And that evening there was a grand procession. Every one was invited to see and to admire their work. Mr. Robin walked first, with Granny Robin on his arm. The old woman had insisted on climbing out of her window to visit the graves. If she could not see them, she could feel them, she said, and she could smell the flowers.
As for Stephen's father, he had done very little shoe-mending all day, for every few minutes he had come hopping out of his window to see how they were getting on. Yet, although he had helped to choose the place of each plant, the little cobbler still came behind Mr. and Mrs. Robin in the procession which was about to visit the graves, and when he arrived there, he seemed as much surprised and interested as if he had never seen them before.
The difficulty was to get Aunt Cordelia there. Not that she was unwilling to come, for she was anxious to see Granny Robin, of whom the children talked so much; but the trouble was this, she could not make up her mind to climb out of the window. It took Audrey and Stephen nearly an hour to coax her to make the attempt. She even wanted to go down the street to the house of the deaf old woman, that she might get the key of the churchyard gate.
It was only when Audrey told her that if she did so, it would spoil everything—for the old woman would be sure to come with her, and would perhaps be angry with them for doing it without her leave—it was only then that Aunt Cordelia consented to try the undignified descent.
But it was a terribly serious business. A stool was placed outside the window, and Mr. Robin and the cobbler came forward to give her a hand, whilst she gathered her petticoats round her, and at length, slowly and gracefully, managed to alight on the churchyard grass. Then the procession began, and the children's work was duly admired by the whole party. They all had some remark to make about it, and these remarks were very different from each other.
Aunt Cordelia, who was in a very good temper, and who was much gratified by the politeness of Mr. and Mrs. Robin, said, "Well, I declare, it's a very pretty garden, and a deal better play than climbing all day long over those black, filthy old stones, Audrey. You won't dirty half as many pinafores!"
Stephen's father was full of his boy's delight. It would be a pleasure for Stephen every day, he said, and he would buy him a nice little red can with which to water the flowers.
Mr. Robin said it was a real treat to see a bit of flower-bed again; it reminded him of his garden in the country, and was like a bit of home to him.
But Granny Robin, as she knelt on the grass to smell the flowers, repeated softly to herself the words of a verse, which Audrey and Stephen thought very beautiful.
"'Saint after saint on earth
Has lived, and loved, and died,
And as they left us one by one,
We laid them side by side;
We laid them down to sleep,
But not in hope forlorn;
We laid them but to ripen there
Till the last glorious morn.
Come, then, Lord Jesus, come!'"