ox as she packed her
small stock of clothes. But she felt that she must not wait to cry; she
must be ready by the time Ben came, and her aunt's visit had been so
long that it was already late. When she had finished she went
downstairs to take a last look round. There stood all the well-known
pieces of furniture, dumb, yet full of speech; they had seen and heard
so much that was dear to her, that it seemed cruel to leave them to
strangers. Above all she looked wistfully at a small twisted cactus in
a pot standing on the window ledge. Mrs White had been fond of it, and
had given it much care and attention. Might she venture to take it with
her? How pleased Mother had been, she remembered, when the cactus had
once rewarded her by producing two bright-red blossoms. That was long
ago, and it had never done anything so brilliant again. Content with
its one effort it had since remained unadorned, yet as it stood there,
with its fat green leaves and little bunches of prickles, it had the air
of saying to itself, "I have done it once, and if I liked I could do it
a second time." Even now as she bent tenderly over it Lilac thought she
could make out the faint beginning of a bud.

"I do wish I could take it," she said to herself. "If it was only in
bloom maybe they'd like it."

But the cactus was very far from blooming, and perhaps had no intention
of doing so; in its present condition it would certainly be considered
"rubbish" at Orchards Farm.

Lilac turned from it with a sigh, and glancing through the window was
startled to see that the cart with Ben sitting in it was already at the
gate. Ben looked as though he might have been waiting there for some
hours, and was content to wait for any length of time. She ran out in
alarm.

"Oh, Ben!" she cried, "I never heard you. Have you been here long?"

"Not I," said Ben; "on'y just come. Missus she give orders as how I was
to fetch down some cheers alonger you, so as to lighten the next load a
bit."

By the time he had slowly stacked the chairs together, and disposed them
round Lilac's box in the cart, which cost him much painful thought,
there was not much room left.

"Now then, missie," he said at length, "that's the lot, ain't it?"

"Where am I to sit, Ben?" asked Lilac doubtfully. Ben took off his hat
to scratch his head. He had a perfectly round, foolish face, with short
dust-coloured whiskers.

"That's so," he said. "I clean forgot you was to go too."