“Now that the sun is coming out again, they will straighten up,” he said. “We will have a good flower harvest, Hanny.”
The nurseryman did not scold his niece for having forgotten about the windmill. Instead, he told her that she probably had saved the tulip field by shutting off the water.
“As for Mr. and Mrs. Mattox,” he said indifferently, “give them no thought, little Hanny.”
“But Uncle Peter, they came while you were away to peep under the box!”
“It does not matter. Before this week has ended, everyone will have seen our beautiful tulip.”
“Mrs. Mattox spoke of a tulip they are entering in the show, Uncle Peter. A cherry-rose candy stripe, she called it.”
“It will not compare with our flower,” declared Mr. Van Der Lann cheerfully. “Do not worry, Hanny.”
“She spoke also of a customer, Mrs. Gabriel. And a large order of tulip bulbs from Holland.”
The nurseryman became attentive, listening closely as his niece related the entire conversation overheard in the hayloft.
“The Mattoxes are welcome to their big order,” he said. “I can tell you no more, Hanny, except to say that you are never to talk to Mrs. Gabriel or have anything to do with her.”