Page:An Old Fashioned Girl.djvu/163

Rh corner of the fire where grandma used to sit. The easy chair was empty now, the kind old face was gone, and nothing but a very tender memory remained.

"I'd like to learn, papa, and Polly is a splendid teacher, I know; she's always so patient, and makes everything so pleasant. I do hope she will get scholars enough to begin right away," said Maud.

"When is she coming?" asked Mrs. Shaw, quite willing to help Polly, but privately resolving that Maud should be finished off by the most fashionable master in the city.

"She doesn't say. She thanks me for asking her here, as usual, but says she shall go right to work, and had better begin with her own little room at once. "Won't it seem strange to have Polly in town, and yet not with us?"

"We'll get her somehow. The little room will cost something, and she can stay with us just as well as not, even if she does teach. Tell her I say so," said Mr. Shaw.

"She won't come, I know; for if she undertakes to be independent, she'll do it in the most thorough manner," answered Fanny, and Mrs. Shaw sincerely hoped she would. It was all very well to patronize the little music teacher, but it was not so pleasant to have her settled in the family.

"I shall do what I can for her among my friends, and I dare say she will get on very well with young pupils to begin with. If she starts right, puts her terms high enough, and gets a few good names to give her the entrée into our first families, I don't