Polly and the Princess   By: Emma C. Dowd (-1938)

BY

EMMA C. DOWD

AUTHOR OF

POLLY OF THE HOSPITAL STAFF. POLLY OF LADY GAY COTTAGE. DOODLES, ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

1917

CONTENTS

I. WAFFLES AND DEWLAPS II. IN MISS MAJOR'S ROOM III. POLLY ADDRESSES THE BOARD IV. A JUNE HOLIDAY V. MISS LILY AND DOODLES VI. "BETTER THAN THE POORHOUSE" VII. ROSES AND THORNS VIII. WAITING TO BE THANKED IX. BLANCHE PUDDICOMBE X. "GOOD BYE, PUDDING" XI. "SO MYSTERIOUS!" XII. MRS. DICK ESCAPES XIII. ALONG A BROOK SIDE ROAD XIV. POLLY PLANS XV. "LOTS O' JOY" XVI. THE HIKING CLUB XVII. GRANDAUNT SUSIE AND MISS SNIFFEN XVIII. VICTOR VON DALIN XIX. A MOONSHINE PARTY XX. THE PARTY ITSELF XXI. TWO OF THEM XXII. DANCING HIKERS XXIII. "HILLTOP DAYS" XXIV. "HOPE DEFERRED" XXV. ALICE TWINING, MARTYR XXVI. MR. PARCELL'S LESSON XXVII. "I LOVE YOU, DAVID!" XXVIII. A VISIT WITH MRS. TENNEY XXIX. DISAPPOINTMENT XXX. DOODLES SINGS XXXI. SHUT OUT XXXII. THE TALE IS TOLD XXXIII. THE PRINCESS AND THE DRAGON XXXIV. A MIDNIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT XXXV. A NEW WIRE XXXVI. POLLY DUDLEY TO CHRISTOPHER MORROW XXXVII. HOLLY AND MISTLETOE

POLLY AND THE PRINCESS

CHAPTER I

WAFFLES AND DEWLAPS

The June Holiday Home was one of those sumptuous stations where indigent gentlewomen assemble to await the coming of the last train.

Breakfast was always served precisely at seven o'clock, and certain dishes appeared as regularly as the days. This was waffle morning on the Home calendar; outside it was known as Thursday.

The eyes of the "new lady" wandered beyond the dining room and followed a young girl, all in pink.

"Who is that coming up the walk?"

Fourteen faces turned toward the wide front window.

Miss Castlevaine was quickest. Her answer did not halt the syrup on its way to her plate.

"That's Polly Dudley."

"Oh! Dr. Dudley's daughter?"

"Yes. She's come over to see Miss Sterling. They're very intimate."

"Miss Sterling?" mused Miss Mullaly, with a sweeping glance round the table. "I don't believe I've seen her."

"Yes, you have. She was down to tea last night. She had on a light blue waist, and sat over at the end."

"Oh, I remember now! She's little and sweet looking. Somebody told me she had nervous prostration. Too bad! She is so young and pretty!"

A tiny sneer fluttered from face to face, skipping one here and there in its course. It ended in Miss Castlevaine's "Huh!"

"I think Miss Sterling is real pretty!" Miss Crilly, from the opposite side, beamed on the "new lady."

"She has faded dreadfully," asserted Mrs. Crump. "They used to call her handsome years ago, though she never was my style o' beauty. But now " She shook her head with hard emphasis.

"She has been through a good deal," observed Mrs. Grace mildly.

"No more'n I have!" was the retort. "If she'd stop thinking about herself and eat like other folks, she'd be better."

"Nervous prostration patients have to be careful about their diet, don't they?" ventured Miss Mullaly.

"She hasn't got it!" snapped Mrs. Crump.

"She thinks she has." Miss Castlevaine's thick lips curved in a smile of scorn.

"If she can't digest things, it won't do her much good to eat them," interposed Miss Major positively. "Nobody could digest these waffles they're slack this morning."

Miss Castlevaine gave her plate a little push. "I wish I needn't ever see another waffle," she fretted.

"Oh!" exclaimed the "new lady," "I don't understand how anybody can get tired of waffles!"

"Nor I!" laughed Miss Mullaly's right hand neighbor. "I shall have to tell you about the time I went to Cousin Dorothy's wedding luncheon.