She was quiet at last, watching with eager eyes her father’s face. “Have you thought of the money it would cost to carry out this plan?” asked the Doctor quietly. “Of course,” she acknowledged, “it must depend on Mrs. Gresham; but I know she will be interested in less than a minute.” “She surely will be. That, however, is not the question. She has spent a fortune on Paradise Ward already.” “She loves to spend it.” “Yes,” he conceded; “yet is it wise for us to incite her to further spending?” “It truly is,” returned Polly with assurance. “Think of those dear children! Oh, if you could see them outdoors as I do! The rides have done them no end of good--you know how Little Duke has improved.” Dr. Dudley brightened. “That boy’s gain is astonishing.” “And it isn’t medicine that has done it,” observed Polly; “it is fresh air.” The Doctor nodded musingly. Polly’s thoughts skipped from Little Duke to Esther Tenniel, the gentle little English maid who--however shy she might be with others--never hesitated to put her arms round the Doctor’s neck, just as if she were his own little girl. “I believe,” she said, “that a few months of Overlook would make a new child of Esther.” “I should like to see it tried,” Dr. Dudley admitted. “Then we’ll try it!” exclaimed Polly ecstatically. “I shall have to leave it to your judgment,” said the Doctor. “I don’t like to beg for too much.” “Beg!” laughed Polly--“oh, father!” “You haven’t even asked for my approval,” smiled Mrs. Dudley. “I don’t need to. I know well enough just what you’d say,” retorted Polly. “I should like to know.” “Why, you’d say, ‘Go ahead!’” Polly laughed. “And I think I’d better see Mrs. Gresham this evening. Don’t you want to go down with me, mother? Do, and help the good cause along.--Oh, I forgot! That boy is coming up to-night.” “What boy?” queried her mother. “John Eustis. Well,” sighing, “we’ll have to put it off till morning.” That Mrs. Gresham was “interested” in Polly’s plan nobody could doubt. The lady’s enthusiasm more than justified Polly’s prediction. “I must see the place at once!” she cried. “We’ll go up to-morrow!” “To-morrow!” gasped Polly. “Why not?” returned Mrs. Gresham. “No time to lose. Summer is well on her way. You can go to-morrow, can’t you?” “I--guess so,” the girl answered dazedly. She glanced towards her mother. Mrs. Dudley smiled assent. “And you’ll go with us?” invited the elder woman. Mrs. Dudley shook her head. “I’m afraid--” “Nonsense! She can, can’t she, Polly?” “Yes, do, mother. I’m longing to have you see it.” She still shook her head, but, as Polly said, the shakes were less emphatic. “Let’s start by six o’clock,” went on Mrs. Gresham. “To-day would have been lovely, but probably to-morrow will be just as nice. You say we can have it now, and with all the furniture?”