“We are all about to disperse,” they said. “Lie down and close your eyes for a moment, till the rush is over.”
She did so, and again came the great noise of wings, and—when she looked up, reassured by the silence, she was half-sitting, half-lying at the gate of her godmother’s garden, the basket, well filled with cones, beside her, and the two Cooies perched on it!
And just then, Pleasance came out of the house and rang the big bell.
Chapter Twelve.
“Come Back in the Spring, Mary.”
Mary sprang up. She had been half-sitting on the little gate, for the surprise of finding herself at home again so quickly had almost taken away her breath. But the wood-pigeons calmed her down.
“You need not hurry,” they said. “Pleasance never expects you for ten minutes or longer after she has rung. Sit down on the basket and we will keep you warm.”
And when Mary had done so, they flew on to her shoulders and spread out their little wings as if ready for flight, and Mary felt a nice soft glow of heat going through her.