hopping about him. She skipped down the walk toward him and he lifted
his head and looked at her with a curious expression. She had wondered
if he would notice her. She wanted him to see her skip.
Well! he exclaimed. Upon my word. P raps tha art a young un, after
all, an p raps tha s got child s blood in thy veins instead of sour
buttermilk. Tha s skipped red into thy cheeks as sure as my name s Ben
Weatherstaff. I wouldn t have believed tha could do it.
I never skipped before, Mary said. I m just beginning. I can only go
up to twenty.
Tha keep on, said Ben. Tha shapes well enough at it for a young
un that s lived with heathen. Just see how he s watchin thee,
jerking his head toward the robin. He followed after thee yesterday.
He ll be at it again today. He ll be bound to find out what th
skippin -rope is. He s never seen one. Eh! shaking his head at the
bird, tha curiosity will be th death of thee sometime if tha
doesn t look sharp.
Mary skipped round all the gardens and round the orchard, resting every
few minutes. At length she went to her own special walk and made up her
mind to try if she could skip the whole length of it. It was a good
long skip and she began slowly, but before she had gone half-way down
the path she was so hot and breathless that she was obliged to stop.
She did not mind much, because she had already counted up to thirty.
She stopped with a little laugh of pleasure, and there, lo and behold,
was the robin swaying on a long branch of ivy. He had followed her and
he greeted her with a chirp. As Mary had skipped toward him she felt
something heavy in her pocket strike against her at each jump, and when
she saw the robin she laughed again.
You showed me where the key was yesterday, she said. You ought to
show me the door today; but I don t believe you know!
The robin flew from his swinging spray of ivy on to the top of the wall
and he opened his beak and sang a loud, lovely trill, merely to show
off. Nothing in the world is quite as adorably lovely as a robin when
he shows off and they are nearly always doing it.
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