“Why do you say ‘if,’ Polly?  Multitudes of names are coming in.  I have told you so from the beginning.”

“Very well, then; when a sufficient number of names are entered, I should like to spend ten dollars on a very large sand-table, which I can use with the younger group for illustrations.  It is perfectly clean work, and I have helped Miss Denison and her children to do the loveliest things with it.  She makes geography lessons,—­plains, hills, mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes; or the children make a picture of the story they have just heard.  I saw them do ’Over the River and through the Wood to Grandfather’s House we go,’ ’Washington’s Winter Camp at Valley Forge,’ and ‘The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.’  I have ever so many songs chosen, and those for November and December are almost learned without my notes.  I shall have to work very hard to be ready twice a week!”

“Too hard, I fear,” said Mrs. Bird anxiously.

“Oh, no; not a bit too hard!  If the children are only interested, I shall not mind any amount of trouble.  By the way, dear Mrs. Bird, you won’t let the nurses or mothers stand in the doorways?  You will please see that I am left quite alone with the children, won’t you?”

“Certainly; no mothers shall be admitted, if they make you nervous; it is the children’s hour.  But after two or three months, when you have all become acquainted, and the children are accustomed to listening attentively, I almost hope you will allow a few nurses to come in and sit in the corners,—­the ones who bring the youngest children, for example; it would be such a means of education to them.  There ’s another idea for you next year,—­a nurses’ class in story-telling.”

“It would be rather nice, would n’t it?—­and I should be older then, and more experienced.  I really think I could do it, if Miss Denison would help me by talks and instructions.  She will be here next year.  Oh, how the little plan broadens out!”

“And, Polly, you have chosen to pay for your circulars, and propose to buy your sand-table.  This I agree to, if you insist upon it; though why I shouldn’t help my godchild I cannot quite understand.  But knowing you were so absorbed in other matters that you would forget the frivolities, and remembering that you have been wearing the same two dresses for months, I have ventured to get you some pretty gowns for the ‘story hours,’ and I want you to accept them for your Christmas present.  They will serve for all your ‘afternoons’ and for our home dinners, as you will not be going out anywhere this winter.”

“Oh, how kind you are, Mrs. Bird!  You load me with benefits, and how can I ever repay you?”