"All out not going East!" came a loud call from the colored porter at the end of the Pullman, so Sam Brewster turned and hugged Polly until she almost choked.
"Come out, Sary--bring your man!" ordered Sam Brewster in a harsh tone, madly dabbing his eyes with a fist, as he left Polly to her mother.
"Jeb, Jeb! Come along--er we-all"ll get taken along the trip!" cried Sary, excitedly, trying to force Jeb ahead of her as she stumbled out of the Pullman after Mr. Brewster.
The sight of big Sary urging little Jeb out to safety was so funny that every one had to laugh in spite of tears at the parting, so that Sary actually accomplished a great thing--she turned the sadness at Polly"s leaving her parents into a merry laughing scene for every one.
Once the four who were to remain behind were on the platform again, the four in the Pullman gazed from their windows. Polly suddenly remembered one last order about her ranch-home.
"Paw, don"t you or Jeb ever forget to do for Noddy just what I would do if I was home," was her choking command.
"No danger, Poll! Little Noddy will be my own pet charge, now. It"s all Ah will have at the old crater to tell me about you!" called Sam Brewster as the conductor signaled the engineer to start the engine.
At this crucial moment Jeb remembered an important letter with which he had been intrusted. He made a wild search in his pockets and as the train slowly pulled away from the Brewster group, he found it. He gazed distractedly at the car window where Polly"s face was flattened against the wire-netting, then instant action possessed him. His faculties began to exert themselves.
"Hey, there! Mister Conductor, stop that car "cause Ah got a big fat letter for Polly!" Jeb shouted with all the power his small frame could produce in such a hurry, but the conductor heard him not.
"Stop that car! Oh, jumpin" rattle-snakes--won"t you-all stop that car?"
His yearning was pitiful but the car cared naught.
"Here, here, Jeb! what is the matter with you-all?" called Mr.
Brewster, just as Jeb took a long breath and planned to sprint after the train.
"It"s a good-by letter a friend left with me for Polly, Mr. Brewster, an" now Ah done gone and clean forgot it!" wailed Jeb.
"Too late now, Jeb. We"ll change the address and send it on to her New York hotel. It will reach her almost as soon as she gets there,"
explained Mrs. Brewster.
"Yeh! Wall now, Ah wouldn"t have believed that." So Jeb placed the letter that Polly never received in his coat pocket and lost it that same evening in the excitement of catching the local out of Denver.
Consequently, when the New York train pulled slowly out of the Denver Terminal, with Polly and her companions on board trying to get a last look of dear ones left on the platform of the station, the only glimpse to be had of Mr. and Mrs. Brewster was their squirming desperately, now this side, now that, of Sary"s ponderous form. And Sary, who had planted her bulk unexpectedly in front of them, held her arm high above her head, and slowly waved her hand in farewell back and forth in the rays of the sun. But her gaze was not following the moving train. Instead it was riveted, like a bird hypnotized by a serpent, upon a 10 carat rhinestone engagement ring that sparkled from the _index_ finger of her red right hand.
The last coach of the train vanished and the two Brewsters sighed. Then they saw Sary still waving her hand, oblivious of all else about her.
Jeb stood gaping at her queer actions wondering if she might be "off in her head." But the smile on his master"s face rea.s.sured him. As Mrs.
Brewster murmured, "Sary, that"s all!" the proud possessor of the ring came to earth again.
But it was _not_ all! Because "Polly and Eleanor in New York" had so many interesting experiences in this great city that it will take another book to tell about them.
THE END
This Isn"t All!
Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in this book?
Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author?
On the _reverse side_ of the wrapper which comes with this book, you will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same store where you got this book.
Don"t throw away the Wrapper
_Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have. But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete catalog._
THE POLLY BREWSTER SERIES
By LILLIAN ELIZABETH ROY
Durably Bound. Ill.u.s.trated. Colored Wrappers. Every Volume Complete in Itself.
A delightful series for girls in which they will follow Polly and Eleanor through many interesting adventures and enjoyable trips to various places in the United States, Europe and South America.
POLLY OF PEBBLY PIT
POLLY AND ELEANOR
POLLY IN NEW YORK
POLLY AND HER FRIENDS ABROAD
POLLY"S BUSINESS VENTURE
POLLY"S SOUTHERN CRUISE
POLLY IN SOUTH AMERICA
POLLY IN THE SOUTHWEST
POLLY IN ALASKA
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
GIRL SCOUTS SERIES
By LILLIAN ELIZABETH ROY
Author of the "Polly Brewster Books"