Father always did know everything!
The first thing next morning, all the family hurried out to the garden, but there was no Hermit. Father went East and John went West and all the others scattered in different directions, leaving Liza all alone to take care of Mother Dear. But Mother Dear was not at all good company; she wouldn’t crawl on the floor and she wouldn’t smile, so Liza slipped away, very unhappy. She took her Nigger Doll, Samuel, and walked way, way off, down into the Lily Place where the frogs live. And right there, perfectly happy and grinning, was Hermit—all muddy and with his tongue hanging out as though he had been running and was out of breath. Next to him, sprawled out on the grass, with one foot stuck up in the air and a cap on his toe, was a man and he was talking to Hermit. Liza did not pay any attention to him; she just jumped on Hermit’s back and rubbed her face in his neck. The man was very much surprised. He sat up, brushed the dirt off of his trousers, and said:
“Good morning.”
Liza laughed at him and pulled Hermit’s tail.
“I said ‘Good morning,’” said the man. “Can’t you talk?”
That sort of frightened Liza, so she jumped up and ran off to find John, with Hermit bounding after her. Just then John came through the trees, followed by Edward Lee and Walter and Martha Mary. They hugged Hermit to show how glad they were to see him, and then Liza took them to the new man.
“Hullo!” he said. “Are you the whole family?”
“We are the Shermans,” said John.
“Yes,” said Edward Lee, “and we wish you would go away so that we could play.”
“Edward Lee!” Martha Mary whispered. “You mustn’t be impolite.”