a
huddled group.

"Lo, will we ever get home?" Angela asked, tearfully.

"Of course, silly," Lois replied, calmly. "Polly stopped the horses
running away; I guess she can drive us back all right; she's nervous, of
course, so don't talk to her."

"We won't," Mildred said. "Mercy, but she's a wonder! I'm, oh! I'm going
to cry."

Lois left the others to deal with her and returned to Polly.

"When do we start?" she asked, abruptly. Don't think for a minute she
was acting under her natural impulse. If she had been, she would have
thrown her arms around Polly and been very foolish; but she was trying
to act the way she knew Bob would have--without fuss. She knew how Polly
hated a fuss.

"Now, the horses mustn't catch cold and McDonald ought to see a doctor,"
Polly said. "Tell them to get in, will you? and, Lo," she added with a
grin, "pray hard going down hill. I have my doubts about the brake."

When they were all in, Miss Crosby said:

"I think we better take McDonald to the hospital."

Polly nodded: "All right, I know where it is."

The horses, sure of themselves by now, and confident in their driver,
behaved very well.

At the outskirts of the village, they drew up before the little white
hospital, and Betty jumped out and rang the bell. A nurse answered it.
In a few minutes they were carrying McDonald in on a stretcher.

As they started up the steps with him, he called: "Miss Polly!" in a
shaky voice.

Polly jumped down from her seat, and went to him.

"I'm done for," he said, slowly, "and you're a very wonderful girl. You
stopped those horses, you did, and I-- I couldn't--" He broke down.

"Nonsense, McDonald! Your hands were cold," Polly said. "You'll be fine
in the morning and able to drive anything. Cheer up!" But McDonald only
repeated: "I'm done for."

A lump rose in Polly's throat at his distress, and she leaned down and
kissed his wrinkled old face.

She cried quite shamelessly all the way back to school--secure in the
fact that no one could see her.

In the sleigh the girls were beginning to recover.

"Jemima!" Betty said, breaking a long silence. "Poll saved all our
lives; do you know it!"

Connie shivered. "I'm just beginning to realize it," she said, solemnly.
"All the time everything was happening I was trying to remember the last
duet I learned." Everybody laughed.

"Polly is--" Miss Crosby began. "Well, she's so splendid that-- But I
guess we'd better not talk about it. We're a