"Certainly, Mrs. Benton; I shall be very glad to."
Still the little woman hesitated; then she spoke.
"Will you tell her, please, that--that I've put on THIS," she
said, just touching the blue bow at her throat. Then, at Miss
Polly's ill-concealed look of surprise, she added: "The little
girl has been trying for so long to make me wear--some color,
that I thought she'd be--glad to know I'd begun. She said that
Freddy would be so glad to see it, if I would. You know Freddy's
ALL I have now. The others have all--" Mrs. Benton shook her head
and turned away. "If you'll just tell Pollyanna--SHE'LL
understand." And the door closed after her.
A little later, that same day, there was the other widow--at
least, she wore widow's garments. Miss Polly did not know her at
all. She wondered vaguely how Pollyanna could have known her. The
lady gave her name as "Mrs. Tarbell."
"I'm a stranger to you, of course," she began at once. "But I'm
not a stranger to your little niece, Pollyanna. I've been at the
hotel all summer, and every day I've had to take long walks for
my health.
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