rembling
that you will feel in my arms when the gardener comes along the
walk. That means _snuggle_. Hide yourself as close to me as you
can. The third sign--well, I will tell you the third sign to-morrow
evening, for now I am tired."

In the early morning of a bright September day, while the dew was
still heavy on the leaves and the grass, and the gossamer cobwebs
glistened with little diamonds, a hungry robin flew into the
garden, and Tom heard the signal "_Droop!_" So he let himself down
behind the woven wire, and the robin put his head on one side and
looked at Tom greedily, and flew on to find a breakfast elsewhere.

A little before noon, when the sun was shining broadly and the
silken tassels of the corn were shrivelling up into make-believe
tobacco for bad little boys to smoke, there was a heavy step on the
garden walk, and Tom felt the signal "_Snuggle!_" Then he hugged as
close as he could to his mother's side, and the gardener with his
sharp knife cut off all Tom's surviving brothers and put them into
a box full of vegetables. But he did not see Tom, hidden close and
safe.

How glad the mother must have been, and how much Tom must have
loved her as he remembered all her wise lessons! It was a long
beautiful afternoon that they spent together, filled with pleasant
reminiscences, touched by no shadow of gloom, no dream of parting.
A golden afternoon--the last!

Just before sunset, a fair creature, clothed in white, came into
the garden. She moved for a while among the flowers, her yellow
hair gleaming in the low rays of the sun, her eyes bluer than
forget-me-nots. Who could think that such a creature could be cruel
or heartless? Who could dream that she would pursue her pleasure at
the cost of pain to the innocent? Who could imagine that she would
take life to feed her own?

Gently and daintily she came down the garden walk, past the
raspberry patch, past the tall rows of corn, past the egg-plants
and the peppers, with steps so light that the ground hardly felt
them, with bright eyes glancing from side to side--yes, with all
these, and also with a remorseless purpose in her heart and a
basket half full of cut flowers on her arm.

No signal to _droop_ or _snuggle_ came to Tom. The third
signal--ah, that he had not yet learned! So he basked his rosy
sid