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POLLYOOLY

He turned to her, and they looked at each other with eyes full of interest and pleasure. Then, as he took in the duster, the print frock and rolled-up sleeves, Ronald's face fell a little, and he said, "What are you doing here—in my cousin's chambers?"

"We live here—the Lump and me," said Pollyooly, her grammar weakened by this sudden pleasure.

"Yes. But what do you do? Are you—are you John Ruffin's servant?" said Ronald with some hesitation, and a touch of anxiety in his tone.

"I'm his housekeeper; it's a position of dignity; he often says so," said Pollyooly with an air of great dignity herself.

"Oh, I see," said Ronald with some relief.

"Is the court just as nice as it was in May? And the dogs? And has any one else but you found out that I wasn't Marion? And have they found her?" said Pollyooly quickly, almost in a breath, in her eagerness to learn all that had happened since her flight.

"The court's all right," said Ronald, sitting down in an easy chair. "It's jolly enough, though not so jolly as when you were there to knock about with.