t be dead at all--it will come alive."

She did not go out again that afternoon because when Martha returned
with her pen and ink and paper she was obliged to clear the table and
carry the plates and dishes down-stairs and when she got into the
kitchen Mrs. Medlock was there and told her to do something, so Mary
waited for what seemed to her a long time before she came back. Then it
was a serious piece of work to write to Dickon. Mary had been taught
very little because her governesses had disliked her too much to stay
with her. She could not spell particularly well but she found that she
could print letters when she tried. This was the letter Martha dictated
to her:

"_My Dear Dickon:_

This comes hoping to find you well as it leaves me
at present. Miss Mary has plenty of money and will
you go to Thwaite and buy her some flower seeds
and a set of garden tools to make a flower-bed.
Pick the prettiest ones and easy to grow because
she has never done it before and lived in India
which is different. Give my love to mother and
every one of you. Miss Mary is going to tell me a
lot more so that on my next day out you can hear
about elephants and camels and gentlemen going
hunting lions and tigers.

"Your loving sister,
"MARTHA PHOEBE SOWERBY."

"We'll put the money in th' envelope an' I'll get th' butcher's boy to
take it in his cart. He's a great friend o' Dickon's," said Martha.

"How shall I get the things when Dickon buys them?" asked Mary.

"He'll bring 'em to you himself. He'll like to walk over this way."

"Oh!" exclaimed Mary, "then I shall see him! I never thought I should
see Dickon."

"Does tha' want to see him?" asked Martha suddenly, she had looked so
pleased.

"Yes, I do. I never saw a boy foxes and crows loved. I want to see him
very much."

Martha gave a little start, as if she suddenly remembered something.

"Now to think," she broke out, "to think o' me forgettin' that there;
an' I thought I was goin' to tell you first thing this mornin'. I asked
mother--and she said she'd ask Mrs. Medlock her own self."

"Do you mean--" Mary began.

"What I said Tuesday. Ask her if you might be driven over to our cottage
some day and have a bit o' mother's hot oat cake, an' butter, an' a
glass o' milk."

It seemed as if all th