Pollyanna Crows up / Поллианна вырастает. Книга для чтения на английском языке

I say, don’t ye know the number of the house ye want?”

“N-no, except there’s a seven in it,” returned Pollyanna, with a faintly hopeful air.

“Won’t ye listen ter that?” gibed the scornful youth. “There’s a seven in it – an’ she expects me ter know it when I see it!”

“Oh, I should know the house, if I could only see it,” declared Pollyanna, eagerly; “and I think I’d know the street, too, on account of the lovely long yard running right up and down through the middle of it.”

This time it was the boy who gave a puzzled frown.

“YARD?” he queried, “in the middle of a street?”

“Yes – trees and grass, you know, with a walk in the middle of it, and seats, and —” But the boy interrupted her with a whoop of delight.

“Gee whiz! Commonwealth Avenue, sure as yer livin’! Wouldn’t that get yer goat, now?”

“Oh, do you know – do you, really?” besought Pollyanna. “That sounded like it – only I don’t know what you meant about the goat part.

“Goats nothin’!” scoffed the boy. “You bet yer sweet life I know where ’tis! Don’t I tote Sir James up there to the Garden ’most ev’ry day? An’ I’ll take YOU, too. Jest ye hang out here till I get on ter my job again, an’ sell out my stock. Then we’ll make tracks for that ’ere Avenue ’fore ye can say Jack Robinson[40 - ’fore ye can say Jack Robinson – (разг.) не успеешь оглянуться].

“You mean you’ll take me – home?” appealed Pollyanna, still plainly not quite understanding.

“Sure! It’s a cinch[41 - It’s a cinch – (разг.) Конечно] – if you know the house.”

“Oh, yes, I know the house,” replied the literal Pollyanna, anxiously, “but I don’t know whether it’s a – a cinch, or not. If it isn’t, can’t you —”

But the boy only threw her another disdainful glance and darted off into the thick of the crowd.

With a sigh of relief Pollyanna stepped back into a doorway and waited. She was tired, but she was happy. In spite of sundry puzzling aspects of the case, she yet trusted the boy, and she had perfect confidence that he could take her home.

“He’s nice, and I like him,” she said to herself, following with her eyes the boy’s alert, darting figure.