But she herself only remained quiet by a great effort, as Helen unfastened the thick envelope, opened the sheet of paper, and held it up for many eager pairs of eyes to read: "My Children:--I see again, thank God. "Your Father and loving Friend." "There!" said Polly. "Oh, I can't talk about it. Flower, you are silly to cry. Will no one dance a hornpipe with me? I'll choke if I don't laugh. You're the one to dance, Fly. Why, you are crying, too. Ridiculous! Where's the letter? Let's kiss it all round. That'll make us better. His own blessed writing! Isn't he a darling? Was there ever such a father?" "Or such a friend?" exclaimed Flower. "I said long ago, and I say again now, that he's the best man in the world, and I do really think that some day he'll turn me into a good girl." "Why, you're the nicest girl I know now," said Polly. And then they kissed each other. THE END ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber's Notes ------------------- 1. Punctuation has been normalized to contemporary standards. 2. Frontispiece relocated to after title page. 3. Typographic errors corrected in original: p. 7 aways to always ("always did think") p. 8 breat-and-butter to bread-and-butter p. 102 nuseries to nurseries ("to the nurseries") p. 154 by to my ("jealous of my influence") p. 159 life to like ("looked like artificial flowers")