Colin" had taken a fancy to going out into the
grounds with Miss Mary and that it was doing
him good. But it was not long before it was
agreed between the two children that Dickon's
mother might "come into the secret." Somehow
it was not doubted that she was "safe for sure."

So one beautiful still evening Dickon told the
whole story, with all the thrilling details of the
buried key and the robin and the gray haze which
had seemed like deadness and the secret Mistress
Mary had planned never to reveal. The coming
of Dickon and how it had been told to him, the
doubt of Mester Colin and the final drama of his
introduction to the hidden domain, combined with
the incident of Ben Weatherstaff's angry face peering
over the wall and Mester Colin's sudden indignant
strength, made Mrs. Sowerby's nice-looking
face quite change color several times.

"My word!" she said. "It was a good thing
that little lass came to th' Manor. It's been th'
makin' o' her an' th' savin' o' him. Standin' on
his feet! An' us all thinkin' he was a poor half-witted
lad with not a straight bone in him."

She asked a great many questions and her blue
eyes were full of deep thinking.

"What do they make of it at th' Manor -- him
being so well an' cheerful an' never complainin'?"
she inquired.

[[312]]

p311 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p312w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p313

v?