Polly came to herself at last, gasping with pain. A broken arm was the least of it. There was a broken rib as well, and bruises innumerable. But worse than any pain was the separation from Orlando, for whom Polly wailed, till, in despair, the nurse promised to speak to the surgeon and see if he might not be brought; and, satisfied with this hope, the child lay quiet and waited. She was in a clean bed,--such a bed as she had never seen, and her soft dark eyes examined the nurse and all the strange surroundings in the intervals of pain. But fever came soon, and in long days of unconscious murmurings and tossings, all that was left of Polly's thin little frame wasted away. "It is a hopeless case," the doctor said, "though after all with children you can never tell." There came a day when Polly opened her eyes, quite conscious, and looked up once more at the nurse with the old appeal. "I want Orlando. Where's Orlando?" "He can't come," the nurse said, after a moment, in which she turned away. "You promised," Polly said faintly. "I know it," the nurse said. "He should come if he could, but he can't." "Is he sick?" Polly said after a pause. "Did father hurt him?" "Yes, he hurt him. He hurt him very much, but he can never hurt him any more. Orlando is dead." Polly lay quite silent, nor did her face change as she heard the words; but a smile came presently, and her eyes lightened. "You didn't know," she said. "Orlando has come. He is right here, and somebody is carrying him. He is putting out his arms." The child had raised herself, and looked eagerly toward the foot of the bed, "She is bringing him to me. She says, 'Polly, you 're going to be a lady and never do what you don't want to any more.' I thought I should be a lady sometime, because I wanted to so much; but I didn't think it would be so soon. They won't know me in the Buildings. I'm going to be a lady, and never--" Polly's eyes had closed. She fell back. What she had seen no man could know, but the smile stayed. It was quite certain that something at least had come to her of what she wanted. CHAPTER VI. AMONG THE DRESSMAKERS.