What I want is your duty said Colin more grandly still. I ll take
care of you. Now go away.
When the door closed behind Martha, Colin found Mistress Mary gazing at
him as if he had set her wondering.
Why do you look at me like that? he asked her. What are you thinking
about?
I am thinking about two things.
What are they? Sit down and tell me.
This is the first one, said Mary, seating herself on the big stool.
Once in India I saw a boy who was a Rajah. He had rubies and emeralds
and diamonds stuck all over him. He spoke to his people just as you
spoke to Martha. Everybody had to do everything he told them in a
minute. I think they would have been killed if they hadn t.
I shall make you tell me about Rajahs presently, he said, but first
tell me what the second thing was.
I was thinking, said Mary, how different you are from Dickon.
Who is Dickon? he said. What a queer name!
She might as well tell him, she thought she could talk about Dickon
without mentioning the secret garden. She had liked to hear Martha talk
about him. Besides, she longed to talk about him. It would seem to
bring him nearer.
He is Martha s brother. He is twelve years old, she explained. He is
not like anyone else in the world. He can charm foxes and squirrels and
birds just as the natives in India charm snakes. He plays a very soft
tune on a pipe and they come and listen.
There were some big books on a table at his side and he dragged one
suddenly toward him.
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