couldn't for her life think whether "if 'twas a chill he had
yesterday?" ought to come before "how he slept?" She knocked timidly,
hoping Mrs. Henderson would help her out of her difficulty by telling
her without the asking. All other front doors in Badgertown were
ornaments, only opened on grand occasions, like a wedding or a funeral.
But the minister's was accessible alike to all. So Polly let fall the
knocker, and awaited the answer.

A scuffling noise sounded along the passage; and then Polly's soul sank
down in dire dismay. It was the minister's sister, and not gentle little
Mrs. Henderson. She never could get on with Miss Jerusha in the least.
She made her feel as she told her mother once--"as if I don't know what
my name is." And now here she was; and all those messages.

Miss Jerusha unbolted the door, slid back the great bar, opened the
upper half, and stood there. She was a big woman, with sharp black eyes,
and spectacles--over which she looked--which to Polly was much worse,
for that gave her four eyes.

"Well, and what do you want?" she asked.

"I came to see--I mean my ma sent me," stammered poor Polly.

"And who is your ma?" demanded Miss Jerusha, as much like a policeman as
anything; "and where do you live?"

"I live in Primrose Lane," replied Polly, wishing very much that she was
back there.

"I don't want to know where you live, before I know who you are," said
Miss Jerusha; "you should answer the question I asked first; always
remember that."

"My ma's Mrs. Pepper," said Polly.

"Mrs. who?" repeated Miss Jerusha.

By this time Polly was so worn that she came very near turning and
fleeing, but she thought of her mother's disappointment in her, and the
loss of the news, and stood quite still.

"What is it, Jerusha?" a gentle voice here broke upon Polly's ear.

"I don't know," responded Miss Jerusha, tartly, still holding the door
much as if Polly were a robber; "it's a little girl, and I can't make
out what she wants."

"Why, it's Polly Pepper!" exclaimed Mrs. Henderson, pleasantly. "Come
in, child." She opened the other half of the big door, and led the
way through the wide hall into a big, old-fashioned room, with painted
floor, and high, old side-board, and some stiff-backed rocking-chairs.

Miss Jerusha stalked in also and seated herself by the window, and began
to knit. Polly had just opened her mouth to tell her errand, when the
door also opened suddenly and Mr. Henderson walked in