big shallow baskets;
and eggs to pack; flowers to gather and tie up in tastefully arranged
bunches; vegetables to scrub and trim, and baskets of honey, bottles of
herbs, and home-made jams to pack. There was a great deal to do, but
their hearts were in the work, and all felt proud enough of their little
show when it was ready.

To Margery's relief the great day came at last, and, as though it knew
what was expected of it, it dawned as bright and beautiful as any one
could desire. All were up early, but Charlie was the first to start, as
he was going to walk the whole distance. Tom and Aunt Emma and Margery
started an hour later, but Bella and her father did not leave until
eleven, when the day was at its warmest and brightest, and as they drove
along the sunny road with the beautiful fresh breeze blowing gently on
their faces, Bella thought she had never, never in her life before felt so
glad and proud.

Whenever they passed a cottage the neighbours came out to tell the invalid
how good it was to see him as far as that again; indeed, every one they
met had a warm greeting of some kind for him. Then, when they had passed
all the people and the houses, and had the road to themselves, their minds
went back to the past.

When they came to the old milestone where her father used to wait for
them, Bella almost stopped the donkey, and, for the first time since that
dreadful day when they had waited there in vain for him, she could bear to
look at the old grey stone. "I wonder when----" she began, but stopped
for fear of hurting him. He guessed what she had been going to say.

"I b'lieve I shall walk again that far to meet you," he said cheerfully.
"You will find me standing there some day when you ain't expecting it;"
and if Bella could have been happier than she was before, she was then.

When they reached Norton the town was already full, and the market in full
swing. Bella had never before arrived at this time, and to her it all
seemed new and strange, and most intensely interesting. But of course the
market-house was the goal they were making for, and they could not loiter
on the way. She was to put her father down there, and then drive on and
leave Rocket at the stable, so that she, the beginner of it all, the
founder of the market garden, would be the last to see this, the great
climax to their toil.

For just a moment she did feel a sense of disappointment. Here was the
day half gone already, and she ha