Page:Carroll Rankin--Dandelion Cottage.djvu/45

 Rh  the gathering darkness. Now that the task was so nearly completed it seemed such a waste of time to eat and sleep. Bettie was up earlier than ever the next morning, and with one of the boys' spades had loosened the soil around some of the very worst patches before any of the other girls appeared.

By five o'clock that night the last weed was dug. Conscientious Bettie went around the yard a dozen times, but however hard she might search, not a single remaining weed could she discover.

"Good work," said Jean, balancing her empty basket on her head.

"It seems too good to be true," said Bettie, "but think of it, girls, the rent is paid! It's most time for Mr. Black to go by. Let's watch for him from the doorstep—our own precious doorstep."

"It needs scrubbing," said Mabel. "Besides, it isn't ours, yet. Perhaps Mr. Black has changed his mind. Some grown-up folks have awfully changeable minds."