Then they watched her with beating hearts. Dame Elizabeth stared with astonishment at the people, and stopped to ask them questions. But she passed quite through their midst, and entered the cottage under the sprig of dill, and the verse. She did not envy Dame Clementina or Nan, anything.
SUCH FRANTIC EFFORTS TO GET AWAY.
"Tell me what this means," said she. "Why are all these people standing in your yard in the rain with umbrellas?"
Then Dame Clementina and Nan told her. "And oh! what shall we do?" said they. "Will these people have to stand in our yard forever and ever?"
Dame Elizabeth stared at them. The way out of the difficulty was so plain to her, that she could not credit its not being plain to them.
"Why," said she, "don't you take down the sprig of dill and the verse?"
"Why, sure enough!" said they in amazement. "Why didn't we think of that before?"