Produced by MFR and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) WHEN POLLY WAS EIGHTEEN [Illustration] WHEN POLLY WAS EIGHTEEN BY EMMA C. DOWD [Illustration] BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge 1921 COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY EMMA C. DOWD ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO MY FRIEND JULIA DARLING PECK IN HAPPY MEMORY OF SHELBURNE SUMMERS CONTENTS I. “WHY DON’T YOU LAUGH?” 1 II. THE LETTER 8 III. DAVID MAKES A REQUEST 15 IV. THE BIRTHDAY FÊTE 21 V. “I WILL TAKE CARE OF PARADISE WARD” 32 VI. “MAYBE” 41 VII. GLADYS GUINEVERE 52 VIII. COUCHES OF CLOVER 58 IX. NO. 45678 64 X. THE TOP OF THE WORLD 71 XI. DR. ABBE 79 XII. PATRICIA AND A FEW OTHERS 85 XIII. WHAT SARDIS SAID 93 XIV. PARADISE WARD ON WHEELS 100 XV. THE FIRST DAY 115 XVI. BENEDICTA MAKES IT GO 124 XVII. A PICTURE AND A MESSAGE 129 XVIII. AN ATTEMPT AT MATCHMAKING 135 XIX. AN UNINVITED GUEST AND A MYSTERY 146 XX. THE TELEGRAM 155 XXI. “TEN LITTLE GIRLS” AND SARDIS MERRIFIELD 164 XXII. A LITTLE LAME DUCK 177 XXIII. IN THE “GARDEN OF EDEN” 187 XXIV. ROSALIND FERNE 195 XXV. THE STORM 207 XXVI. CLEMENTINA ASKS QUESTIONS 217 XXVII. THE BUTTERFLY LADY STAYS 223 XXVIII. BENEDICTA’S OPPORTUNITY 239 XXIX. TROUBLE IN THE KITCHEN 251 XXX. THE NEW COOK 259 WHEN POLLY WAS EIGHTEEN CHAPTER I “WHY DON’T YOU LAUGH?” Polly leaned back against the great oak, her eyes bent on David’s face. She wondered--and wondered hard. If she could only fathom that inscrutable expression! The young man, stretched on the grass among the waving shadows, was gazing across the valley to the hills in their soft afternoon veiling. It was a June picture beautiful enough to hold the attention of any one, yet it was plain that David’s thoughts were not on the landscape. They had come out for a walk, which had led them miles to the south and finally to the top of Chimney Hill, where they had stopped to rest.