Then she remembered that she had promised to wait at a spot where they
had often met, and from which they were now to set out for a walk.

"Why don't they come?" she said aloud.

A long time she sat waiting for her playmates to appear. At last a
shout made her turn.

"Did you think we were never coming?" cried Rose.

"Oh, she must have thought just that," said Sprite, "so tell her what
it was that kept us."

"Polly has been waiting so long, we'll start for our walk, and I'll
tell the news as we go along," said Rose.

"Then let's hurry," said Polly, "because I'm wild to know what it was."

The three little friends tramped along the path that was always their
favorite for a walk, and when they had reached a spot where a brook
was spanned by a tiny bridge, they sat down to rest. It was then that
Rose turned toward Polly.

"I'm not going to ask you to guess who was at our house, or why I could
not meet you at two, as I promised, because you never could guess that,
so I'll tell you. It was,--Great Aunt Rose!"

"Oh, Rose, why _did_ she come?" Polly gasped. "_Not_ to take you back
with her!"