It was Nancy who was sent to tell Mr. John Pendleton of Dr. Mead’s verdict.

“I’m Nancy, sir,” she said respectfully to Mr. Pendleton, when he came into the room. “Miss Harrington sent me to tell you about – Miss Pollyanna.”

“Well?”

“It isn’t well, Mr. Pendleton,” she choked.

“You don’t mean – ” He paused.

“Yes, sir. He says – she can’t walk again – never.”

For a moment there was absolute silence in the room; then the man spoke, in a voice shaken with emotion.

“Poor – little – girl! Poor – little – girl!”

Nancy glanced at him, but dropped her eyes at once. In a moment he asked:

“She herself doesn’t know yet – of course – does she?”

“But she does, sir.” sobbed Nancy, “It’s only that the cat pushed open the door and Miss Pollyanna overheard them talking. She found out – that way.”

“Poor – little – girl!” sighed the man again.

“Yes, sir. You see it’s all so new to her, and she keeps thinking all the time of new things she can’t do – NOW. It worries her, too, because she can’t be glad – maybe you don’t know about her game, though,” said Nancy, apologetically.

“The ‘glad game’?” asked the man. “Oh, yes; she told me of that.”

“Oh, she did! Well, I guess she has told it generally to most folks. But you see, now she – she can’t play it herself, and it worries her.”

Nancy paused, but the man did not speak. He sat with his hand over his eyes.

At the door she hesitated, turned, and asked timidly:

“There is also one more thing she feels bad about. It’s Jimmy Bean. She said she’d taken him to you once, but she didn’t think he showed off very well that day, and that she was afraid you didn’t think he would make a very nice child’s presence, after all. Maybe you know what she means by that; but I didn’t, sir.”

“Yes, I know – what she means.”

“All right, sir. She wanted to take him again to show you he really was a lovely child’s presence. And now she – can’t! I beg your pardon, sir. Goodbye!”

It did not take long for the entire town to learn that the great New York doctor had said Pollyanna would never walk again. Everybody knew her little freckled face and almost everybody knew of the “game” that Pollyanna was playing.

Soon Aunt Polly, greatly to her surprise, began to receive calls: calls from people she knew, and people she did not know; calls from men, women, and children. Some brought a book or a bunch of flowers. Some cried frankly. Everybody was anxious for the little injured girl.

First came Mr. John Pendleton.

“I don’t need to tell you how shocked I am,” he began almost harshly. “But can – nothing be done?”

Miss Polly gave a gesture of despair.

“Oh, we’re ‘doing,’ of course, all the time. Dr. Mead prescribed certain treatments and medicines that might help. But – he held out almost no hope.”

John Pendleton rose abruptly. His face was white. Miss Polly, looking at him, knew very well why he felt that he could not stay longer in her presence. At the door he turned.

“I have a message for Pollyanna,” he said. “Will you tell her, please, that I have seen Jimmy Bean and – that he’s going to be my boy hereafter. Tell her I thought she would be – GLAD to know. I shall adopt him, probably.”

For a brief moment Miss Polly lost her usual self-control.

“You will adopt Jimmy Bean!” she gasped.

“Yes. I think Pollyanna will understand. I hope she will be glad!”

“Thank you,” bowed John Pendleton, as he turned to go.

With a somewhat dazed face Miss Polly went upstairs to Pollyanna’s room.

“Pollyanna, I have a message for you from Mr. John Pendleton. He says to tell you he has taken Jimmy Bean for his little boy. He said he thought you’d be glad to know it.”

Pollyanna’s little face flamed into sudden joy.

“Glad? GLAD? Well, I reckon I am glad! Oh, Aunt Polly, I’m so glad for Jimmy! Besides, I’m glad for Mr. Pendleton, too. You see, now he’ll have the child’s presence.”

“The – what?”

“The child’s presence,” stammered Pollyanna, hastily. “Mr. Pendleton told me once, you see, that only a woman’s hand and heart or a child’s presence could make a – a home. And now he’s got it – the child’s presence.”

“Oh, I – see,” said Miss Polly very gently.

“Dr. Chilton says so, too – that it takes a woman’s hand and heart, or a child’s presence, to make a home, you know,” she remarked.

“DR. CHILTON! How do you know – that?”

“He told me so. It was when he said he lived in just rooms, you know – not a home.”

Miss Polly did not answer. Her eyes were out the window.

“So I asked him why he didn’t get them – a woman’s hand and heart, and have a home.”

“Pollyanna!” Miss Polly turned sharply.

“Well, he looked so – so sorrowful.”

“What did he – say?” Miss Polly asked.

“He didn’t say anything for a minute; then he said very low that you couldn’t always get them for the asking.”

There was a brief silence. Miss Polly’s eyes turned again to the window. Her cheeks were unnaturally pink.

Pollyanna sighed.

“He wants one, anyhow, I know, and I wish he could have one.”

“Why, Pollyanna, HOW do you know?”

“Because, afterwards, on another day, he said something else. He said that he’d give all the world if he did have one woman’s hand and heart.”