Page:Cornelia Meigs--The Pool of Stars.djvu/71

 "And how long have you been sitting there?" demanded Betsey. "You might at least have told me what to do."

"I came out thinking to try what I could myself, but when I saw you at the work, I could tell that you knew what you were about, so where was the use of wasting any words. I just waited in case you needed any help, but you managed better alone than with an old man to hinder. I've no doubt that your hands are blistered and that you'll find your back aching to-morrow, but you have saved the garden. It will be something Miss Reynolds will be glad to hear when she comes home."

"Is she coming soon? Where did she go?" Elizabeth inquired eagerly.

"Now that I don't know," Michael answered with a sigh. "She decided within an hour and off she went. It might have been to consult her cousin that looks after her business affairs and that used to live here when he was a boy."

"What was her cousin's name?"

The rain had almost ceased, so Elizabeth laid aside her hoe, stretched her cramped fingers and went to stand in front of Michael and ply him with questions. Such a talkative mood was so rare in him that she feared, any second, it might pass away, and, since here at last was some one who could and would tell her more of Miss Miranda, she trembled