ted downstairs with a fluttering heart, her nerves a-quiver
with irrational fear.

At any other time she would have been pleased at the thought of
meeting Dr. Dudley's friend of whom she had heard so many
delightful things; but now a vague terror possessed her, lest he,
being a part of that awful law,--which to her was only a name
of dread,--might send her directly back to Aunt Jane's.

Polly rarely had a fall, so light and sure of foot was she; but at
the top of the flight she stumbled and came near going headlong.
This, turning her thoughts suddenly into another path, seemed
somewhat to steady her quaking nerves, and when she reached the
office door she was ready to smile a brave, though shy, greeting
to the lawyer.

Jack Brewster was in appearance the opposite of Dr. Dudley. The
physician was tall and broad-shouldered, with no surplus flesh;
yet none would have called him thin. The lawyer was slight almost
as a boy, of fair complexion, with an abundance of wavy brown
hair, and eyes that had a habit of shining as if their owner had
just received a bit of good news. They shone now, as he took one
of Polly's little hands in both his own, and told her how glad he
was to make her acquaintance.

"I have n't any little girl at my house," he went on smilingly,
"but there's a boy who makes things pretty lively. When I
started to come away this evening he hugged my leg, and kept
saying, 'No sir-ee-sir! No sir-ee-sir!' till I finally had to go
back and tell him his usual bedtime story."

"How old is he?" asked Polly, her fears quite forgotten.

"He will be two years, the third of next month. Bob," whirling
around to the Doctor, "why have n't you brought Miss Polly out to
see us? I'm ashamed of you!"

The physician laughed. "I am not very neighborly, I'll admit,"
he returned. "Sick people have crowded out the well ones lately.
I know well folks will keep."

"Then the only way for me to get hold of you is to feign a chill
or a fever or a broken leg--all right! Thank you for the cue!
And now, Miss Polly," he went on cheerily, "I want you hones
opinion of that aunt of yours. Tell me, please, just how she
makes you feel."

"Wh-y," hesitated the surprised little girl, "if I should say
right out, I'm afraid it would n't sound very polite or--"

"Don't think anything about politeness just now, please. Open
your heart frankly, and let me see what is there in regard to her.
Don't be afraid to say exactly what you