Поллианна
A Question answered
"Oh,oh!"shecried,clappingherhands. "I’msoglad! Thatis,"shecorrected,coloringdistressfully,"Idon’tmeanthatI’mnotsorryfortheheathen,onlyjustnowIcan’thelpbeinggladthatyoudon’twantthelittleIndiaboys,becausealltheresthavewantedthem. AndsoI’mgladyou’dratherhaveJimmyBean. NowIknowyou’lltakehim!"
"Take—WHO?"
"JimmyBean. He’sthe‘child’spresence,’youknow;andhe’llbesogladtobeit. IhadtotellhimlastweekthatevenmyLadies’AidoutWestwouldn’ttakehim,andhewassodisappointed. Butnow—whenhehearsofthis—he’llbesoglad!"
"Willhe?Well,Iwon’t,"ejaculatedtheman,decisively. "Pollyanna,thisissheernonsense!"
"Youdon’tmean—youwon’ttakehim?"
"Icertainlydomeanjustthat."
"Buthe’dbealovelychild’spresence,"falteredPollyanna. Shewasalmostcryingnow. "AndyouCOULDN’Tbelonesome—withJimmy‘round."
"Idon’tdoubtit,"rejoinedtheman; "but—IthinkIpreferthelonesomeness."
ItwasthenthatPollyanna,forthefirsttimeinweeks,suddenlyrememberedsomethingNancyhadoncetoldher. Sheraisedherchinaggrievedly.
"Maybeyouthinkanicelivelittleboywouldn’tbebetterthanthatolddeadskeletonyoukeepsomewhere; butIthinkitwould!"
"SKELETON?"
"Yes. Nancysaidyouhadoneinyourcloset,somewhere."