The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1905-07-14
HER DREADFUL DAY.


was told by an awed maid that Miss
Polly was in the den. He strobe to-
ward the back of the hall with a queer
feeling about his heart; its direct
cause being the manner of that half
frightened maid. What was the mat
ter with Polly?
He entered room whose lowered
light spelled headache-and possibly
tears. He beheld Polly buried IN a
nest Of pillows, with tiny wad OF
damp linen in the one hand. On the
floor beside the couch lay pathetically
empty fudge box.
As he took speculative hold of her
shoulder Polly sat up suddenly and
surveyed him sadly. She was not
crying, but even in the dim light Tom
could plainly see that she had been
weeping to excess.
"Who's dead, Polly?' he asked, in
a tone Of deep sympathy:
"Nobody, Tommy" she replied,
"but all day long I've been wishing I
was"
"What's the matter?' Tom asked.
He swept about forty pillows to the
floor and sat down beside her. "Who's
been cutting up rough or giving you
the worst of it?"
"Not single thing has happened
ALL" said Polly, still seriously. "But
don't you remember, Tommy, my tell
ing you that once every six months
or so 1 just cry and cry all day long
without anything special being the
the matter-except anything?"
Polly's hand with the big diamond
solitaire went up to her eyes and her
voice trembled. Tom is young man
of resource. With quick and skillful
treatment the threatened attack was
averted.
'"There, now," he said at length, Gas
long as you can't seem to get your
mind off of it, tell me all about it Polly
from the very beginning, and see what
that does for YOU"
"Well," unused Polly, with pathetic
indifference to what was demanded OF
her; II suppose it all came about be-
cause my kitten got stubborn this
morning and wouldn't eat it oatmeal
out of my saucer. Perhaps that
wouldn't have mattered if Billy handn't
laughed and mother smiled a little.
Isn't chat enough to make any girl
think the whole world is against her?
So shut myself up here, and then it
just developed into one Of those blue
days, Tommy, when you cry and cry
and think and think, and just want to
die"
"Why did you go on thinking about
the cat and its feed" demanded Tom.
l DO think, Polly, that for sensible
girl, YOU"
II didn't" said Polly, with just a
trace of her wonted spirit. 81 thought
about lots worse things-about all the
troubles ever had in all my life. I
cried quarts of tears over my old rag
doll that Billy hacked up when was
6 years old, and about the party Mol
lie gave when l was 8 and had the
humps. Why, pve cried about that
to-day till my face ached worse than
humps ever made it. Then after ia
gone over all my sorrows I began tc
remember my past joys. That was
worse than ever, because I saw that
nothing nice would ever happen to me
again. I remembered about my first
long dress, and my first silk one, and
boarding school and Mollie and JIM
ME Benham and my first box party
at the theatre"
"Say," remarked Tom with interest
"who's Jimmie Benham?"
"He's just a boy l knew once" said
polly swiftly. $50 then I began te
remember future sorrows--things that
would happen. | mean--and it was
all just as gray as all day has been
| saw myself old and wrinkled and
living with relatives because every.
body else was dead and I was an old
maid. / knew it would be with Cou
sin Mary and just hate her and bel
sister-Bess is meaner than Mary
and they hate me. I saw, too, that
was going to be-horribly fat. Tom