldn’t let him; so on he had to go.”
“Oh, dear!” said Percy and Van, “couldn’t he really stop, Polly?”
“No,” said Polly, “he couldn’t really, but around the mug he must keep going. And the time after, when he came to the front once more, it was all he could do to keep from bursting into tears. And at last he screamed right out, ‘Oh, dear, lovely lady! where have you gone?’”
“Why, she was in the mug,” said Van, tumbling off from the sofa-corner in a great state of excitement; “do tell him that, Polly,” coming up to her chair.
“Keep still,” said Ben, holding up a warning finger.
“But he couldn’t stop, for you see his feet wouldn’t let him,” said Polly; “and he began to cry dreadfully big tears all over his fine blue coat and his cocked hat; and every time before he reached the front of the mug, he watched between his sobs, to see if she had got back; and when he found that she hadn’t, he screamed worse than ever, ‘Oh, dear, sweet, lovely lady! where have you gone?’”
“I don’t think she was nice,” said Percy; “she might have said something.”
“And there she was all huddled up in the bottom of the mug,” said Polly; “crying so hard she could scarcely breathe; and she tried to call back to him ‘Oh, dear, beautiful little man! do come and help me out;’ but her voice didn’t reach anywhere, for it was such a wee, little squeal; so on he had to go around and around, and she kept on shaking and trembling down in the very bottom of the mug.”
The excitement among the Whitney boys was intense; the little bunch of Peppers and Jasper preserving a smiling content, knowing well what was to become of the lovely lady and the beautiful little man, since Polly had told it more than once in The Little Brown House.