Shell were on his shoulders and he held a long-eared
white rabbit in his arm and stroked and
stroked it softly while it laid its ears along its
back and enjoyed itself.

"Do you think the experiment will work?"
Colin asked him, wondering what he was thinking.
He so often wondered what Dickon was thinking
when he saw him looking at him or at one of his
"creatures" with his happy wide smile.

He smiled now and his smile was wider than
usual.

"Aye," he answered, "that I do. It'll work
same as th' seeds do when th' sun shines on 'em.
It'll work for sure. Shall us begin it now?"

Colin was delighted and so was Mary. Fired
by recollections of fakirs and devotees in illustrations
Colin suggested that they should all sit cross-legged
under the tree which made a canopy.

"It will be like sitting in a sort of temple,"
said Colin. "I'm rather tired and I want to sit
down."

"Eh!" said Dickon, "tha' musn't begin by
sayin' tha'rt tired. Tha' might spoil th' Magic."

Colin turned and looked at him -- into his innocent
round eyes.

"That's true," he said slowly. "I must only
think of the Magic."

[[303]]

p302 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p303w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p304

v?