CHAPTER XII. BEFORE THE LADIES' AID
Dinner, which came at noon in the Harrington homestead, was a silentmeal on the day of the Ladies' Aid meeting. Pollyanna, it is true, triedto talk; but she did not make a success of it, chiefly because fourtimes she was obliged to break off a "glad" in the middle of it, muchto her blushing discomfort. The fifth time it happened, Miss Polly movedher head wearily.
"There, there, child, say it, if you want to," she sighed. "I'm sure I'drather you did than not if it's going to make all this fuss."
Pollyanna's puckered little face cleared.
"Oh, thank you. I'm afraid it would be pretty hard--not to say it. Yousee I've played it so long."
"You've--what?" demanded Aunt Polly.
"Played it--the game, you know, that father--" Pollyanna stopped with apainful blush at finding herself so soon again on forbidden ground.
Aunt Polly frowned and said nothing. The rest of the meal was a silentone.
Pollyanna was not sorry to hear Aunt Polly tell the minister's wife overthe telephone, a little later, that she would not be at the Ladies'Aid meeting that afternoon, owing to a headache. When Aunt Polly wentup-stairs to her room and closed the door, Pollyanna tried to be sorryfor the headache; but she could not help feeling glad that her aunt wasnot to be present that afternoon when she laid the case of Jimmy Beanbefore the Ladies' Aid. She could not forget that Aunt Polly had calledJimmy Bean a little beggar; and she did not want Aunt Polly to call himthat--before the Ladies' Aid.
Pollyanna knew that the Ladies' Aid met at two o'clock in the chapelnext the church, not quite half a mile from home. She planned her going,therefore, so that she should get there a little before three.
"I want them all to be there," she said to herself; "else the very onethat wasn't there might be the one who would be wanting to give JimmyBean a home; and, of course, two o'clock always means three, really--toLadies' Aiders."
Quietly, but with confident courage, Pollyanna ascended the chapelsteps, pushed open the door and entered the vestibule. A soft babel offeminine chatter and laughter came from the main room. Hesitating only abrief moment Pollyanna pushed open one of the inner doors.
The chatter dropped to a surprised hush. Pollyanna advanced a littletimidly. Now that the time had come, she felt unwontedly shy. After all,these half-strange, half-familiar faces about her were not her own dearLadies' Aid.
"How do you do, Ladies' Aiders?" she faltered politely. "I'm PollyannaWhittier. I--I reckon some of you know me, maybe; anyway, I do YOU--onlyI don't know you all together this way."
The silence could almost be felt now. Some of the ladies did know thisrather extraordinary niece of their fellow-member, and nearly all hadheard of her; but not one of them could think of anything to say, justthen.
"I--I've come to--to lay the case before you," stammered Pollyanna,after a moment, unconsciously falling into her father's familiarphraseology.
There was a slight rustle.
"Did--did your aunt send you, my dear?" asked Mrs. Ford, the minister'swife.
Pollyanna colored a little.
"Oh, no. I came all by myself. You see, I'm used to Ladies' Aiders. Itwas Ladies' Aiders that brought me up--with father."
Somebody tittered hysterically, and the minister's wife frowned.
"Yes, dear. What is it?"
"Well, it--it's Jimmy Bean," sighed Pollyanna. "He hasn't any homeexcept the Orphan one, and they're full, and don't want him, anyhow, hethinks; so he wants another. He wants one of the common kind, that hasa mother instead of a Matron in it--folks, you know, that'll care. He'sten years old going on eleven. I thought some of you might like him--tolive with you, you know."
"Well, did you ever!" murmured a voice, breaking the dazed pause thatfollowed Pollyanna's words.
With anxious eyes Pollyanna swept the circle of faces about her.
"Oh, I forgot to say; he will work," she supplemented eagerly.
Still there was silence; then, coldly, one or two women began toquestion her. After a time they all had the story and began to talkamong themselves, animatedly, not quite pleasantly.
Pollyanna listened with growing anxiety. Some of what was said she couldnot understand. She did gather, after a time, however, that there wasno woman there who had a home to give him, though every woman seemed tothink that some of the others might take him, as there were several whohad no little boys of their own already in their homes. But there was noone who agreed herself to take him. Then she heard the minister'swife suggest timidly that they, as a society, might perhaps assume hissupport and education instead of sending quite so much money this yearto the little boys in far-away India.
A great many ladies talked then, and several of them talked all at once,and even more loudly and more unpleasantly than before. It seemed thattheir society was famous for its offering to Hindu missions, and severalsaid they should die of mortification if it should be less this year.Some of what was said at this time Pollyanna again thought she could nothave understood, too, for it sounded almost as if they did not care atall what the money DID, so long as the sum opposite the name of theirsociety in a certain "report" "headed the list"--and of course thatcould not be what they meant at all! But it was all very confusing, andnot quite pleasant, so that Pollyanna was glad, indeed, when at last shefound herself outside in the hushed, sweet air--only she was very sorry,too: for she knew it was not going to be easy, or anything but sad, totell Jimmy Bean to-morrow that the Ladies' Aid had decided that theywould rather send all their money to bring up the little India boys thanto save out enough to bring up one little boy in their own town, forwhich they would not get "a bit of credit in the report," according tothe tall lady who wore spectacles.
"Not but that it's good, of course, to send money to the heathen, and Ishouldn't want 'em not to send SOME there," sighed Pollyanna to herself,as she trudged sorrowfully along. "But they acted as if little boys HEREweren't any account--only little boys 'way off. I should THINK, though,they'd rather see Jimmy Bean grow--than just a report!"