Martha (The Secret Garden)

01CHAPTER IV.

02MARTHA.

03When she opened her eyes in the morning, it was because a young housemaid had come into her room to light the fire, and was kneeling on the hearth-rug ricking out the cinders noisily.

04Mary lay and watched her for a few moments, and then began to look about the room.

05She had never seen a room at all like it, and thought it curious and gloomy.

06The walls were covered with tapestry, with a forest scene embroidered on it.

07There were fantastically dressed people under the trees, and in the distance there was a glimpse of the turrets of a castle.

08There were hunters and horses and dogs and ladies.

09Mary felt as if she were in the forest with them.

10Out of a deep window she could see a great climbing stretch of land, which seemed to have no trees on it, and to look rather like an endless, dull, purplish sea.

11What is that?

12She said, pointing out of the window.

13Martha, the young housemaid who had just risen to her feet, looked and pointed also.

14That there, she said.

15Yes.

16That's the moor.

17With a good-natured grin.

18Does the like it?

19No, answered Mary.

20I hate it.

21That's because thou'rt not used to it, Martha said, going back to her hearth.

22Thou thinks it's too big and bare now, but thou will like it.

23Do you?

24inquired Mary.

25Aye, that I do, answered Martha, cheerfully polishing away at the grate.

26I just love it.

27It's none bare.

28It's covered with growing things, as smells sweet.

29It's fair lovely in spring and summer, when the gorse and broom and heathers and flower.

30It smells of honey, and there's such a lot of fresh air, and the sky looks so high, and the bees and skylarks make such a nice noise, humming and singing.

31Aye, I wouldn't live away from the moor for anything.

32Mary listened to her with a grave, puzzled expression.

33The native servants she had been used to in India were not in the least like this.

34They were obsequious and servile, and did not presume to talk to their masters as if they were their equals.

35They made salams, and called them protector of the poor, and names of that sort.

36Indian servants were commanded to do things, not asked.

37It was not the custom to say, please, and thank you.

38And Mary had always slapped her Aya in the face when she was angry.

39She wondered a little what this girl would do if one slapped her in the face.

40She was a round, rosy, good-natured-looking creature.

41But she had a sturdy way which made Mistress Mary wonder if she might not even slap back, if the person who slapped her was only a little girl.

42You are a strange servant, she said from her pillows, rather haughtily.

43Martha sat up on her heels with her blacking brush in her hand, and laughed, without seeming the least out of temper.

44"'Eh, I know that,' she said.

45"'If there was a grand missus at Misselthwaite, I should never have been even one of the under-housemaids.

46I might have been let to be scullery-maid, but I'd never have been let upstairs.

47I'm too common, and I talk too much Yorkshire.

48But this is a funny house for all it's so grand.

49Seems like there is neither a master nor mistress, except Mr.

50Pitcher and Mrs.

51Medlock.

52Mr.

53Craven, he won't be troubled about anything when he's here, and he's nearly always away.

54Mrs.

55Medlock gave me the place out of kindness.

56She told me she could never have done it if Misselthwaite had been like other big houses.

57"'Are you going to be my servant?' Mary asked, still in her imperious little Indian way.

58Martha began to rub her grate again.

59"'I'm Mrs.

60Medlock's servant,' she said stoutly.

61"'And she's Mr.

62Craven's.

63But I'm to do the housemaid's work up here and wait on you a bit.

64But you won't need much waitin' on.' "'Who is going to dress me?' demanded Mary.

65Martha sat up on her heels again and stared.

66She spoke in broad Yorkshire in her amazement.

67"'Canna thou dress thy sen?' she said.

68"'What do you mean?

69I don't understand your language,' said Mary.

70"'Eh, I forgot,' Martha said.

71"'Mrs.

72Medlock told me I'd have to be careful or you wouldn't know what I was saying.

73I mean, can't you put on your own clothes?' "'No,' answered Mary, quite indignantly.

74"'I never did in my life.

75My eye addressed me, of course.' "'Well,' said Martha, evidently not in the least aware that she was impudent.

76"'It's time thou should learn.

77Tha cannot begin younger.

78It'll do thee good to wait on thy sen a bit.

79My mother always said she couldn't see why grand people's children didn't turn out fair fools.

80What with nurses, and bein' washed, and dressed, and took out to walk as if they was puppies.' "'It is different in India,' said Mistress Mary, disdainfully.

81She could scarcely stand this.

82But Martha was not at all crushed.

83"'Eh, I can see it's different,' she answered, almost sympathetically.

84"'I dare say it's because there's such a lot of blacks there, instead of respectable white people.

85When I heard you was comin' from India, I thought you was a black too.' Mary sat up in bed, furious.

86"'What?' she said.

87"'What?

88You thought I was a native?

89You—you daughter of a pig!' Martha stared and looked hot.

90"'Who are you callin' names?' she said.

91"'You needn't be so vexed.

92That's not the way for a young lady to talk.

93I've nothin' against the blacks.

94When you read about em' in tracts, they're always very religious.

95You always read as a black's a man and a brother.

96I've never seen a black, and I was fair pleased to think I was goin' to see one close.

97When I come in to light your fire this mornin' I crep up to your bed, and pulled the cover back careful to look at you.

98And there you was.' Disappointedly.

99"'No more black than me, for all you're so yeller.' Mary did not even try to control her rage and humiliation.

100"'You thought I was a native?

101You dared—you don't know anything about natives.

102They're not people.

103They're servants who must salaam to you.

104You know nothing about India.

105You know nothing about anything.' She was in such a rage, and felt so helpless before the girl's simple stare.

106And somehow she suddenly felt so horribly lonely and far away from everything she understood, and which understood her, that she threw herself face downward on the pillows and burst into passionate sobbing.

107Martha was a little frightened, and quite sorry for her.

108She went to the bed and bent over her.

109"'Eh, you mustn't cry like that there,' she begged.

110"'You mustn't for sure.

111I didn't know you'd be vexed.

112I don't know anything about anything, just like you said.

113I beg your pardon, miss.

114Do stop cryin'.

115There was something comforting and really friendly in her queer Yorkshire speech and sturdy way, which had a good effect on Mary.

116She gradually ceased crying and became quiet.

117Martha looked relieved.

118"'It's time for thee to get up now,' she said.

119"'Mrs.

120Medlock said I was to carry the breakfast and tea and dinner into the room next to this.

121It's been made into a nursery for thee.

122I'll help thee on with thy clothes if thou get out of bed.

123If the buttons are at the back, thou cannot button them up thyself.' When Mary at last decided to get up, the clothes Martha took from the wardrobe were not the ones she had worn when she arrived the night before with Mrs.

124Medlock.

125"'Those are not mine,' she said.

126"'Mine are black.' She looked the thick white wool coat and dress over, and added with cool approval.

127"'Those are nicer than mine.' "'These are the ones thou must put on,' Martha answered.

128"'Mr.

129Craven ordered Mrs.

130Medlock to get him in London.

131He said, "'I won't have a child dressed in black wandering about like a lost soul,' he said.

132"'It'd make the place sadder than it is.

133Put colour on her.' "'Mother said she knew what he meant.

134Mother always knows what a body means.

135She doesn't hold with black herself.' "'I hate black things,' said Mary.

136The dressing process was one which taught them both something.

137Martha had buttoned up her little sisters and brothers, but she had never seen a child who stood still and waited for another person to do things for her, as if she had neither hands nor feet of her own.

138"'Why doesn't thou put on thine own shoes?' she said, when Mary quietly held out her foot.

139"'My Aya did it,' answered Mary, staring.

140"'It was the custom.' She said that very often.

141It was the custom.

142The native servants were always saying it.

143If one told them to do a thing their ancestors had not done for a thousand years, they gazed at one mildly and said, "'It is not the custom.' And one knew that was the end of the matter.

144It had not been the custom that Mistress Mary should do anything but stand and allow herself to be dressed like a doll.

145But before she was ready for breakfast, she began to suspect that her life at Misselthwaite Manor would end by teaching her a number of things quite new to her—things such as putting on her own shoes and stockings, and picking up things she let fall.

146If Martha had been a well-trained, fine young lady's maid, she would have been more subservient and respectful, and would have known that it was her business to brush hair and button boots, and pick things up and lay them away.

147She was, however, only an untrained Yorkshire rustic, who had been brought up in a moorland cottage with a swarm of little brothers and sisters, who had never dreamed of doing anything but waiting on themselves, and on the younger ones, who were either babies in arms, or just learning to totter about and tumble over things.

148If Mary Lennox had been a child who was ready to be amused, she would perhaps have laughed at Martha's readiness to talk, but Mary only listened to her coldly, and wondered at her freedom of manner.

149At first she was not at all interested, but gradually, as the girl rattled on in her good-tempered, homely way, Mary began to notice what she was saying.

150"'Hey, you should see them all,' she said.

151"'There's twelve of us, and my father only gets sixteen shilling a week.

152I can tell you my mother's put to it to get porridge for them all.

153They tumble about on the moor and play there all day, and mother says the air o' the moor fattens them.

154She says she believes they eat the grass, same as the wild ponies do.

155Our Dickon, he's twelve years old, and he's got a young pony he calls his own.' "'Where did he get it?' asked Mary.

156"'He found it on the moor with its mother, when it was a little one, and he began to make friends with it, and give it bits o' bread, and pluck young grass for it.

157And it got to like him so it follows him about, and it lets him get on its back.

158Dickon's a kind lad, and animals likes him.' Mary had never possessed an animal pet of her own, and had always thought she should like one.

159So she began to feel a slight interest in Dickon, and as she had never before been interested in any one but herself, it was the dawning of a healthy sentiment.

160When she went into the room which had been made into a nursery for her, she found that it was rather like the one she had slept in.

161It was not a child's room, but a grown-up person's room, with gloomy old pictures on the walls, and heavy old oak chairs.

162A table in the centre was set with a good substantial breakfast.

163But she had always had a very small appetite, and she looked with something more than indifference at the first plate Martha set before her.

164"'I don't want it,' she said.

165"'Thou doesn't want thy porridge?' Martha exclaimed incredulously.

166"'No.' "'Thou doesn't know how good it is.

167Put a bit o' treacle on it, or a bit o' sugar.' "'I don't want it,' repeated Mary.

168"'Eh,' said Martha, "'I can't abide to see good victuals go to waste.

169If our children was at this table, they'd clean it bare in five minutes.' "'Why?' said Mary, coldly.

170"'Why?' echoed Martha.

171"'Because they scarce ever had their stomachs full in their lives.

172They're as hungry as young hawks and foxes.' "'I don't know what it is to be hungry,' said Mary, with the indifference of ignorance.

173Martha looked indignant.

174"'Well, it would do thee good to try it.

175I can see that plain enough,' she said outspokenly.

176"'I've no patience with focus.

177Sits and just stares at good bread and meat.

178My word, don't I wish Dickon and Phil and Jane and the rest of them had what's here under their pinafores?' "'Why don't you take it to them?' suggested Mary.

179"'It's not mine,' answered Martha stoutly.

180"'And this isn't my day out.

181I get my day out once a month, same as the rest.

182Then I go home and clean up for Mother and give her a day's rest.' "'Mary drank some tea, and ate a little toast and some marmalade.

183"'You wrap up warm and run out and play you,' said Martha.

184"'It'll do you good, and give you some stomach for your meat.' "'Mary went to the window.

185There were gardens and paths and big trees.

186But everything looked dull and wintry.

187"'Out?

188Why should I go out on a day like this?' "'Well, if tha doesn't go out, tha'llt have to stay in.

189And what has tha got to do?' "'Mary glanced about her.

190There was nothing to do.

191When Mrs.

192Medlock had prepared the nursery she had not thought of amusement.

193Perhaps it would be better to go and see what the gardens were like.' "'Who will go with me?' she inquired.

194Martha stared.

195"'You'll go by yourself,' she answered.

196"'You'll have to learn to play like other children does, when they haven't got sisters and brothers.

197"'Our Dickon goes off on the moor by himself, and plays for hours.

198That's how he made friends with a pony.

199"'He's got sheep on the moor that knows him, and birds as comes and eats out of his hand.

200"'However little there is to eat, he always saves a bit of bread, to coax his pets.' "'It was really this mention of Dickon which made Mary decide to go out, though she was not aware of it.

201"'There would be birds outside, though there would not be ponies or sheep.

202"'They would be different from the birds in India, and it might amuse her to look at them.

203"'Martha found her coat and hat for her, and a pair of stout little boots, "'and she showed her her way downstairs.

204"'If tha goes round that way tha'll come to the gardens,' she said, pointing to a gate in a wall of shrubbery.

205"'There's lots of flowers in summer-time, but there's nothing bloomin' now.' She seemed to hesitate a second before she added, "'One of the gardens is locked up.

206No one has been in it for ten years.' "'Why?' asked Mary, in spite of herself.

207"'Here was another locked door, added to the hundred in the strange house.

208"'Mr.

209Craven had it shut when his wife died so sudden.

210"'He won't let no one go inside.

211It was her garden.

212"'He locked the door and dug a hole and buried the key.

213"'There's Mrs.

214Medlock's bell ringing.

215I must run.' "'After she was gone, Mary turned down the walk which led to the door in the shrubbery.

216"'She could not help thinking about the garden, which no one had been into for ten years.

217"'She wondered what it would look like, and whether there were any flowers still alive in it.

218"'When she had passed through the shrubbery gate, she found herself in great gardens, "'with wide lawns and winding walks with clipped borders.

219"'There were trees and flower-beds and evergreens clipped into strange shapes, "'and a large pool with an old grey fountain in its midst.

220"'But the flower-beds were bare and wintry, and the fountain was not playing.

221"'This was not the garden which was shut up.

222"'How could a garden be shut up?

223You could always walk into a garden.' "'She was just thinking this when she saw that, at the end of the path she was following, "'there seemed to be a long wall, with ivy growing over it.

224"'She was not familiar enough with England to know that she was coming upon the kitchen gardens, "'where the vegetables and fruit were growing.

225"'She went toward the wall and found that there was a green door in the ivy, "'and that it stood open.

226"'This was not the closed garden, evidently, and she could go into it.

227"'She went through the door and found that it was a garden with walls all round it, "'and that it was only one of several walled gardens which seemed to open into one another.

228"'She saw another open green door, revealing bushes and pathways between beds containing winter vegetables.

229"'Fruit-trees were trained flat against the wall, and over some of the beds there were glass frames.

230"'The place was bare and ugly enough,' Mary thought, as she stood and stared about her.

231"'It might be nicer in summer when things were green, but there was nothing pretty about it now.' "'Presently an old man with a spade over his shoulder walked through the door leading from the second garden.

232"'He looked startled when he saw Mary, and then touched his cap.

233"'He had a surly old face, and did not seem at all pleased to see her.

234"'But then she was displeased with his garden, and wore her quite contrary expression, "'and certainly did not seem at all pleased to see him.

235"'What is this place?' she asked.

236"'One of the kitchen gardens,' he answered.

237"'What is that?' said Mary, pointing through the other green door.

238"'Another of them.' "'Shortly.

239"'There's another on to other side of the wall, and there's the orchard to other side of that.' "'Can I go in them?' asked Mary.

240"'If the likes, but there's nowt to see.' "'Mary made no response.

241"'She went down the path and through the second green door.

242"'There she found more walls, and winter vegetables, and glass frames.

243"'But in the second wall there was another green door, and it was not open.

244"'Perhaps it led into the garden which no one had seen for ten years.

245"'As she was not at all a timid child, and always did what she wanted to do, "'Mary went to the green door and turned the handle.

246"'She hoped the door would not open, because she wanted to be sure she had found the mysterious garden.

247"'But it did open quite easily, and she walked through it, and found herself in an orchard.

248"'There were walls all round it also, and trees trained against them.

249"'And there were bare fruit trees growing in the winter-browned grass, "'but there was no green door to be seen anywhere.

250"'Mary looked for it, and yet, when she had entered the upper end of the garden, "'she had noticed that the wall did not seem to end with the orchard, "'but to extend beyond it, as if it enclosed a place at the other side.

251"'She could see the tops of trees above the wall, "'and when she stood still she saw a bird with a bright red breast "'sitting on the topmost branch of one of them, "'and suddenly he burst into his winter song, "'almost as if he had caught sight of her, and was calling to her.

252"'She stopped and listened to him, "'and somehow his cheerful, friendly little whistle gave her a pleased feeling.

253"'Even a disagreeable little girl may be lonely, "'and the big closed house, and the big bare moor, "'and the big bare gardens had made this one feel "'as if there was no one left in the world but herself.

254"'If she had been an affectionate child, "'who had been used to being loved, "'she would have broken her heart.

255"'But even though she was Mistress Mary quite contrary, "'she was desolate, "'and the bright-breasted little bird brought a look into her sour little face, "'which was almost a smile.

256"'She listened to him until he flew away.

257"'He was not like an Indian bird, "'and she liked him, "'and wondered if she should ever see him again.

258"'Perhaps he lived in the mysterious garden, "'and knew all about it.

259"'Perhaps it was because she had nothing whatever to do "'that she thought so much of the deserted garden.

260"'She was curious about it, "'and wanted to see what it was like.

261"'Why had Mr.

262Archibald Craven buried the key?

263"'If he had liked his wife so much, "'why did he hate her garden?

264"'She wondered if she should ever see him, "'but she knew that if she did she should not like him, "'and he would not like her, "'and that she should only stand and stare at him and say nothing, "'though she should be wanting dreadfully to ask him "'why he had done such a queer thing.

265"'People never like me, "'and I never like people,' she thought.

266"'And I never can talk as the Crawford children could.

267"'They were always talking and laughing and making noises.' "'She thought of the robin, "'and of the way he seemed to sing his song at her, "'and as she remembered the treetop he perched on, "'she stopped rather suddenly on the path.

268"'I believe that tree was in the secret garden.

269"'I feel sure it was,' she said.

270"'There was a wall round the place, "'and there was no door.

271"'She walked back into the first kitchen garden she had entered, "'and found the old man digging there.

272"'She went and stood beside him, "'and watched him a few moments in her cold little way.

273"'He took no notice of her, "'and so at last she spoke to him.

274"'I have been into the other gardens,' she said.

275"'There was nothing to prevent thee,' he answered crustily.

276"'I went into the orchard.' "'There was no dog at the door to bite thee,' he answered.

277"'There was no door there into the other garden,' said Mary.

278"'What garden?' he said in a rough voice, "'stopping his digging for a moment.

279"'The one on the other side of the wall,' answered Mistress Mary.

280"'There are trees there.

281"'I saw the tops of them.

282"'A bird with a red breast was sitting on one of them, "'and he sang.' "'To her surprise, the surly old, weather-beaten face "'actually changed its expression.

283"'A slow smile spread over it, "'and the gardener looked quite different.

284"'It made her think that it was curious "'how much nicer a person looked when he smiled.

285"'She had not thought of it before.

286"'He turned about to the orchard side of his garden "'and began to whistle, "'a low, soft whistle.

287"'She could not understand how such a surly man "'could make such a coaxing sound.

288"'Almost the next moment a wonderful thing happened.

289"'She heard a soft little rushing flight through the air, "'and it was the bird with the red breast flying to them, "'and he actually alighted on the big clod of earth "'quite near to the gardener's foot.

290"'Here he is,' chuckled the old man, "'and then he spoke to the bird "'as if he were speaking to a child.

291"'Where has tha been, tha cheeky little beggar?' "'he said.

292"'I've not seen thee before to-day.

293"'Has tha begun the courtin' this early in the season?

294"'Thar too forrid.' "'The bird put his tiny head on one side "'and looked up at him with his soft bright eye, "'which was like a black dewdrop.

295"'He seemed quite familiar, and not the least afraid.

296"'He hopped about and pecked the earth briskly, "'looking for seeds and insects.

297"'It actually gave Mary a queer feeling in her heart, "'because he was so pretty and cheerful, "'and seemed so like a person.

298"'He had a tiny, plump body, and a delicate beak, "'and slender, delicate legs.

299"'Will he always come when you call him?' "'She asked, almost in a whisper.

300"'Aye, that he will.

301"'I've knowed him ever since he was a fledgling.

302"'He come out of the nest in the other garden, "'and when first he flew over the wall "'he was too weak to fly back for a few days, "'and we got friendly.

303"'When he went over the wall again "'the rest of the brood was gone, "'and he was lonely, "'and he come back to me.' "'What kind of a bird is he?' "'Mary asked.

304"'Doesn't I know?

305"'He's a robin redbreast, "'and they're the friendliest, "'curiousest birds alive.

306"'They're almost as friendly as dogs, "'if you know how to get on with them.

307"'Watch him pecking about there "'and looking round at us now and again.

308"'He knows we're talking about him.' "'It was the queerest thing in the world "'to see the old fellow.

309"'He looked at the plump little scarlet-wesqueted bird "'as if he were both proud and fond of him.

310"'He's a conceited one,' he chuckled.

311"'He likes to hear folk talk about him.

312"'And curious?

313"'Bless me, there never was his like "'for curiosity and meddling.

314"'He's always coming to see what I'm planting.

315"'He knows all the things "'mester Craven never troubles hisself to find out.

316"'He's the head gardener, he is.' "'The robin hopped about, "'busily pecking the soil, "'and now and then stopped "'and looked at them a little.

317"'Mary thought his black dewdrop eyes "'gazed at her with great curiosity.

318"'It really seemed as if he were "'finding out all about her.

319"'The queer feeling in her heart increased.

320"'Where did the rest of the brood fly to?' "'she asked.

321"'There's no knowin'.

322"'The old ones turn em out of their nest "'and make em fly, "'and they're scattered before you know it.

323"'This one was a knowin' one, "'and he knew he was lonely.' "'Mistress Mary went a step nearer to the robin, "'and looked at him very hard.

324"'I'm lonely,' she said.

325"'She had not known before "'that this was one of the things "'which made her feel sour and cross.

326"'She seemed to find it out "'when the robin looked at her, "'and she looked at the robin.

327"'The old gardener pushed his cap back "'on his bald head "'and stared at her a minute.

328"'Art thou the little wench from India?' "'he asked.

329"'Mary nodded.

330"'Then no wonder thou art lonely.

331"'Thou'llt be lonelier before thou's done,' "'he said.

332"'He began to dig again, "'driving his spay "'deep into the rich black garden soil, "'while the robin hopped about, "'very busily employed.

333"'What is your name?' "'Mary inquired.

334"'He stood up to answer her.

335"'Ben Weatherstaff,' he answered, "'and then he added with a surly chuckle.

336"'I'm lonely myself "'except when he's with me.' "'And he jerked his thumb "'toward the robin.

337"'He's the only friend I've got.' "'I have no friends at all,' "'said Mary.

338"'I never had.

339"'My ayah didn't like me, "'and I never played with anyone.' "'It is a Yorkshire habit "'to say what you think "'with blunt frankness, "'and old Ben Weatherstaff "'was a Yorkshire moor man.

340"'Thuh and me are a good bit alike,' "'he said.

341"'We was wove out of the same cloth.

342"'We're neither of us good-looking, "'and we're both of us "'as sour as we look.

343"'We've got the same nasty tempers, "'both of us, I'll warrant.' "'This was plain speaking, "'and Mary Lennox "'had never heard the truth "'about herself in her life.

344"'Native servants always "'salaamed and submitted to you "'whatever you did.

345"'She had never thought much "'about her looks, "'but she wondered "'if she was as unattractive "'as Ben Weatherstaff, "'and she also wondered "'if she looked as sour "'as he had looked "'before the robin came.

346"'She actually began "'to wonder also "'if she was nasty-tempered.

347"'She felt uncomfortable.

348"'Suddenly a clear, "'rippling little sound "'broke out near her, "'and she turned round.

349"'She was standing a few feet "'from a young apple-tree, "'and the robin had flown "'on to one of its branches "'and had burst out "'into a scrap of a song.' "'Ben Weatherstaff "'laughed outright.

350"'What did he do that for?' "'asked Mary.

351"'He's made up his mind "'to make friends with thee,' "'replied Ben.

352"'Dang me if he hasn't "'took a fancy to thee.' "'To me?' said Mary, "'And she moved toward "'the little tree softly "'and looked up.

353"'Would you make friends "'with me?' "'she said to the robin, "'just as if she was "'speaking to a person.

354"'Would you?' "'And she did not say it "'either in her hard "'little voice, "'or in her imperious "'Indian voice, "'but in a tone "'so soft and eager "'and coaxing, "'that Ben Weatherstaff "'was as surprised "'as she had been "'when she heard him whistle.

355"'Why?' "'he cried out.

356"'Thus said that "'as nice and human, "'as if there was "'a real child "'instead of a sharp "'old woman.

357"'Thus said it "'almost like Dickon "'talks to his wild "'things on the moor.' "'Do you know Dickon?' "'Mary asked, "'turning round "'rather in a hurry.

358"'Everybody knows him.

359"'Dickon's wandering "'about everywhere.

360"'The very blackberries "'and heather-bells "'knows him.

361"'I warrant the foxes "'shows him where "'the cubs lies, "'and the skylarks "'don't hide their "'nests from him.' "'Mary would have "'liked to ask "'some more questions.

362"'She was almost "'as curious about Dickon "'as she was about "'the deserted garden.

363"'But just that moment "'the robin, "'who had ended his song, "'gave a little shake "'of his wings, "'spread them, "'and flew away.

364"'He had made his visit "'and had other things "'to do.

365"'He has flown "'over the wall,' "'Mary cried out, "'watching him.

366"'He has flown "'into the orchard.

367"'He has flown "'across the other wall, "'into the garden, "'where there is no door.

368"'He lives there,' "'said old Ben.

369"'He came out "'of the egg there.

370"'If he's courting, "'he's making up "'to some young "'madam of a robin "'that lives "'among the old "'rose-trees there.' "'Rose-trees,' "'said Mary.

371"'Are there rose-trees?' "'Ben Weatherstaff "'took up his spade "'again, "'and began to dig.

372"'There was "'ten year ago,' "'he mumbled.

373"'I should like "'to see them,' "'said Mary.

374"'Where is the green door?

375"'There must be "'a door somewhere.' "'Ben drove his spade "'deep, "'and looked as "'uncompanionable "'as he had looked "'when she first saw him.

376"'There was ten year ago, "'but there isn't now,' "'he said.

377"'No door,' "'cried Mary.

378"'There must be.

379"'None as anyone can find, "'and none as is "'anyone's business.

380"'Don't you be "'a meddlesome wench "'and poke your nose "'where it's no cause to go.

381"'Here, "'I must go on "'with my work.

382"'Get you gone "'and play you.

383"'I have no more time.' "'And he actually "'stopped digging, "'threw his spade "'over his shoulder, "'and walked off, "'without even glancing "'at her, "'or saying good-bye.' End of Chapter 4 Read by Kara Schallenberg On January 14, 2006 In Oceanside, California