Eleanor H. Porter: Pollyanna

10. CHAPTER X. A SURPRISE FOR MRS. SNOW (continued)

"Can I--what?"

"Thrash 'round--move, you know, so as to change your position when the music gets too hard to stand."

Mrs. Snow stared a little.

"Why, of course I can move--anywhere--in bed," she rejoined a little irritably.

"Well, you can be glad of that, then, anyhow. can't you?" nodded Pollyanna. "Mrs. White couldn't. You can't thrash when you have rheumatic fever--though you want to something awful, Mrs. White says. She told me afterwards she reckoned she'd have gone raving crazy if it hadn't been for Mr. White's sister's ears--being deaf, so."

"Sister's--EARS! What do you mean?"

Pollyanna laughed.

"Well, I reckon I didn't tell it all, and I forgot you didn't know Mrs. White. You see, Miss White was deaf--awfully deaf; and she came to visit 'em and to help take care of Mrs. White and the house. Well, they had such an awful time making her understand ANYTHING, that after that, every time the piano commenced to play across the street, Mrs. White felt so glad she COULD hear it, that she didn't mind so much that she DID hear it, 'cause she couldn't help thinking how awful 'twould be if she was deaf and couldn't hear anything, like her husband's sister. You see, she was playing the game, too. I'd told her about it."

"The--game?"

Pollyanna clapped her hands.

"There! I 'most forgot; but I've thought it up, Mrs. Snow--what you can be glad about."

"GLAD about! What do you mean?"

"Why, I told you I would. Don't you remember? You asked me to tell you something to be glad about--glad, you know, even though you did have to lie here abed all day."