She leaned out a little farther. Then she climbed upon the window sill.
They were still out of her reach.
For a minute she stopped. Then she put one foot out in the gutter. With one hand she held the blind, and reached out to the nearest branch.
At last she had it. She drew it nearer, and broke off a piece with many buds.
As the piece broke off, the branch flew back again to its place, and Clematis almost fell back through the window to the floor.
She patted the red buds and made a little bunch of them. She filled her cup with water and put the buds in it; then she put it on the bureau.
Clematis was looking proudly at them, when the door opened, and Miss Rose came in.
She looked at Clematis, and then at the buds.
“Why, Clematis!” she said.
Then she looked out the window. There, several feet beyond the window, was the broken end. Drops of sap were running from the white wood.