ere."

By this time John Grange's hands were busy at a shelf above, and the
lookers-on watched with keen interest for the result, for the flower he
sought had been moved on to the higher range, and they were both
wondering whether he would find it.

They were not long kept in suspense, for John Grange's hand touched one
of the leaves the next moment, pressed it gently, raised it to his nose,
and a look of satisfaction came into the poor fellow's face as, with a
smile, he bent over, lifted the pot from its place, stood it on the
floor, and went down on one knee to begin examining the plant all over
with fingers grown white, soft, and delicate during his illness.

Mrs Mostyn kept on glancing brightly at James Ellis, as if she were
saying, "Do you see that? Isn't it wonderful?" And the bailiff stared,
and kept on rubbing his nose with the hard brim of his felt hat, while
he watched John Grange's fingers run up the tender young shoots, and,
without injuring a blossom, busy themselves among those where the green
aphides had made a nursery, and were clustering thickly, drawing the
vital juices from the succulent young stems. And then bringing all his
old knowledge to bear, he knelt down on both knees, so that he could nip
the pot between them with the plant sloping away from him, and with both
hands at liberty, he softly removed the troublesome insects, those which
he failed to catch, and which fell from their hold, dropping on to the
floor instead of back among the leaves of the plant.

Every flower, bud, and shoot was examined by touch before the pot was
once more stood upright, the various shoots tried as to whether they
were properly tied up to their sticks, and then the young man rose,
lifted a plant from the lower shelf, placed it where the pelargonium had
stood, and lastly, after raising it from the floor, and smelling its
leaves, arranged it in the place on the shelf where he had left it a
couple of days before his accident.

The next minute he walked to where another was standing, as if led by a
wonderful instinct, though it was only the result of years of care,
application, and method, for he had worked in that conservatory till he
knew the position of every ornamental plant as well as he knew its
requirements, how long it would last, take to flower, and with what
other kind he would replace it from one end of the year to the other.

Mrs Mostyn and her bailiff stood watching John Grange for quite
half-an-ho