kin' as he can an'
never lifts his head until we're out o' sight o' th' house. An' he
grunts an' frets a good bit when he's bein' settled into his chair.
Him an' Miss Mary's both got to enjoyin' it an' when he groans an'
complains she'll say, 'Poor Colin! Does it hurt you so much? Are you so
weak as that, poor Colin?'--but th' trouble is that sometimes they can
scarce keep from burstin' out laughin'. When we get safe into the
garden they laugh till they've no breath left to laugh with. An' they
have to stuff their faces into Mester Colin's cushions to keep the
gardeners from hearin', if any of, 'em's about."

"Th' more they laugh th' better for 'em!" said Mrs. Sowerby, still
laughing herself. "Good healthy child laughin's better than pills any
day o' th' year. That pair'll plump up for sure."

"They are plumpin' up," said Dickon. "They're that hungry they don't
know how to get enough to eat without makin' talk. Mester Colin says
if he keeps sendin' for more food they won't believe he's an invalid at
all. Miss Mary says she'll let him eat her share, but he says that if
she goes hungry she'll get thin an' they mun both get fat at once."

Mrs. Sowerby laughed so heartily at the revelation of this difficulty
that she quite rocked backward and forward in her blue cloak, and
Dickon laughed with her.

"I'll tell thee what, lad," Mrs. Sowerby said when she could speak.
"I've thought of a way to help 'em. When tha' goes to 'em in th'
mornin's tha' shall take a pail o' good new milk an' I'll bake 'em a
crusty cottage loaf or some buns wi' currants in 'em, same as you
children like. Nothin's so good as fresh milk an' bread. Then they
could take off th' edge o' their hunger while they were in their garden
an' th, fine food they get indoors 'ud polish off th' corners."

"Eh! mother!" said Dickon admiringly, "what a wonder tha' art! Tha'
always sees a way out o' things. They was quite in a pother yesterday.
They didn't see how they was to manage without orderin' up more
food--they felt that empty inside."

"They're two young 'uns growin' fast, an' health's comin' back to both
of 'em. Children like that feels like young wolves an' food's flesh an'
blood to 'em," said Mrs. Sowerby. Then she smiled Dickon's own curving
smile. "Eh! but they're enjoyin' theirselves for sure," she said.

She was quite right, the comfortable wonderful mother creature--and she
had never been more so than when she said their "play actin'" w