Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1890-10-02

q" Eolly llKe HVe months.
| One lovely afternoon Polly sat on
the horse-block, idly kicking one foot
backward and forward, watching Aunt
Mary as she drove off to visit sick.
neighbor.
Just as Aunt Mary was hidden from
sight by q bend in the road she heard
the crunching of wheels in the opposite
direction, and, on looking mp, found it
was the grocer and postman of'Willow
Grove. lie checked his horse at the
igate, and, fumbling slowly in his coat
drew out white envelope, and read in
q loud voice:
2Miss Polly Gardner, in care of Mrs.
Mary West, Willow Grove. In haste"
Then he poeped over his glasses severe
ly at Polly, and asked sharply: who's
Miss Polly GardLor? Do you know, lit
tie gir,?'
so, that's mel" cried Polly, jumping
from the horse block, land Mrs Mary
West is aunty. Please give mo my
letter. It's from mamma. | am so glad!"
Can you read?"
"Yes, of course, " said Polly indignant
ly. I'm nine next week."
This was the letter:
DEAREST PoILY--Papa finds he can leave his
business for q short time, SO we have concluded
TO spend the remainder of your vacation with
you and Aunt 'ary. We shall take the train
that reaches Willow Grove at 4:30 p. m. on the
cath Tell Aunt Mary to meet us il she has
sime.
4 Love to all, and thousand kisses from
MAMMA AND PAPA.
AS Aunt Mary would not return be-
fore five o'clock, Polly determined to
walk down to the railroad station and
meet her father and mother alone. She
had often been there with Aunt Mary
to watch the trains come and 60 1t was
small station, and very few people
stopped there.
just before reaching the station the
railroad crossed a draw-bridge Polly
liked to watch the man open and shut
the draw as the boats in the river passed
through. There was foot-path over
this bridge, and Polly had once crossed
it with Aunt Mary. They had stopped
to speak to the flagman, who was pleas
= ant and good-natured. He told Polly
Awhere she could find some beautiful
white lilies in pond not far away.
That was more than week ago and the
flowers were not then open, and now, as
Polly ran down the road, she thought
she would have time to gather some for
her parents before the train arrived.
When Polly reached the station she
found no one there, and on looking at
the clock found that it was only ten
minutes past four, so she had twenty
minutes to wait. Then she ran on
quickly.
The flagman stood by the draw, and
Polly saw, some distance down the riv-
er, small vessel coming toward the
bridge. She ran along rapidly, and as
( she passed the flagman he called out:
Going for the lilies? The pond was
all white with them when l went by
this morning."
'Yes, sir; l want to pick some for
mamma and papa. They wrote me a
letter and said they were coming in the
next train"
You don't say so! Well, l guess
you're glad. Look out for the locomo-
tive, and don't take too long picking
your flowers, and you'll have plenty OF
time to get back before the train comes
In"
she thanked him and ran On. In
about five minutes she reached the
pond. How lovely the lilies looked,
with their snowy cups resting upon the
dark waterl But their stems were long
and tough, and most of them grew far
beyond her reach. She contrived to Sc
cure four. Polly was sorry to leave sc
many behind, but was afraid II she
fingered too long she would miss the
train. So gathering up the blossoms,
she pinned them into her belt and
scampered back toward the bridge.
The boat had just sailed through the
draw, and the man stood ready to close
the bridge, when Polly came up. ,.He
looked over at her from the center Of
the bridge, and called out with smile
'sCouldn't you get any more flowers