"THA' MUNNOT WASTE NO TIME"

Of course Mary did not waken early the next morning.

　　She slept late because she was tired, and when Marthabrought her breakfast she told her that though.

　　Colin was quite quiet he was ill and feverish as he alwayswas after he had worn himself out with a fit of crying.

　　Mary ate her breakfast slowly as she listened.

　　"He says he wishes tha' would please go and see him as soonas tha' can," Martha said. "It's queer what a fancyhe's took to thee. Tha' did give it him last night forsure--didn't tha? Nobody else would have dared to do it.

　　Eh! poor lad! He's been spoiled till salt won't save him.

　　Mother says as th' two worst things as can happen to achild is never to have his own way--or always to have it.

　　She doesn't know which is th' worst. Tha' was in a fine tempertha'self, too. But he says to me when I went into his room,`Please ask Miss Mary if she'll please come an, talk to me?'

　　Think o' him saying please! Will you go, Miss?" "I'll runand see Dickon first," said Mary. "No, I'll go and seeColin first and tell him--I know what I'll tell him,"with a sudden inspiration.

　　She had her hat on when she appeared in Colin's roomand for a second he looked disappointed. He was in bed.

　　His face was pitifully white and there were dark circlesround his eyes.

　　"I'm glad you came," he said. "My head aches and I acheall over because I'm so tired. Are you going somewhere?"Mary went and leaned against his bed.

　　"I won't be long," she said. "I'm going to Dickon,but I'll come back. Colin, it's--it's something aboutthe garden."His whole face brightened and a little color came into it.

　　"Oh! is it?" he cried out. "I dreamed about it all nightI heard you say something about gray changing into green,and I dreamed I was standing in a place all filledwith trembling little green leaves--and there were birdson nests everywhere and they looked so soft and still.

　　I'll lie and think about it until you come back."In five minutes Mary was with Dickon in their garden.

　　The fox and the crow were with him again and this timehe had brought two tame squirrels. "I came over on thepony this mornin', " he said. "Eh! he is a good littlechap--Jump is! I brought these two in my pockets.

　　This here one he's called Nut an' this here other one'scalled Shell."When he said "Nut" one squirrel leaped on to his rightshoulder and when he said "Shell" the other one leapedon to his left shoulder.

　　When they sat down on the grass with Captain curled attheir feet, Soot solemnly listening on a tree and Nut andShell nosing about close to them, it seemed to Mary that itwould be scarcely bearable to leave such delightfulness,but when she began to tell her story somehow the lookin Dickon's funny face gradually changed her mind.

　　She could see he felt sorrier for Colin than she did.

　　He looked up at the sky and all about him.

　　"Just listen to them birds--th' world seems fullof 'em--all whistlin' an' pipin'," he said.

　　"Look at 'em dartin' about, an' hearken at 'em callin'

　　to each other. Come springtime seems like as if all th'

　　world's callin'. The leaves is uncurlin' so you can see'em--an', my word, th' nice smells there is about!"sniffing with his happy turned-up nose. "An' that poorlad lyin' shut up an' seein' so little that he getsto thinkin' o' things as sets him screamin'. Eh! my!

　　we mun get him out here--we mun get him watchin'

　　an listenin' an' sniffin' up th' air an' get him just soakedthrough wi' sunshine. An' we munnot lose no time about it."When he was very much interested he often spoke quitebroad Yorkshire though at other times he tried to modifyhis dialect so that Mary could better understand.

　　But she loved his broad Yorkshire and had in fact beentrying to learn to speak it herself. So she spokea little now.

　　"Aye, that we mun," she said (which meant "Yes, indeed,we must"). "I'll tell thee what us'll do first," she proceeded,and Dickon grinned, because when the little wench triedto twist her tongue into speaking Yorkshire it amusedhim very much. "He's took a graidely fancy to thee.

　　He wants to see thee and he wants to see Soot an' Captain.

　　When I go back to the house to talk to him I'll ax himif tha' canna' come an' see him tomorrow mornin'--an'.

　　bring tha' creatures wi' thee--an' then--in a bit,when there's more leaves out, an' happen a bud or two,we'll get him to come out an' tha' shall push him in hischair an' we'll bring him here an' show him everything."When she stopped she was quite proud of herself.

　　She had never made a long speech in Yorkshire beforeand she had remembered very well.

　　"Tha' mun talk a bit o' Yorkshire like that to Mester Colin,"Dickon chuckled. "Tha'll make him laugh an' there's nowtas good for ill folk as laughin' is. Mother says shebelieves as half a hour's good laugh every mornin'

　　'ud cure a chap as was makin' ready for typhus fever.""I'm going to talk Yorkshire to him this very day,"said Mary, chuckling herself.

　　The garden had reached the time when every day and every nightit seemed as if Magicians were passing through it drawingloveliness out of the earth and the boughs with wands.

　　It was hard to go away and leave it all, particularly as Nuthad actually crept on to her dress and Shell had scrambleddown the trunk of the apple-tree they sat under and stayedthere looking at her with inquiring eyes. But she went backto the house and when she sat down close to Colin's bedhe began to sniff as Dickon did though not in such an experiencedway.

　　"You smell like flowers and--and fresh things," he criedout quite joyously. "What is it you smell of? It's cooland warm and sweet all at the same time.""It's th' wind from th' moor," said Mary. "It comes o' sittin'

　　on th' grass under a tree wi' Dickon an' w............