Here they were told to sit down, while the old woman
went in search of the matron. The next few moments were rather
uncomfortable for all three of the children. Now that they were
really inside the institution, they were a little frightened at
what they had done; and yet the ridiculous side of their being
there struck them so keenly that they dared not speak, for fear of
being found laughing, when the all-powerful matron should make her
appearance. At length she came, a trim little woman, with an
earnest face and a business-like manner. At Polly's request to be
allowed to see Miss Bean, she shook her head doubtfully.
"It isn't one of our regular visiting days," she began." Was your
errand an important one?"
"Not very," returned Polly, with a lingering accent on the second
word, as she caught the sound of a distant clatter of dishes and
breathed in a vague odor of boiled beef.
"I am sorry to disappoint you," the matron went on; "and if you
have come all the way from town, it is too bad to send you back
without seeing her, for a minute. Call Miss Bean," she said to a
servant. "What name shall I tell her?" she asked Polly.
"Polly Adams, ma'am," answered Polly.
The matron became suddenly cordial, like a snowbank under the rays
of the spring sun.
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