ought
to be glad, but he wasn't. He was sorry--not for Miss Octavia, but for
her flowers. Tommy had a queer, passionate love for flowers in his
twisted little soul. It was a shame that they should be nipped--that
all the glory of crimson and purple and gold hidden away in those
little green rows and circles should never have a chance to blossom
out royally. Tommy could never have put this thought into words, but
it was there in his heart. He wished he could save the flowers. And
couldn't he? Newspapers spread over the beds and tied around the
dahlias would save them, Tommy knew. He had seen Miss Octavia doing it
other springs. And he knew there was a big box of newspapers in a
little shed in her backyard. Ned Williams had told him there was, and
that the shed was never locked.

Tommy hurried home as quickly as he could and got a ball of twine out
of his few treasures. Then he went back to Miss Octavia's garden.

The next forenoon Miss Octavia got off the train at the Arundel
station with a very grim face. There had been an unusually severe
frost for the time of year. All along the road Miss Octavia had seen
gardens frosted and spoiled. She knew what she should see when she got
to her own--the dahlia stalks drooping and black and limp, the
nasturtiums and balsams and poppies and pansies all withered and
ruined.

But she didn't. Instead she saw every dahlia carefully tied up in a
newspaper, and over all the beds newspapers spread out and held neatly
in place with pebbles. Miss Octavia flew into her garden with a
radiant face. Everything was safe--nothing was spoiled.

But who could have done it? Miss Octavia was puzzled. On one side of
her lived Mrs. Kennedy, who had just moved in and, being a total
stranger, would not be likely to think of Miss Octavia's flowers. On
the other lived Miss Matheson, who was a "shut-in" and spent all her
time on the sofa. But to Miss Matheson Miss Octavia went.

"Rachel, do you know who covered my plants up last night?"

Miss Matheson nodded. "Yes, it was Tommy Puffer. I saw him working
away there with papers and twine. I thought you'd told him to do it."

"For the land's sake!" ejaculated Miss Octavia. "Tommy Puffer! Well,
wonders will never cease."

Miss Octavia went back to her house feeling rather ashamed of herself
when she remembered how she had always treated Tommy Puffer.

"But there must be some good in the child, or he wouldn't have done
this," she said to herself. "I've