be done with mine first. I'll get some more work
done before I start back home."

He sat down with his back against a tree.

"I'll call th' robin up," he said, "and give
him th' rind o' th' bacon to peck at. They likes
a bit o' fat wonderful."

Mary could scarcely bear to leave him. Suddenly
it seemed as if he might be a sort of wood
fairy who might be gone when she came into the
garden again. He seemed too good to be true.
She went slowly half-way to the door in the wall
and then she stopped and went back.

"Whatever happens, you -- you never would
tell?" she said.

His poppy-colored cheeks were distended with
his first big bite of bread and bacon, but he managed
to smile encouragingly.

"If tha' was a missel thrush an' showed me
where thy nest was, does tha' think I'd tell any
one? Not me," he said. "Tha' art as safe as
a missel thrush."

And she was quite sure she was.

[[139]]

p138 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p139w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p140

v?