Page:Jepson--Pollyooly.djvu/245

 The duchess laughed, kissed Pollyooly, and bade her good-by; and the Honorable John Ruffin, with an air of proud gloom, escorted her out of the Temple and put her into a taxicab.

On his return he said to Pollyooly, who was clearing away the tea: "You've taken on a difficult job, Pollyooly. But I believe that you're the one child in England who could carry it through. You don't get flurried."

"Yes, sir. I shall try, sir," said Pollyooly with the smile of a resolute angel.

"And if it were a less serious matter than giving a child back to her mother, I wouldn't let you attempt it," he said gravely.

"No, sir," said Pollyooly.

"Now, the thing for you to do is to sit tight and keep your eyes wide open—very wide open."

"Yes, sir," said Pollyooly; and she opened her eyes very wide, as if to practise.

"You let the other people do the talking."

"Yes, sir; I hope I shan't have to tell a lot of lies," said Pollyooly anxiously, with a sudden remembrance of the oft-repeated teaching of her Aunt Hannah.