But when lessons were over Noel said to her:
"And though I'm as good as any angel, I'm going to be punished this evening. It isn't fair."
Miss Morgan asked him to explain. When she heard about it she said to him:
"Whatever your mother does is absolutely fair. It would not be fair to let you go unpunished. It is to remind you next time you are going to be naughty that punishment will surely follow."
Noel said no more. His mother could not have punished him more severely than by preventing him from joining her and Diana for what they called their happy hour.
But after this, he was better behaved in lesson time.
The flowers and bulbs in the garden were now making a good show.
Chris worked away in his garden when he came home on Saturday. His mustard and cress and radishes were quite a success, and he was a proud boy when he presented his mother with the first dish of them.
Diana was as busy as he, attending to her rose tree and seedlings. Noel weeded his plot, and talked to his fir tree whilst he was doing it. He was very delighted one Sunday to see some of his seeds coming up by the church porch.
But when Chris got his bicycle, there was not so much gardening done. Noel insisted upon learning to ride it, and Chris for some time was good-natured about it. The two boys helped each other, and strange to say Noel mastered the machine before Chris.