ng that her reply
had been all right and proper, for she had not the least idea what she
said.

Things got steady again directly, and while Maud expatiated on the great
surprise, Polly ventured to look at Tom, feeling glad that her back
was toward the light, and his was not. It was not a large room, and Tom
seemed to fill it entirely; not that he had grown so very much, except
broader in the shoulders, but there was a brisk, genial, free-and-easy
air about him, suggestive of a stirring, out-of-door life, with people
who kept their eyes wide open, and were not very particular what they
did with their arms and legs. The rough-and-ready travelling suit, stout
boots, brown face, and manly beard, changed him so much, that Polly
could find scarcely a trace of elegant Tom Shaw in the hearty-looking
young man who stood with one foot on a chair, while he talked business
to his father in a sensible way, which delighted the old gentleman.
Polly liked the change immensely, and sat listening to the state of
Western trade with as much interest as if it had been the most thrilling
romance, for, as he talked, Tom kept looking at her with a nod or a
smile so like old times, that for a little while, she forgot Maria
Bailey, and was in bliss.

By and by Fanny came flying in, and gave Tom a greater surprise than his
had been. He had not the least suspicion of what had been going on at
home, for Fan had said to herself, with girlish malice, "If he don't
choose to tell me his secrets, I 'm not going to tell mine," and had
said nothing about Sydney, except an occasional allusion to his
being often there, and very kind. Therefore, when she announced her
engagement, Tom looked so staggered for a minute, that Fan thought he
did n't like it; but after the first surprise passed, he showed such an
affectionate satisfaction, that she was both touched and flattered.

"What do you think of this performance?" asked Tom, wheeling round to
Polly, who still sat by Mrs. Shaw, in the shadow of the bed-curtains.

"I like it very much," she said in such a hearty tone, that Tom could
not doubt the genuineness of her pleasure.

"Glad of that. Hope you 'll be as well pleased with another engagement
that 's coming out before long"; and with an odd laugh, Tom carried
Sydney off to his den, leaving the girls to telegraph to one another the
awful message, "It is Maria Bailey."

How she managed to get through that evening, Polly never knew, yet it
was not a lo