"IT'S MOTHER!"

Their belief in the Magic was an abiding thing.

　　After the morning's incantations Colin sometimes gavethem Magic lectures.

　　"I like to do it," he explained, "because when I growup and make great scientific discoveries I shall beobliged to lecture about them and so this is practise.

　　I can only give short lectures now because I am very young,and besides Ben Weatherstaff would feel as if he were inchurch and he would go to sleep.""Th' best thing about lecturin'," said Ben, "is that a chap canget up an' say aught he pleases an' no other chap can answerhim back. I wouldn't be agen' lecturin' a bit mysel' sometimes."But when Colin held forth under his tree old Ben fixeddevouring eyes on him and kept them there. He lookedhim over with critical affection. It was not so muchthe lecture which interested him as the legs which lookedstraighter and stronger each day, the boyish head which helditself up so well, the once sharp chin and hollow cheekswhich had filled and rounded out and the eyes which hadbegun to hold the light he remembered in another pair.

　　Sometimes when Colin felt Ben's earnest gaze meant that hewas much impressed he wondered what he was reflecting onand once when he had seemed quite entranced he questioned him.

　　"What are you thinking about, Ben Weatherstaff?" he asked.

　　"I was thinkin'" answered Ben, "as I'd warrant tha's,gone up three or four pound this week. I was lookin'

　　at tha' calves an' tha' shoulders. I'd like to get theeon a pair o' scales.""It's the Magic and--and Mrs. Sowerby's buns and milkand things," said Colin. "You see the scientificexperiment has succeeded."That morning Dickon was too late to hear the lecture.

　　When he came he was ruddy with running and his funny facelooked more twinkling than usual. As they had a good dealof weeding to do after the rains they fell to work.

　　They always had plenty to do after a warm deep sinking rain.

　　The moisture which was good for the flowers was also goodfor the weeds which thrust up tiny blades of grass and pointsof leaves which must be pulled up before their roots tooktoo firm hold. Colin was as good at weeding as any onein these days and he could lecture while he was doing it.

　　"The Magic works best when you work, yourself," he saidthis morning. "You can feel it in your bones and muscles.

　　I am going to read books about bones and muscles, but I amgoing to write a book about Magic. I am making it up now.

　　I keep finding out things."It was not very long after he had said this that helaid down his trowel and stood up on his feet.

　　He had been silent for several minutes and they had seenthat he was thinking out lectures, as he often did.

　　When he dropped his trowel and stood upright it seemedto Mary and Dickon as if a sudden strong thought had madehim do it. He stretched himself out to his tallest heightand he threw out his arms exultantly. Color glowed inhis face and his strange eyes widened with joyfulness.

　　All at once he had realized something to the full.

　　"Mary! Dickon!" he cried. "Just look at me!"They stopped their weeding and looked at him.

　　"Do you remember that first morning you brought me in here?"he demanded.

　　Dickon was looking at him very hard. Being an animalcharmer he could see more things than most people couldand many of them were things he never talked about.

　　He saw some of them now in this boy. "Aye, that we do,"he answered.

　　Mary looked hard too, but she said nothing.

　　"Just this minute," said Colin, "all at once I rememberedit myself--when I looked at my hand digging with thetrowel--and I had to stand up on my feet to see if itwas real. And it is real! I'm well--I'm well!""Aye, that th' art!" said Dickon.

　　"I'm well! I'm well!" said Colin again, and his face wentquite red all over.

　　He had known it before in a way, he had hoped it and feltit and thought about it, but just at that minute somethinghad rushed all through him--a sort of rapturous beliefand realization and it had been so strong that he couldnot help calling out.

　　"I shall live forever and ever and ever!" he cried grandly.

　　"I shall find out thousands and thousands of things.

　　I shall find out about people and creatures and everythingthat grows--like Dickon--and I shall never stop making Magic.

　　I'm well! I'm well! I feel--I feel as if I want to shoutout something--something thankful, joyful!"Ben Weatherstaff, who had been working near a rose-bush,glanced round at him.

　　"Tha' might sing th' Doxology," he suggested in hisdryest grunt. He had no opinion of the Doxology and hedid not make the suggestion with any particular reverence.

　　But Colin was of an exploring mind and he knew nothingabout the Doxology.

　　"What is that?" he inquired.

　　"Dickon can sing it for thee, I'll warrant,"replied Ben Weatherstaff.

　　Dickon answered with his all-perceiving animal charmer's smile.

　　"They sing it i' church," he said. "Mother says shebelieves th' skylarks sings it when they gets up i' th' mornin'.""If she says that, it must be a nice song," Colin answered.

　　"I've never been in a church myself. I was always too ill.

　　Sing it, Dickon. I want to hear it."Dickon was quite simple and unaffected about it.

　　He understood what Colin felt better than Colin did himself.

　　He understood by a sort of instinct so natural that hedid not know it was understanding. He pulled off his capand looked round still smiling.

　　"Tha' must take off tha' cap," he said to Colin,"an' so mun tha', Ben--an' tha' mun stand up, tha' knows."Colin took off his cap and the sun shone on and warmed histhick hair as he watched Dickon intently. Ben Weatherstaffscrambled up from his knees and bared his head too witha sort of puzzled half-resentful look on his old faceas if he didn't know exactly why he was doing this remarkablething.

　　Dickon stood out among the trees and rose-bushesand began to sing in quite a simple matter-of-factway and in a nice strong boy voice:

　　"Praise God from whom all blessings flow,Praise Him all creatures here below,Praise Him above ye Heavenly Host,Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

　　Amen."When he had finished, Ben Weatherstaff was standingquite still with his jaws set obstinately but with adisturbed look in his eyes fixed on Colin. Colin's facewas thoughtful and appreciative.

　　"It is a very nice song," he said. "I like it. Perhaps itmeans just what I mean when I want to shout out that I amthankful to the Magic." He stopped and thought in a puzzled way.

　　"Perhaps they are both the same thing. How can we knowthe exact names of everything? Sing it again, Dickon.

　　Let us try, Mary. I want to sing it, too. It's my song.

　　How does it begin? `Praise God from whom all blessings flow'?"And they sang it again, and Mary and Colin lifted theirvoices as musically as they could and Dickon's swelled quiteloud and beautiful--and at the second line Ben Weatherstaffraspingly cleared his throat and at the third line he joinedin with such vigor that it seemed almost savage and whenthe "Amen" came to an end Mary observed that the very samething had happened to him which had happened when he foundout that Colin was not a cripple--his chin was twitchingand he was staring and winking and his leathery old cheeks werewet.

　　"I never seed no sense in th' Doxology afore," he said hoarsely,"but I may change my mind i' time. I should say tha'dgone up five pound this week Mester Colin--five on 'em!"Colin was looking across the garden at something attractinghis attention and his expression had become a startled one.

　　"Who is coming in here?" he said quickly. "Who is it?"The door in the ivied wall had been pushed gently openand a woman had entered. She had come in with the lastline of their song and she had stood still listening andlooking at them. With the ivy behind her, the sunlightdrifting through the trees and dappling her long blue cloak,and her nice fresh face smiling across the greeneryshe was rather like a softly colored illustration inone of Colin's books. She had wonderful affectionateeyes which seemed to take everything in--all of them,even Ben Weatherstaff and the "creatures" and every flowerthat was............