Oh, Aunt Martha, I hope you haven't
taken cold. We'll hurry now, and I'll make you a good fire, and some
tea, and--and I am going to take care of you now, auntie, all the
rest of my days, till I'm an old, old woman, and I'll never go and
leave you any more, for it's plain to see, looking up at her half
mischievously, you can't take care of yourself without me."
So, for the third time Huldah came back to Woodend Lane, and to Dick,
who went nearly crazy with joy, and to the chickens, and garden and
her basket-making; and this time she stayed, if not till she was an
old woman, at any rate until someone big and strong and very fond of
her, came and built a new cottage, to join Mrs. Perry's old one, and
a new fowl's house on to the old one which Dick had guarded so well,
that he earned for his little mistress and himself a home and friends
for ever. And even then one could scarcely call it "leaving," for
presently the wall which divided them was knocked down, and the two
cottages were made one.
Huldah's basket-making business increased and increased, until at
last she had to teach another little girl, that she might come and
help her, and then another and another; and perhaps the proudest
moment of her life was when she was able to buy the cottage she loved
so much, and present it to her dearly-loved 'Aunt Martha' as a
Christmas gift.
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