6 Polly’s Surprise

CHAPTER 6 Polly's Surprise Once Joel was all better, things got almost back to normal in the Little Brown House. "Oh, I wish Doctor Fisher would hurry and get here so he can take off these bandages once and for all!" Polly said. "He'll be here tomorrow, Polly," Mrs. Pepper reminded her. "I can't wait either!" Davie blurted out. Then

he clapped his hand over his mouth and buried his head in Mrs. Pepper's lap. The other little Peppers could barely contain their excitement. They all knew a very important secret that was going to happen that day. Everyone except Polly knew, that is, because the secret was about her. "I'm afraid I'll tell her," Davie whispered. "No, you won't," Mrs. Pepper assured him. "But we must all do our best to keep Polly busy and out of the kitchen today." "Play a game," Ben suggested. "Play in the other room, and let me get busy in the kitchen," Mamsie added. Ben led Polly and the other children into the living room. Then Ben sneaked back into the kitchen. Polly, Phronsie, Davie, and Joel clapped and stamped and shouted. They could hardly hear the scraping and grating noises coming from the kitchen.

"Oh, look, I see the—" Phronsie sang out. Davie swooped in and tickled her before she could spoil the surprise. "What is that scraping noise?" Polly finally asked. "I'll go see," Joel said and flew into the kitchen. There, Joel saw his mother and Ben and two men at work on a big, black thing in the corner. The old stove was nowhere to be seen. In its place was a shiny new one, with lots of doors and burners. "I bet Polly will be able to bake me a beautiful birthday cake in that someday," Joel said. "You haven't told her, have you, Joel?" Mrs. Pepper asked. "No, but Polly can hear all the noise. She wants to know what it is. What will I do?" he asked. "Play tag. Sing a song. Do anything. We're almost done," Ben said.

Luckily, when Joel got back to the bedroom, Polly was busy nursing Phronsie's newly hurt finger. Polly had forgotten all about the noise in the kitchen. The next morning, it seemed as if the Little Brown House would turn inside out with joy. Doctor Fisher untied the bandage around Polly's eyes. Her eyelids fluttered a bit in the darkened bedroom. They she opened her eyes wide. The first thing Polly saw was her mother's smiling face. "Oh, Mamsie," Polly cried, jumping into her mother's arms. "My eyes are new! It's as if I just got them. Do they look different?" Polly asked, running to the cracked mirror to see for herself. "They look like the same merry, brown eyes you always had," Ben said with a big grin. "Well," Polly said, hugging each of her brothers and sisters in turn, "everybody looks different through them anyway!" "Let's go into the kitchen, Polly," Joel said.

"It's so much nicer out there." The other children led Polly into the kitchen. She was ready to roll up her sleeves and start her work in the kitchen when she stopped and turned as pale as snow. She looked like she was going to tumble right over. Mrs. Pepper grabbed Polly to steady her. "What is it?" Polly asked, pointing to the corner. "It's a stove. Don't you know that, Polly?" Phronsie said. Polly raced across the kitchen and flung her arms around the big, black, shiny stove. She was laughing and crying all at the same time. All the children were so excited they began to speak at once. They joined hands and danced around like wild things. Mrs. Pepper laughed until she cried. From the doorway, Doctor Fisher smiled at the happy scene. Then, he quietly left the Little Brown House for what he hoped would be the

last time. "We're never going to have any more burnt bread," Polly sang, all out of breath. "And no big cracks to stuff with paper," Ben shouted. "Hurray!" screamed Joel and Davie. Phronsie gurgled and giggled through it all. "Oh, I wish Doctor Fisher had seen it! Where did he go?" Polly asked, looking around.