Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen "You Must Never Waste Time"

Of course Mary didn't get up early the next morning.She went to bed late because she was tired, and when Martha brought breakfast she told her that although Colin was quiet, he was sick and feverish as he always was after he had made himself nervous by crying.Mary listened as she ate her breakfast slowly. "He said he wanted you to see him as soon as possible," said Martha. "It's strange he's so enamored of you. You did show him last night--didn't you? No one would do that. Ah! poor boy He's been spoiled beyond repair. Mother said there were two worst things that could happen to a child: never good and always good. She didn't know which was worse. You've got a bad temper yourself .But when I got to his room, he said to me: 'Please go and ask Miss Mary if she can come and talk to me?' Think he could say please! Will you come, Miss?"

"I'll run to Dickon first," said Mary. "No, I'll go to Colin first and tell him—I know what to tell him." She had a sudden inspiration. When she appeared in Colin's room with the hat on, he looked disappointed for a moment.He is in bed.His face was pitifully pale, with dark rings around his eyes. "I'm glad you're here," he said. "I have a headache and a pain all over my body because I'm so tired. Where are you going?" Mary went over and leaned on his bed. "I won't be away long," she said. "I'll go and find Dickon, but I'll be back. Colin, it's—it's about the secret garden."

His entire face lit up with a hint of color. "Oh! is it?" he cried aloud, "I've been dreaming about it all night, I heard you say the gray turned green, and I dreamed that I was standing in a place full of quivering green leaves—everywhere It's all little birds making their nests, and they look so soft and peaceful. I'll lie down and think about it until you come back." Five minutes later Mary and Dickon were in their garden.The fox and the crow were with him again, and this time he brought two tame squirrels. "I came on my pony this morning," said he, "ah! he's a fine chap--jump! I brought these two in my pocket. Here's a nut, and here's a It's just a husk."

He said "nuts" and a squirrel jumped on his right shoulder; he said "husks" and another squirrel jumped on his left shoulder. They sat on the grass, the Captain curled up at their feet, the soot listening solemnly in the tree, the nuts and husks sniffing close by, and it was almost unbearable for Mary to be away from such happiness, yet when she began Telling the story, before she knew it, the look on Dickon's beaming face made her change her mind.She could see that he was more distressed than she was by Colin.He looked up at the sky and looked around. "Just hear them birds—all over the world—whistle and flute," he said, "see them dart around, hear them call to each other. When spring comes Calling. The leaves are unfurling, you can see them now - and, my God, it smells so good!" He sniffed happily. "The poor kid just lay there locked up with so little to see and started thinking about the things that made him scream. Oh God! We must get him out - we must let him see See it, hear it, smell the air, let it soak in the sun. We must not waste time."

When he was engaged, he often spoke in loose Yorkshire, though at other times he tried to correct the dialect so that Mary could understand it better.Yet she loved his loose Yorkshire, and actually tried to speak it herself.So she can speak a little bit now. "Yeah, we're right," she says (meaning "yes, we're definitely"). "I told Na what we're going to do first," she went on, and Dickon grinned, for the little girl was funny when she wrung her tongue out in Yorkshire. "He's obsessed with you. He wants to see you, he wants to see Soot and Captain. When I go back to the house and talk to him, I'll ask him if you can visit him tomorrow morning—bring your animals with you—and —Wait a little longer, wait for more leaves to grow, one or two buds, we'll bring him out, you push his wheelchair, we'll bring him here, show him everything."

She paused, quite proudly.She had never spoken in Yorkshire before, and she thought it was fine. "Brother Naby speak Yorkshire to Master Colin, like that," said Dickon, smirking. "Nab'll make him laugh, and there's nothing better for a sick man than a laugh. Laugh for half an hour every morning, says Mother." , can cure a man who is suffering from typhus." "I'll just speak Yorkshire to him today," said Mary, giggling herself. The garden had come to such a time that every day and every night it seemed as if a magician passed by, drawing loveliness out of the earth and tree-trunks.It was difficult to walk away from it all, especially as the nuts were climbing up her skirts, and the shells were darting down the trunk of the apple tree above their heads, looking at her with inquiring eyes.Then she went back into the house, and when she sat down on the edge of Colin's bed, he began to sniff like Dickon, though not as experienced.

"You smell like flowers and—and something fresh," he exclaimed with great delight. "What do you smell like? Cool and warm and sweet, all together." "It's the wind from the moor," said Mary, "from sitting under our tree, Hardikon, captain, soot, nuts and pits. It's spring, it's out, it's the sun, it smells good !" She spoke as loosely as she could, and you don't know how loose Yorkshire can sound unless you hear someone speak it.Colin started laughing. "What are you doing?" he said. "I've never heard you talk like that. It sounds so funny."

"I'm speaking some Yorkshire to Nah," replied Mary triumphantly. "I can speak Dickon as well as Dickon and Martha, but Nah sees I can learn a little of that. Nah hears Yorkshire." Well, do you understand at all? Nazi pretends to be a native Yorkshire boy! Ah! I should like to know whether Nazi blushes?" Then she laughed too, and they both laughed so hard that the room began to echo, and Mrs. Medlock opened the door, stepped back into the corridor, and stood listening in wonder. "Oh, my God!" she said, speaking in flat Yorkshire herself, because no one heard her, and she was so shocked. "Who heard of hanging that! Who in the world would think of hanging!"

There is a lot to talk about.Colin never seemed to get enough of Dickon and the Captain and Soot and Nuts and Husks and a pony called Hopping.Mary and Dickon ran round into the wood to see Hop Hop.He was a small, shaggy field colt with wisps of mane hanging over his eyes, a handsome face, and a sniffing, velvety nose.It eats grass in the open fields, and is quite thin, but it is so lean that it seems that the muscles in those thin legs are made of iron springs.As soon as it saw Dickon it raised its head and hissed softly, and it trotted toward him and put its head over his shoulder, and then Dickon talked into his ear and Hop back with strange hisses and puffs and snorts.Dickon made it give Mary the little front hoof, and kissed her cheek with his velvety muzzle.

"Did he really understand all Dickon said?" asked Colin. "It seems he understands," answered Mary. "Dickon says any animal can understand, if you must be friends, but you must be friends." For a moment Colin lay motionless, his strange gray eyes seeming to be fixed on the wall, but Mary saw that he was thinking. "I wish I could be friends with animals," he said at last, "but I'm not. I've never had animals to be friends with, and I can't stand people." "Can't you bear me?" Mary asked. "No, I can," he replied, "It's funny, but I even like you."

"Ji Yuanben said I was like him." Mary said, "He said he can guarantee that we are both equally difficult-tempered. I think you are like him too. The three of us are the same—you, me, and Ji Yuanben. He says there's nothing to see about us two, and we're as surly as we look. But I don't think I'm so surly now as I was before I met Mockingbird and Dickon." "Have you ever felt like hating people?" "Yes," answered Mary flatly, "if I had seen you before I met Mockingbird and Dickon, I should have hated you." Colin reached out his thin hand and touched her. "Mary," he said, "I wish I hadn't said anything to drive Dickon away. I hated you and laughed at you when you said he was an angel, but—but maybe he is." "Well, that's funny to say," she admitted frankly, "because his nose is really turned up, and he has a big mouth, and his clothes are all patched up, and he speaks flat Yorkshire, but— —but if the Angel really came to Yorkshire and lived on the moors—if there was a Yorkshire Angel—I believe he should know about green things and how to grow them, he should know how to talk to wild animals, like Dickon, Wild animals will know he must be a friend." "I shouldn't mind Deacon looking at me," said Colin. "I want to see him." "I'm glad you said that," answered Mary, "because—because—" A thought came out of the blue, and she knew this was the moment to tell him.Colin knew something new was coming. "Because of what?" he called eagerly. Mary got up nervously from the stool, approached him, and grabbed his hands. "Can I trust you? I trust Dickon as the bird trusts him. Can I trust you?—sure—sure?" she pleaded. His face was so solemn that his answers were almost whispers. "Yes Yes!" "Then Dickon will come to see you tomorrow morning, and he will bring his little animals." "Oh! Oh!" cried Colin joyfully. "But it's not over," continued Mary, almost pale with solemn excitement, "the rest is better. There's a door that leads into the garden. I found it. On the wall, under the ivy." If he had been a healthy and strong boy, Colin would probably have yelled "Yes! Yes!" But he was weak and hysterical, his eyes were getting bigger and bigger, and he couldn't breathe. "Oh! Mary!" he cried, half sobbing. "Can I see it? Can I get in? Can I live to get in?" He squeezed her hand and dragged her toward him. "Of course you will!" Mary insisted angrily. "Of course you can live to get in! Don't be stupid!" She was so unhysterical, natural, childish, she brought him back to his senses, he started laughing at himself, and a few minutes later she sat on her stool and told him what the secret garden was really like, not what she imagined, Ko Lin's pain and tiredness were forgotten, and he was filled with joy. "Just as you thought," he said at last. "It sounds like you've seen it then. You know that's what I said when you first told me." Mary hesitated for about two minutes, then said the truth rashly. "I had seen it then—I had been in it," she said, "and I found the key and I was in it a few weeks ago. But I dare not tell you—I dare not, because I was so worried I can't trust you - for sure!