I shall be so glad to see you again; and oh, Truth, I am so happy, so
happy, that, please God, I can keep my child after all! The weary
burden of dread is lifted off my heart, and I feel young again. Just
think of it! My Elsie will be well and strong once more! It seems
too good to be true.
Always your attached friend,
JANET HOWARD.
Mrs. Winship's voice quivered as she read the last few words, and
Polly and Bell threw themselves into each other's arms and cried for
sheer gladness.
'Come, come, dears! I suppose you will make grand preparations, and
there is no time to lose. One of you must find somebody to help
Philip unload the team. Papa and the boys have gone fishing, and
Laura and Margery went with them, I think.' And Mrs. Winship bustled
about, literally on hospitable thoughts in-tent.
Polly tied on her sun-bonnet with determination, turned up her
sleeves as if washing were the thing to be done, and placed her arms
akimbo.
'First and foremost,' said she, her eyes sparkling with excitement,
'first and foremost, I am going to blow the horn.'
'Certainly not,' said Aunt Truth. 'Are you crazy, Polly? It is
scarcely ten o'clock, and everybody would think it was dinnertime,
and come home at once.'
'No, they'd think something had happened to Dicky,' said Bell, 'and
that would bring them in still sooner.'
'Of course! I forgot. But can't I blow it earlier than usual?
Can't I blow it at half-past eleven instead of twelve? We can't do a
thing without the boys, and they may not come home until midnight
unless we do something desperate.
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