"Take a look within that nook
And tell me what is there."
And Mary exclaimed,
"A dingle-bell, and truth to tell
In full bloom, I declare!"
The Squire now clucked to his nag, and as they rode away he said,
"Now come with me and you shall see
A field with cowslips bright,
And not a garden in the land
Can show so fair a sight."
And so it was, for as they rode through the pastures the cowslips bloomed on every hand, and Mary's eyes grew bigger and bigger as she thought of her poor garden with its dead flowers.
And then the Squire took her toward the little brook that wandered through the meadows, flowing over the pebbles with a soft, gurgling sound that was very nearly as sweet as music; and when they reached it the big Squire said,
"If you will look beside the brook
You'll see, I know quite well,
That hidden in each mossy nook
Is many a cockle-shell."
This was indeed true, and as Mary saw them she suddenly dropped her head and began to weep.
"What's the matter, little one?" asked the Squire in his kind, bluff voice. And Mary answered,