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Performance Management Key Strategies and Practical
Guidelines 3rd Edition Michael Armstrong Digital Instant
Download
Author(s): Michael Armstrong
ISBN(s): 9780749445379, 0749445378
Edition: 3rd
File Details: PDF, 1.71 MB
Year: 2006
Language: english
 i

PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT
 iii

PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT
KEY STRATEGIES AND
PRACTICAL GUIDELINES

3RD EDITION

Michael Armstrong

London and Philadelphia

iv

Publisher’s note
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book
is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and author cannot accept
responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or
damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the
material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or the author.

First published in Great Britain and the United States in 1994 by Kogan Page Limited
Second edition 2000
Third edition 2006

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or
review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publi-
cation may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic
reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries
concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the
undermentioned addresses:

120 Pentonville Road 525 South 4th Street, #241

London N1 9JN Philadelphia PA 19147
United Kingdom USA
www.kogan-page.co.uk

© Michael Armstrong, 1994, 2000, 2006

The right of Michael Armstrong to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN 0 7494 4537 8

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Armstrong, Michael, 1928–

Performance management : key strategies and practical guidelines / Michael
Armstrong.— 3rd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7494-4537-8
1. Employees—Rating of. 2. Performance standards. 3. Performance. I.
Title.
HF5549.5.R3A758 2006
658.3⬘125—dc22
2005021779

Typeset by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby

Printed and bound in the United States by Thomson-Shore, Inc
 v

Contents

1 The basis of performance management 1

Performance management defined 1; Aims of
performance management 2; Characteristics of performance
management 3; Developments in performance management 4;
Concerns of performance management 5; Understanding
performance management 6; Guiding principles of performance
management 9; Performance appraisal and performance
management 9; Views on performance management 10;
Performance management and the psychological contract 11;
The process of performance management 12

2 The process of performance management 15

Performance management as a process of management 15;
The performance management cycle 16; The performance
management sequence 16; How performance management
works 16; Performance management activities 18; Performance
management in action 19

3 The practice of performance management 35

IRS, 2003 35; Lawler and McDermott, 2003 36;
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2003 37;
e-reward, 2005 39
vi l Contents

4 Performance planning and agreements 49

Performance and development planning 49;
Role profiles 50; Objective setting 54; Performance
measures and assessment 59; Performance planning 65;
Development planning 66; The performance agreement 67;
Checklist – performance and development planning 68

5 Managing performance throughout the year 69

The continuing process of performance management 70;
Updating objectives and work plans 71; Managing
continuous learning 72

6 Reviewing performance 75
The performance review meeting 75; Performance
review difficulties 76; Performance review issues 77;
Organizational issues 79; On whom should performance
reviews focus? 80; On what should the performance
review meeting focus? 81; Criteria 81; The impact of
management style 82; Performance review skills 82;
Outcome issues 82; Dealing with positive and negative
elements 83; Using reviews as a communications channel 84;
Balancing past performance against future potential 85;
When should reviews be held? 85; Performance review
problems 86; Evaluating performance reviews 88; Analysis
of the issues 89; Preparing for review meetings 89;
Self-assessment 95; Giving feedback 98

7 Assessing performance 101

Approach to assessment 101; Factors affecting assessments 102;
Methods of assessment 103; Overall analysis of performance 103;
Narrative assessment 104; Rating 105; Forced distribution 114;
Forced ranking 114; Quota systems 115; Visual methods of
assessment 115; Conclusion 117

8 Improving performance 119

Improving performance at the organizational level 119;
The problems at managerial level 120; Dealing with the problem –
overall strategy 120; Dealing with the problem – human resource
improvement 121; Top management levers for improving
performance 122; Performance management at the organizational
level 123; Improving team performance 129; Improving
individual performance 131; Managing underperformers 132
 Contents l vii

9 Performance management administration 137

Purpose 138; Performance management forms as working
documents 139; Information for the HR department 139;
Form design 140; Web-enabled performance management 142

10 Performance management and learning 143

Helping people to learn through performance management 144;
Learning opportunities 144; Personal development planning 146;
Coaching 148

11 Performance management and reward 151

Performance management and non-financial rewards 152;
Performance management and pay 153

12 360-degree feedback 157

360-degree feedback defined 157; Use of 360-degree feedback 158;
Rationale for 360-degree feedback 159; 360-degree feedback –
methodology 160; Development and implementation 162;
360-degree feedback – advantages and disadvantages 164;
360-degree feedback – criteria for success 165

13 Performance management roles 167

Top managers 167; Line managers 168; The role of
employees 173; The role of HR 173

14 Introducing and developing performance management 175

Approach to development 175; The development
framework 179; Contextual factors 180; Performance
management development programme 180

15 Learning about performance management 189

The rationale for performance management 189;
Contribution 190; Skills 190; Formal learning 191;
Less formal learning 193

16 Evaluating performance management 195

Method 195; A typical approach 197; Points to be covered 198;
Outcome 200

References 201
Further reading 205
Author index 211
Subject index 212
 1

The basis of performance

management

In this chapter the nature, aims, characteristics, concerns and guiding prin-
ciples of performance management are described. In addition, the differ-
ences between performance appraisal and performance management are
examined and reference is made to the views of a selection of practitioners
on performance management. The chapter concludes with a summary of
the process of performance management, which is considered more
comprehensively in Chapter 2.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT DEFINED

Performance management can be defined as a systematic process for
improving organizational performance by developing the performance of
individuals and teams. It is a means of getting better results from the
organization, teams and individuals by understanding and managing
performance within an agreed framework of planned goals, standards
and competence requirements. Processes exist for establishing shared
understanding about what is to be achieved, and for managing and devel-
oping people in a way that increases the probability that it will be
2 l Performance management

achieved in the short and longer term. It is owned and driven by line
management.
Other definitions are:

l Performance management is: ‘The development of individuals with

competence and commitment, working towards the achievement of
shared meaningful objectives within an organisation which supports
and encourages their achievement’ (Lockett, 1).
l ‘Performance management is managing the business’ (Mohrman and
Mohrman, 2).
l Performance management is: the process of ‘Directing and supporting
employees to work as effectively and efficiently as possible in line with
the needs of the organisation’ (Walters, 3).
l ‘Performance management is a strategic and integrated approach to
delivering sustained success to organisations by improving the
performance of the people who work in them and by developing the
capabilities of teams and individual contributors’ (Armstrong and
Baron, 4).

AIMS OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

The overall aim of performance management is to establish a high-
performance culture in which individuals and teams take responsibility for
the continuous improvement of business processes and for their own skills
and contributions within a framework provided by effective leadership. Its
key purpose is to focus people on doing the right things by achieving goal
clarity.
Specifically, performance management is about aligning individual objec-
tives to organizational objectives and ensuring that individuals uphold
corporate core values. It provides for expectations to be defined and agreed
in terms of role responsibilities and accountabilities (expected to do), skills
(expected to have) and behaviours (expected to be). The aim is to develop
the capacity of people to meet and exceed expectations and to achieve their
full potential to the benefit of themselves and the organization. Importantly,
performance management is concerned with ensuring that the support and
guidance people need to develop and improve are readily available.
The following are the aims of performance management as expressed by
a variety of organizations (source: IRS Employment Trends, 1 August 2003,
pp 12–19):
 The basis of performance management l 3

l Empowering, motivating and rewarding employees to do their best

(Armstrong World Industries).
l Focusing employees’ tasks on the right things and doing them right.
Aligning everyone’s individual goals to the goals of the organization (Eli
Lilly & Co).
l Proactively managing and resourcing performance against agreed
accountabilities and objectives (ICI Paints).
l Linking job performance to the achievement of the council’s medium-
term corporate strategy and service plans (Leicestershire County Council).
l The alignment of personal/individual objectives with team,
department/divisional and corporate plans. The presentation of objec-
tives with clearly defined goals/targets using measures, both soft and
numeric. The monitoring of performance and tasking of continuous
action as required (Macmillan Cancer Relief).
l All individuals being clear about what they need to achieve and
expected standards, and how that contributes to the overall success of
the organization; receiving regular, fair, accurate feedback and coaching
to stretch and motivate them to achieve their best (Marks & Spencer
Financial Services).
l Systematic approach to organizational performance aligning individual
accountabilities to organizational targets and activity (Royal Berkshire and
Battle Hospitals NHS Trust).
l The process and behaviours by which managers manage the
performance of their people to deliver a high-achieving organization
(Standard Chartered Bank).
l Maximizing the potential of individuals and teams to benefit themselves
and the organization, focusing on achievement of their objectives (West
Bromwich Building Society).

CHARACTERISTICS OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Performance management is a planned process of which the primary
elements are agreement, measurement, feedback, positive reinforcement
and dialogue. It is concerned with measuring outputs in the shape of
delivered performance compared with expectations expressed as objectives.
In this respect, it focuses on targets, standards and performance measures or
4 l Performance management

indicators. It is based on the agreement of role requirements, objectives and

performance improvement and personal development plans. It provides
the setting for ongoing dialogues about performance, which involves the
joint and continuing review of achievements against objectives, require-
ments and plans.
But it is also concerned with inputs and values. The inputs are the
knowledge, skills and behaviours required to produce the expected results.
Developmental needs are identified by defining these requirements and
assessing the extent to which the expected levels of performance have been
achieved through the effective use of knowledge and skills and through
appropriate behaviour that upholds core values.
Performance management is a continuous and flexible process that
involves managers and those whom they manage acting as partners within
a framework that sets out how they can best work together to achieve the
required results. It is based on the principle of management by contract and
agreement rather than management by command. It relies on consensus
and cooperation rather than control or coercion.
Performance management focuses on future performance planning and
improvement rather than on retrospective performance appraisal. It func-
tions as a continuous and evolutionary process, in which performance
improves over time; and provides the basis for regular and frequent
dialogues between managers and individuals about performance and
development needs. It is mainly concerned with individual performance
but it can also be applied to teams. The focus is on development, although
performance management is an important part of the reward system
through the provision of feedback and recognition and the identification of
opportunities for growth. It may be associated with performance- or
contribution-related pay but its developmental aspects are much more
important.

DEVELOPMENTS IN PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Extensive research carried out in the UK and USA has established that new
perspectives on performance management have emerged with the
following characteristics:

l an emphasis on front-end planning rather than back-end review;

l a broader definition of performance that focuses on more than narrowly
defined job responsibilities;
 The basis of performance management l 5

l an emphasis on ongoing dialogue rather than forms and rating scales;

l the recognition that there are many factors contributing to performance
outcomes.

CONCERNS OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

The following are the main concerns of performance management:

l Concern with outputs, outcomes, process and inputs. Performance

management is concerned with outputs (the achievement of results) and
outcomes (the impact made on performance). But it is also concerned
with the processes required to achieve these results (competencies) and
the inputs in terms of capabilities (knowledge, skill and competence)
expected from the teams and individuals involved.
l Concern with planning. Performance management is concerned with
planning ahead to achieve future success. This means defining expecta-
tions expressed as objectives and in business plans.
l Concern with measurement and review. ‘If you can’t measure it you can’t
manage it.’ Performance management is concerned with the meas-
urement of results and with reviewing progress towards achieving
objectives as a basis for action.
l Concern with continuous improvement. Concern with continuous
improvement is based on the belief that continually striving to reach
higher and higher standards in every part of the organization will
provide a series of incremental gains that will build superior
performance. This means clarifying what organizational, team and indi-
vidual effectiveness look like and taking steps to ensure that those
defined levels of effectiveness are achieved. As Armstrong and Murlis
(5) wrote, this involves: ‘Establishing a culture in which managers, indi-
viduals and groups take responsibility for the continuous improvement
of business processes and of their own skills, competencies and contri-
bution.’
l Concern with continuous development. Performance management is
concerned with creating a culture in which organizational and indi-
vidual learning and development is a continuous process. It provides
means for the integration of learning and work so that everyone learns
from the successes and challenges inherent in their day-to-day activities.
6 l Performance management

l Concern for communication. Performance management is concerned with

communication. This is done by creating a climate in which a continuing
dialogue between managers and the members of their teams takes place
to define expectations and share information on the organization’s
mission, values and objectives. This establishes mutual understanding of
what is to be achieved and a framework for managing and developing
people to ensure that it will be achieved (Armstrong and Murlis, 5).
l Concern for stakeholders. Performance management is concerned with
satisfying the needs and expectations of all the organization’s stake-
holders – owners, management, employees, customers, suppliers and
the general public. In particular, employees are treated as partners in the
enterprise whose interests are respected, whose opinions are sought and
listened to, and who are encouraged to contribute to the formulation of
objectives and plans for their team and for themselves. Performance
management should respect the needs of individuals and teams as well
as those of the organization, recognizing that they will not necessarily
coincide.
l Concern for fairness and transparency. Four ethical principles that should
govern the operation of the performance management process have
been suggested by Winstanley and Stuart-Smith (6). These are:
– respect for the individual;
– mutual respect;
– procedural fairness;
– transparency of decision making.

UNDERSTANDING PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

There are five issues that need to be considered to obtain a full under-
standing of performance management:

1. the meaning of performance;

2. the significance of values;
3. the meaning of alignment;
4. managing expectations;
5. the significance of discretionary behaviour.
 The basis of performance management l 7

The meaning of performance

Performance is often defined simply in output terms – the achievement of
quantified objectives. But performance is a matter not only of what people
achieve but how they achieve it. The Oxford English Dictionary confirms
this by including the phrase ‘carrying out’ in its definition of
performance: ‘The accomplishment, execution, carrying out, working out
of anything ordered or undertaken.’ High performance results from
appropriate behaviour, especially discretionary behaviour, and the
effective use of the required knowledge, skills and competencies.
Performance management must examine how results are attained because
this provides the information necessary to consider what needs to be done
to improve those results.
The concept of performance has been expressed by Brumbach (7) as
follows: ‘Performance means both behaviours and results. Behaviours
emanate from the performer and transform performance from abstraction
to action. Not just the instruments for results, behaviours are also outcomes
in their own right – the product of mental and physical effort applied to
tasks – and can be judged apart from results.’ This definition of
performance leads to the conclusion that when managing performance
both inputs (behaviour) and outputs (results) need to be considered. It is
not a question of simply considering the achievement of targets as used to
happen in management-by-objectives schemes. Competence factors need to
be included in the process. This is the so-called ‘mixed model’ of
performance management, which covers the achievement of expected
levels of competence as well as objective setting and review.

Performance management and values

Performance is about upholding the values of the organization – ‘living the
values’ (an approach to which much importance is attached at Standard
Chartered Bank). This is an aspect of behaviour but it focuses on what
people do to realize core values such as concern for quality, concern for
people, concern for equal opportunity and operating ethically. It means
converting espoused values into values in use: ensuring that the rhetoric
becomes reality.

The meaning of alignment

One of the most fundamental purposes of performance management is to
align individual and organizational objectives. This means that every-
thing people do at work leads to outcomes that further the achievement of
8 l Performance management

organizational goals. This purpose was well expressed by Fletcher (8) who
wrote: ‘The real concept of performance management is associated with
an approach to creating a shared vision of the purpose and aims of the
organisation, helping each employee understand and recognise their part
in contributing to them, and in so doing, manage and enhance the
performance of both individuals and the organisation.’
Alignment can be attained by a cascading process so that objectives flow
down from the top and at each level team or individual objectives are
defined in the light of higher-level goals. But it should also be a bottom-up
process, individuals and teams being given the opportunity to formulate
their own goals within the framework provided by the defined overall
purpose, strategy and values of the organization. Objectives should be
agreed, not set, and this agreement should be reached through the open
dialogues that take place between managers and individuals throughout
the year. In other words, this needs to be seen as a partnership in which
responsibility is shared and mutual expectations are defined.

Managing expectations
Performance management is essentially about the management of expecta-
tions. It creates a shared understanding of what is required to improve
performance and how this will be achieved by clarifying and agreeing what
people are expected to do and how they are expected to behave and uses
these agreements as the basis for measurement, review and the preparation
of plans for performance improvement and development.

Performance management and discretionary behaviour

Performance management is concerned with the encouragement of
productive discretionary behaviour. As defined by Purcell and his team at
Bath University School of Management (9), ‘Discretionary behaviour refers
to the choices that people make about how they carry out their work and the
amount of effort, care, innovation and productive behaviour they display. It
is the difference between people just doing a job and people doing a great
job.’ Purcell and his team, while researching the relationship between HR
practice and business performance, noted that ‘the experience of success
seen in performance outcomes help reinforce positive attitudes’.
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 “A lot of pleasure, you mean, don’t you?” returned the Doctor’s
daughter.

Miss Bartlett shrugged her small shoulders.

“I’ll give you a week to find out,” she laughed.

 CHAPTER VI

“MAYBE”

T
HE tiny girl sat in her pillowed chair by the window while the
lady from the next street talked with Aunt Sophie. Mrs.
Hamilton Garde wanted Aunt Sophie to go over to the great
house where she lived and clean some walls and floors. Now they
were haggling over the price, or, rather, Mrs. Hamilton Garde was
haggling. The plump little woman who scrubbed for her neighbors
never haggled. She quietly stated her price by the day or by the
hour and let her patron talk. To-day the patron, being Mrs. Hamilton
Garde, had argued and hinted and argued again for full seventeen
minutes, and finally decided that even if twenty cents an hour was
an unreasonably high price to pay, the work must be done and she
should not feel justified in hiring somebody outside of the
neighborhood. So she bade the little plump woman with red, big-
jointed hands “to be sure and get over there and ready to work right
on the notch”—which meant seven o’clock on Thursday morning.

Long before this, the child had tired of the uninteresting talk,
especially as she had heard the same thing many times over which
always ended in the very same fashion. She was looking out of the
window when Mrs. Hamilton Garde passed her on the way out. The
baby-blue eyes were dwelling on the big, shining car in front of the
little house.

Mrs. Hamilton Garde noted the earnest look, and she asked
sweetly:

“Are you fond of motoring?”

“Motoring?” repeated the little girl in a puzzled tone.

 Mrs. Hamilton Garde laughed in silvery tones, and simplified her
question.

“Do you like automobile riding?”

“Oh!” cried the small voice. “No, ma’am—I mean, I guess I should.
I never did, you know.”

“Is that so?” laughed the woman. “Well, I’ll take you some day—
to-morrow, maybe. Good afternoon, Mrs. Edmonson. Be sure and
come early. Seven o’clock sharp on Thursday!”

“Oh, Aunt Sophie!” the little girl burst out as soon as the door
closed, “did you hear what she said? She’s going to take me to ride!
Just think, to-morrow!”

“Maybe!” added Aunt Sophie.

“Oh, I guess she will!” cried the little one, her wee face aflame
with joy. “She promised, you know, and everybody always does just
what they promise. I’ve heard Sardis say lots of times that he’d got
to do something, because he’d promised. What time do you s’pose
we’ll go? As early as this?”

The little woman’s lips opened—and shut. She waited. “I’m sure I
don’t know,” she said at last.

“I wish you were going, too,” the child said wistfully; but Aunt
Sophie was silent. The doubt in her kind heart did not reach the wee
girl at all. When Aunt Sophie looked at the happy face and sighed,
the child was gazing far away into to-morrow afternoon, seeing
herself seated among those beautiful, soft cushions and whirling off
down the street; whirling away, uphill and down, and out into the
land of flowering fields and gay gardens, wide blue lakes and high
green hills, running brooks that sang as they went, and deep ravines
filled with ferns that never saw the sunshine; whirling on and on to
those wonderful delights of which she had seen so little and which
Brother Sardis had promised should be hers as soon as she went to
live with him. And now it was all coming to-morrow! She ate her
supper that night to the whirring of cars, the blare of motor horns,
and—yes, the odor of gasoline. She talked about it, too, as she ate,
and never noticed that Aunt Sophie was more than ordinarily silent.

Next morning, as soon as she awoke, the tiny girl found herself in
a strange state of excitement, and contrary to her usual custom she
called Aunt Sophie to her bedside.

“Hadn’t you better dress me right away, so I’ll be all ready to go

when Mrs. Garde comes?”

“You needn’t be afraid of her getting here before your breakfast,”

laughed Mrs. Edmonson grimly. “She don’t have hers till ten.”

“Oh!” exclaimed the little one, “are you sure?”

“I ought to know,” the woman replied. “I’ve been there often

enough and heard Tilly and Sadie scolding because the breakfast
was all dried up waiting for her.”

“Anyway,” the child smilingly insisted, “it would save trouble to put
on my best clothes now, and then I shouldn’t have to make her wait,
no matter when she comes.”

“You’re a queer young one to get around things,” Aunt Sophie

laughed. Then she brought out a little striped pink gingham frock,
snowy white petticoats, and a pair of shiny black shoes none too
large for a two-year-old baby, while the little girl in bed watched the
preparations with smiles of approval.

“You mustn’t set your heart on going this afternoon,” Aunt Sophie
finally advised. “To my mind it is very uncertain whether she
comes”—there was a perceptible pause—“to-day.”
 “Oh, I s’pose it will be just as nice if she shouldn’t come till to-
morrow,” the child reflected, “’cause then I shall have it longer to
think about. You see, one day doesn’t make much difference,” she
philosophized. “Yesterday it seemed a perfect age till to-day, and
now it’s right here in no time at all. I guess it’s always that way. So if
she doesn’t have time to come to-day, I shall know to-morrow will
be here in just a few minutes. But I guess she’ll come—I kind o’ feel
it! Don’t you ever feel things coming, Aunt Sophie?”

The plump little aunt bobbed her head with a “M-h’m” over the
drawer where the small girl’s stockings were kept.

The little one chattered on until she was seated in her high,
cushioned chair at the breakfast table.

“Now you’d better let your victuals stop your mouth,” laughed her
aunt, not unkindly. “If you don’t keep still, pretty soon you won’t be
fit to go to ride or anywhere else. You’ve talked every minute since
you woke up.”

The child pressed a forefinger to her smiling lips, while she looked
across the table in merry response.

Morning usually slipped swiftly away with the elder member of the
household, but dragged more or less wearily with the little one who
had nothing to do but to sit at the window and gaze across the
street and up at the lawns and gardens that surrounded the home of
Mrs. Hamilton Garde on Burton Avenue. She could catch glimpses of
the great house, with its towers and multi-colored roofs, as the
green branches waved to and fro. The stables and garage were at
the foot of the hill, almost directly opposite the little gray house, and
a path led down from the mansion above. Few trod this path except
the stable boys, the coachman that drove the handsome pair of
black horses, and the two chauffeurs who had charge of the shining
cars.
 The watcher at the small window never tired of looking at those
beautiful cars when they came out of the garage, and they generally
did come out two or three times a day.

This morning there was no weariness in the baby-blue eyes as

they watched for one of the chauffeurs to come down the path. Of
course, the little maid told herself, Mrs. Hamilton Garde would not
come for her until afternoon—she wondered whether it would be at
one or two or three o’clock. Anyway, she was ready, all ready except
for the putting on of her coat and hat. She drew a sigh of
satisfaction. It was so comfortable to know that one was ready for
whatever came. Then she fell to thinking of the happy letter she
would write to Sardis, dear Brother Sardis, about the wonderful ride
that Mrs. Hamilton Garde had given her. Brother Sardis never spoke
of Mrs. Hamilton Garde these days. But she could remember a time,
long ago,—she was such a mite of a girl then,—before Sardis went
to live with Uncle Dwight, when he used to hate the rich woman
who lived in the great house on Burton Avenue, because of the way
she had of tossing her head with a gay little laugh whenever she
chanced to come upon him with his sister in his arms. As she
thought it over now, she wondered why Mrs. Garde had laughed.
She was sure it was a very nice thing for Sardis to do, nothing at all
funny about it as far as she could see. Sometimes she knew that he
had stayed away from a ball game just to carry her out for a long
walk. Perhaps she did look funny in his arms, for Sardis was rather
small for his age. Once—she should never forget it!—Mrs. Garde had
said, “So you’re taking out your doll for an airing!” And then she had
laughed that gay little laugh. Sardis had watched the carriage into
the distance with a dark, scowly face. He had said something, too,
under his breath that she could not hear, and when she had asked
him what it was his face had grown very red and he would not tell.
Dear Brother Sardis! How she wished she could see him this very
minute! As soon as she had had her ride she would write to him all
about it, and how surprised he would be!
 The sight of the tallest chauffeur coming down the path put a stop
to her musings, and she watched him as he disappeared in the
garage. He generally drove the big car. “Oh, I hope it will be the big
car this afternoon!” she said to herself. It was the big car now, for
the tall young fellow drove it from the garage and then stopped,
jumped out and ran back for something. He drove directly by the
window and up the road to the great house. Mrs. Hamilton Garde
was going to ride. The little girl drew a long, happy breath—it was
nice to have so beautiful a thing to anticipate.

“Maybe she’ll come right after luncheon,” smiled the wee maid two
hours later from her high chair;—“you said she didn’t have dinner at
twelve, as we do.” She looked across to her aunt for reassurance.

“She has hers at six,” answered Aunt Sophie.

“Maybe she’ll come at two o’clock,” the little one prattled on.
“Don’t you guess it will be about two?”

A quick shade passed over Aunt Sophie’s round face. Then a smile
came out.

“Maybe,” she said.

“Isn’t it perfectly beautiful that I’m going?” the child went on.
“There’d be room for you,” she observed wistfully. “Won’t you go if
she asks you?”

“No danger of an invitation,” with a short little laugh. Seeing the

reflection of her own shadowy thoughts on the small face opposite,
she added quickly:—

“I couldn’t go, anyway; I have too much work on hand to go

gallivanting off across the country.”

“Too bad you can’t,” was the plaintive regret. “When Sardis gets
his car you’ll have to go.”
 Aunt Sophie nodded smilingly. “Oh, yes, I’ll go when Sardis has his
car.”

“He says he’s going to have one some day,” returned the child,
wagging her small head emphatically.

“I don’t doubt he will,” said Aunt Sophie. “He’s got a good many
things I never would have believed he’d have. He’s the greatest boy
for carrying out whatever he starts on. If he should happen to want
to be President, I declare, I d’n’ know but he’d get there.”

The little flower face shone, as it always did when “Brother Sardis”
was being praised. For the moment Mrs. Hamilton Garde was utterly
forgotten.

Two o’clock came, from the old-fashioned clock on the kitchen

shelf sounded two heavy strokes, the little girl at the window
feverishly watched the path that led down to the garage; but nobody
appeared.

“I guess she’s taking a nap,” were the unspoken words that tried
to chase away a wee doubt which for a good many minutes had
been pressing its way into the hopeful little heart. “Of course, she’d
take a nap before going out again!”

Whether there was a nap or not, neither of the chauffeurs came

into sight. Half past two—three—half-past three—four—all ticked
themselves away on the old clock. It was very quiet in the front
room of the little gray house. The light haze that brooded over the
hills seemed also to have veiled the blue eyes at the window. Still,
they kept loyal watch.

By and by the child suddenly straightened—the tall young

chauffeur was striding down to the garage! It seemed as if the blue
eyes must pierce the side of the low building, so eager were they to
see inside. Presently the big automobile came out and whizzed past
the window.
 “Aunt Sophie! Aunt Sophie!” cried the little one joyously, “do come
and put on my things! She’ll be here in a minute! The man’s gone
round!”

The little plump woman ran in breezily. “What is it, dear?”

“Please bring my things. I don’t want to make her wait. There!

they’re coming!”

“No, no, child! That’s only the undertaker.”

“Well, she will be here right off. Do hurry, auntie! The man just
went round to get her!” The child leaned forward, to catch the first
glimpse of the returning car.

Aunt Sophie stood—unmoved as to feet.

“Better wait,” she said, “till she comes.”

The little one turned to look up into her aunt’s face, and her
eagerness nearly faltered.

“Why, you don’t want to make her you?” she asked wonderingly.

“Well, I guess her time isn’t over valuable,” she said slowly.
“Anyway, I wouldn’t put on my things yet.”

They waited, the one all a-quiver with anticipation, the other
gazing, not down the street, but at the child, her round, usually
placid face now lengthened by lines of tenderness and pain.

The automobile did not come back. Finally Aunt Sophie crept
quietly away to the kitchen, where she could not see the little white
face by the window. The child was still scanning the road hopefully
when, just before six o’clock, the big car returned to the garage,
empty except for the liveried driver.

Aunt Sophie entered the room in her preparations for tea.

 “She didn’t come,” needlessly announced the small voice. “I guess
she thought she’d wait till to-morrow.”

The little woman sighed softly.

“I think she’ll come to-morrow,” went on the voice in cheerful

tone.

“Maybe,” returned Aunt Sophie.

 CHAPTER VII

GLADYS GUINEVERE

T
HE sun was radiant; the sky wore a most alluring blue dress;
the breeze was sending up little velvety waves and ripples from
the south;—Polly wanted Outdoors. As she gazed from the open
window she grew eager. Her mother happened in and proposed to
stay awhile and give Polly a chance.

The girl looked around the ward, and considered. There was
Timmy—Jozy—She hesitated at Clementina and finally shook her
head with a sad little frown. Her eyes passed to Grissel, and
brightened—Timmy and Jozy and Grissel. That was enough.

She glanced across at her mother who was giving Little Duke a
drink.

“Is father away?” she asked.

Learning that he was in the hospital, she went in search of him.

“Would Timmy and Grissel and Jozy be any worse for a little ride?”
she questioned, her anxious eyes on her father’s face.

In a moment she was running up the stairs, stopping only for a

word with an orderly. When she entered Paradise Ward her face was
as bright as if she had just been made heir to a fortune.

For the next ten minutes she and her mother were busy bringing
out coats and hats and putting the three fortunate little patients into
their wraps.

“Are we going to sit on the veranda now?” queried Jozy.

 But Mrs. Dudley only smiled mysteriously. It would never do to tell
too much to the part of the ward that must stay at home—there
might be tears. But, as two orderlies carried the lucky ones out
through the corridor and downstairs, those who were left behind
knew that something unusual was afoot. If Clementina and the rest
could have looked round the corner of the building they would have
seen the three packed snugly into the Doctor’s big, easy car, to the
music of gurgling laughter and silver-toned tongues.

Straight to the blossoming fields and piney air they were borne,
and the children chattered and giggled as only children can, while
Polly drew in deep draughts of the freshness of mountain and wood,
and wondered how the dwellers in city prisons ever lived through
the summer at all.

Nearing a neighboring town, their road led through a street

bordered with miserable dwellings and swarming with sinister men
and women and ragged, pinched-faced children. Polly looked at
them with pity.

The car swerved suddenly, to avoid a crossing team, and Jozy

uttered a wild “Oh!”

Polly glanced back at her charges with a reassuring smile.

“My handkerchief!” screamed Jozy, pointing to the little square of

white that had fluttered away from her.

But already an eagle-eyed youngster had pounced upon the

flyaway. With a joyful grin she brought it to the car.

“Oh, thank you!” cried the owner in a relieved voice.

Evan was starting up again when Polly arrested him. “Just a

minute!” she said. Something in the girl’s wistful little face attracted
her.
 “Would you like a ride?” she asked, throwing open the door.

The black eyes widened. The child drew a step nearer, then
stopped with a dazed expression. She must have been mistaken!

“Will you come?” Polly held out her hand.

Nothing further was needed. In a short moment the little one was
wedged between Polly and Evan, her face radiant with pleasure.

Wonder-eyed youngsters popped out from everywhere and closed

in about the car.

The driver waved them off, there was a bur-r-r-r-r, and the
automobile disappeared around the next corner.

“It’s ezac’ly like flyin’, ain’t it?” piped a rapturous voice at Polly’s
elbow.

“Do you like it?” smiled Polly.

The child looked up with an ecstatic wag of the head.

“Oh!” she burst out, leaning forward and waving her hand
excitedly, “there’s Dolly Merrifield! An’ she saw me a-ridin’! She
waved to me! Did you see her?”

“Yes,” smiled Polly, having glimpsed at the window of a small gray

house a tiny waving hand and a little white face in a halo of
fluttering yellow curls.

“I’m so glad she saw me a-ridin’,” the eager voice went on. “I’ve
wanted to an’ wanted to, till it seemed ’s if I couldn’t stan’ it. An’
now I’m in an’ goin’!” She sighed delightedly.

“Haven’t you ever been in an automobile before?” was Polly’s

somewhat surprised question.
 The small head shook vigorously. “How’d yer s’pose I’d git in?” she
scorned. “Ther’ ain’t none of ’em stop, ’cept the grocery boy an’ the
water-pipe man an’ such, an’ they say, ‘You let me ketch yer in that
car, an’ I’ll hand yer over t’ the p’lice—now d’ yer hear!’ An’ you bet I
ain’t goin’ t’ take no such chances ’s that! Johnny Hurley did, one
day, whopped right in over the door, an’ the man give him a lickin’,
’cause he was his cousin—my, didn’t he! Johnny couldn’t set down
straight all day.” Presently there came another outburst. “Oh,
wouldn’t Dolly Merrifield like this!—Do you know Dolly?” Polly shook
her head.

“Oh, you oughter! Say”—the brightness faded from the little face
—“wouldn’t you’ve took her to ride ’stead o’ me if you’d known her?
I guess I’d oughter let Dolly go—I didn’t think. Honest, I didn’t! But I
guess I’d oughter.” She sighed heavily at this prodding of conscience.

“Oh, you needn’t worry about that!” comforted Polly. “We can take
Dolly another time, you know. Tell me about her. Who is she?”

“Why, she’s Dolly Merrifield! An’—oh, she’s the sweetest little thing
you ever saw! She’s got the littlest legs—just like our baby’s! An’ she
don’t never walk! She don’t never stand up! An’ she don’t cry nor
nothin’, ’cept when the lady didn’t come to take her to ride—then
she did, good an’ hard. Oh, that lady’s just as mean! I wish she had
to sit in a chair all day long, ’ithout anything to do, an’ be all alone,
an’ never go to ride in all her life—so there!”

The animated face had grown red and scowly during the utterance
of this bitter wish. Now it unexpectedly broke into a delighted grin.

“Did yer honest mean for sure you’d take Dolly to ride?”

“Yes, ‘honest, for sure,’” laughed Polly.

“Well, I hope the lady’ll see her,” the child resumed. “She goes to
ride every day—two or three times a day! She used to be real pretty;
but I don’t take no stock in her now—her a-promisin’ Dolly—an’ Dolly
a-waitin’ an’ a-waitin’—an’ her never comin’! Dolly wored her eyes
out watchin’ for her—Mis’ Edmonson said she had. Oh, I jus’ hope
she will see Dolly when you take her—then I guess!” The small head
was brought down decidedly.

“You haven’t told me your name yet,” Polly smiled.

“Oh, my name is Gladys Guinevere Evangeline Smith! But you

needn’t go through all that rigmarole, you can call me Gay;
everybody does. An’ ter think of me a-ridin’!”

As the car stopped in front of Gladys Guinevere’s home it found

itself the center of a crowd of girls and boys, mothers and babies,
with an occasional lounger who quite casually started to walk across
the street in front of the machine and quite as casually stopped on
the outside of the circle.

Polly was many times obliged to reiterate her promise to take

“Dolly” to ride; but at last all the questions had been asked and
answered and all the “thank-you’s” and “good-byes” had been said.
Then, amid the scattering onlookers, with much waving of hands on
both sides, the car rolled away.
 CHAPTER VIII

COUCHES OF CLOVER

F
OR a whole week Dr. Dudley’s automobile was active in
professional work; then word was brought Polly that the car
would be at her disposal for three hours that afternoon. Her
plans were already made, and as soon as her morning tasks were
completed, leaving her mother in charge of Paradise Ward, Polly
started on her way to Prattsboro and Dolly Merrifield.

The little girl was at the window. “Come in!” she called when Polly
lifted the old brass knocker.

The broad kitchen was alive with sunshine, but the bareness of
the big room struck the girl disagreeably as she opened the door. At
first the child at the window was not visible. Then a winsome little
voice said, “Aunt Sophie isn’t home.”

Polly peeped around the door, and smiled.

“I want to see Miss Dolly Merrifield,” she said.

“Oh! me?” exclaimed the little voice.

“If ‘me’ is Dolly,” dimpled Polly, taking the small, thin hand in hers.

“Oh, yes, of course, I’m Dolly! Are you the lady who took Gay to
ride?” she asked shyly.

“The very one,” Polly nodded. “Now, what do you say to a ride
yourself this afternoon?”
 The little pale face was pink with surprise and a kind of awed joy.
“Oh!” she breathed, “oh!—this afternoon?”

“I can have father’s car this afternoon,” Polly explained. “It has
been busy since the day that I made Gladys Guinevere’s
acquaintance.”

The little girl smiled. “What a long, funny name she’s got! Mine is
Dorothy, but ’most everybody calls me Dolly. Sometimes Sardis does;
just once in awhile, you know.”

“And who is Sardis?”

“Why, don’t you know Sardis? His name was in the paper, Sardis
Elisha Merrifield. He was the valedictorian of his class.” The long
word fell easily from the small lips.

“At the Grammar School?” asked Polly.

“Oh, no, at Yale College! He graduated two years ago. He is a

minister, you know. This summer he is preaching up in Raineville, or
he calls it ‘learning to preach.’ I guess it’s preaching all right.” The
curl-crowned head wagged confidently. “You see, he has been two
years in the Theological School, and he’s got one more year before
he can be a full-fledged minister. Then I’m going to live with him!”
Her face glowed with radiant delight. “He says I am going to live
with him if he has to take me to Kamchatka.”

Polly joined in her laugh.

“Is he the only brother you have?” she questioned.

“Yes, he and me and Aunt Sophie are all there is. There used to
be father and mother and grandpa and James and Israel and little
Dorcas; but they’ve all gone to heaven. I’ve lived with Aunt Sophie
almost ever since I can remember. Queer, you don’t know Sardis!
Seem ’s if everybody ought to know him, he’s so nice.”
 “Perhaps I shall know him some day,” smiled Polly.

“Perhaps,” echoed Dolly wistfully. “He isn’t here much. I know

you’d like him—you just couldn’t help it.”

Polly had to make her visit a very short one, for she would be
needed by her little charges. She went back to the House of Joy, her
heart full of sympathy for the wee girl who had never walked and
who had been waiting a long year for the ride that had not come.
“She shall go as often as I can take her,” she promised herself as she
rode home in the trolley-car.

Clementina, Muriel, Jeffy, and Little Duke were selected by Polly

for the afternoon’s pleasure, and Dr. Dudley sanctioned her choice.

Aunt Sophie was at home when the automobile stopped in front of

the low-roofed house in Prattsboro. The little maid was at the
window, hat and coat on, and at once all smiles when she saw Polly.

While the chauffeur was carrying his light burden out to the car
Polly found time for a moment’s talk with Dolly’s aunt, and the quiet,
wise-eyed little woman pleased her mightily.

The small guest of honor let her tongue play freely, and
sympathetic Polly was sorrowed by her glimpse of the shadow of
such an affliction. A barren, sad little life it must be, yet the tiny
maid was seemingly not yet conscious of any poverty or pathos in
her surroundings.

“My brother’s coming home for a day or two sometime this

summer,” she informed Polly. “He said in his last letter that he was
going to give me a ride when he came. But you have got ahead of
him,” she chuckled. “He wanted to take me to hear his valedictory
when he was here two years ago in June; but it rained that day, and
I couldn’t go.” For an instant a shade dulled the little face, then it
made way for a smile. “What do you think!” she broke out, “He
delivered his address to me—with all the motions, too! Wasn’t that
lovely of him? Aunt Sophie said she guessed not many boys would
have done it just to please a little sister. Oh, he’s the nicest brother
in the world! And he wouldn’t have a new suit after all! We wanted
him to; but he said his old suit was good enough. Of course, he’d
look better than the rest, anyway—he’s just lovely!”

Behind Polly a ceaseless stream of lively chatter told her that

Clementina was enjoying herself. Jeffy, too, was puncturing the air
with wild exclamations. Presently was heard the voice of Little Duke.

“She will, too, you little stick-in-the-mud! My good boy!—Mi’

Duddy! Mi’ Duddy!”

The girl looked round.

Little Duke almost tumbled towards her in his eagerness.

“Mi’ Duddy, My want to lie down out there.” He pointed to the field
of mossy rocks and lush clover.

“Oh, dearie, I’m afraid it’s damp!”

“No, Mi’ Duddy! Dear Mi’ Duddy, My is good boy! My won’t be

damp.”

Polly laughed, but asked Evan to stop while she went on a trip of
investigation. “All right,” was her verdict, on returning to the car. And
instantly there was a clamor of voices from the back seat.

“Oh, may I go, too!”—“I want to lie on the grass, Miss

Dudley!”—“Please, can I go?”—“Do let us, Miss Dudley.”

“We’ll all go,” Polly agreed. And in Evan’s arms the children were
carried, from Little Duke to Dolly Merrifield, to bask among the
sunny clover-blossoms.
 Little Duke sucked the sweet blooms, gazing contentedly up at the
white sails on the deep blue sky. Presently he spoke.

“My will stay here all night. My won’t be ’fraid. My will hold you’
hand, Mi’ Duddy.”

“But I shan’t be here,” smiled Polly. “I must go home.”

“My will stay alone. Stars will be here. My will hold Clover’s hand.”

Still, even clover-blossoms lose their attractiveness after awhile,

especially when there is a cushioned automobile in waiting; and
after a quarter-hour of the sunny couch Little Duke was ready to
relinquish present sweets for the swift-rolling car.

“Did you like it?” Polly smiled down into the white little face beside
her. She fancied it held a faint reflection of the clover’s own color.

“Oh, it seemed as if it must be heaven!” sighed Dolly Merrifield

softly.

It was a very tired little girl that Evan laid carefully on the couch in
Aunt Sophie’s living-room. But her eyes were shining with joy. She
put out a small hand and caught one of Polly’s.

“May I kiss you?” she whispered. “I want to because you have

given me such a lovely, lovely time. I’m going to tell Sardis all about
it and how good you’ve been to me.”

“Thank you, darling,” Polly whispered back. “I think outdoors is

what you need, and just as soon as I can get the car again you shall
have another ride.”

Dolly looked her thanks, but said not a word beyond a softly
breathed “O-h!”
 CHAPTER IX

NO. 45678

A
T the dinner table Polly told her story of the afternoon’s
pleasure.

“I am glad you can take them out,” said Dr. Dudley. “The air will
do them more good than anything else.”

“I know it will,” agreed Polly confidently. “They ought to have it

every day.”

“You may have the car as often as possible,” promised the Doctor.
Then he addressed his wife on another subject.

Meanwhile Polly was busy with captivating new thoughts, and

shortly she sent a question straight into their talk.

“How much money have I in—Oh, I do beg your pardon!” she

cried, meeting her father’s glance. Then she laughed. “I had been
thinking and didn’t even know you were talking.”

“What is it that is so engrossing?” smiled her mother.

“I’ll tell you,” she returned gayly. “Father, how much money have I
in the bank?”

“I don’t know. I can give you some—how much?” He thrust his

hand into his pocket.

“No, no!” cried Polly; “I don’t want any now—none of yours at all.
May I take some of my money and buy whatever I choose?”
 “It depends on what you wish it for and how much it costs.”

“It can cost almost any amount, but I’ll try to be contented with a
cheap one. Father, I want to buy an automobile and learn to run it
myself.” Her eyes were bent anxiously on his face.

“No, Robert,” interposed Mrs. Dudley, “don’t let her! I shouldn’t be

easy a minute.”

The Doctor smiled. “She is equal to it, Lucy—you needn’t worry;

though it seems rather unnecessary when there’s a good car in the
family already.”

“But how seldom I can have it,” argued Polly. “And those children
need the rides every day. If you could have seen them this
afternoon!” She stopped—waiting.

The Doctor sat back in his chair and studied the pattern of the
tablecloth. The eyes of both women were on his face.

“I’ll think about it,” he finally said. “I don’t like the idea of your
cutting into that little sum. You know what I have saved it for, Polly.”

The girl’s face flushed. “I know, father.” She faced him with steady
eyes. “There’s no use keeping it for that. I shall never marry.”

“Nonsense, child! you will marry a good deal sooner than I shall
wish, but—I’ll think it over.”

The door had scarcely shut upon the Doctor before Polly clapped
her hands softly.

“Father’s ‘I’ll think it over’ is every bit as good as a straight-out

yes.”

“Polly, I don’t want you to have a car if you must drive it yourself.”

“Why, mother dear, it isn’t anything to run one now.”

 “Not simply to run it. In case of emergencies, however, one must
possess nerves that are under perfect control.”

“I know,” Polly answered gravely; “but what is the matter with

mine? Besides, I shouldn’t drive fast or run any risks.”

“I should worry about you every minute. Foolish, you and your
father would say; but I should all the same.”

“Don’t!—for I dreadfully want one. If you could have seen how

Little Duke enjoyed it to-day!” And she repeated his remarks.

Within a week Polly had her license and she and Evan were
spinning over the country roads in the new car, Polly chuckling over
her number, which she declared was the very best in the whole list.
She was an apt pupil, and absolutely without fear. Mrs. Dudley soon
decided to take some of the children and occupy the back seat,
rather than wait at home wondering if anything had happened, and
her first ride with Polly at the wheel seemed to rid her of all
apprehension. She argued no more against the new machine.

The car was in use whenever its owner could take out any of her
small patients or leave them. None needed skilled care throughout
the day, and several of her friends were ready to act as substitute
for an hour or two at almost any time. Patricia or Lilith or Hilda
would frequently be found in charge of Paradise Ward, while Polly
and her mother were downtown on a shopping excursion or on
some visit across the city.

She had run down alone one afternoon to make some small
purchases, when, on coming out of a shop, she found herself facing
John Eustis.

“I’m glad to know you are still in the flesh,” he began. “I never get
sight of you nowadays.”
 “Is it as much as a week since I saw you at Vesta Jordan’s?”
smiled Polly.

He laughed his answer. And then, “Going home? May I walk up

with you?”

“You may ride up with me. I drove down, that being the quickest
way.”

They were silent until they were beyond the business streets.

“You have a dandy car, and you are an expert in running it,”
praised John Eustis. “That bit of maneuvering was well done.”

Polly looked pleased.

“I am not wholly sure of myself yet,” she admitted; “but I haven’t

made any big break since I gave up Evan. Even mother isn’t afraid
to ride with me.”

“She has no need to be afraid,” he returned.

“I am glad you think so,” was all Polly said.

“I should have come up to your house to-night,” went on John

Eustis, “if I had not met you. Can you get off from your job for a
week-end?”

“I am afraid not. I have enlisted and I must stick to my post.”

“You ought not to have enlisted.”

“Oh, yes, I ought! I wouldn’t give it up for anything.”

“Maybe you’ll be more persuadable when you hear where I want

you to go.”

Polly looked at him questioningly.

 “Do you remember Sally Robinson?”

“How could I forget Sally! She was one of the dearest girls in our
class.”

“She was—and she is. And she is home from Texas—”

“Here?” cried Polly.

“No, at Overlook—up on the mountain.”

“Where is that?”

“In Vermont, just beyond the line. Kate had a letter from her this
morning. She has invited mother and you and Kate and me—and she
says as many more of the girls as we can pile into our car—to come
up on Saturday to stay until Monday, longer if we can.”

Polly’s face had grown bright and grave by turns. “You going?” she
asked wistfully.

“We are, most decidedly. Wouldn’t miss it for a farm.”

“I wish I could,” sighed Polly.

“You can! You must!”

“I am not so sure.” A little scowl troubled her forehead.

“Remember, it is Sally that asks you,” he coaxed.

“I don’t forget,” she returned. “I will go if I can manage it; but

when I am away somebody must stay with my little patients, and it
is not in my plan to call on mother all the time. I promised to take
care of Paradise Ward, and I won’t be a slacker.”

The young man did not reply. Polly was gazing straight ahead into
the distance, as if her thoughts were a long way afield. As he
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