"But not to-morrow, Dorcas," said Griselda. "Aunt Grizzel never goes to Merrybrow till the afternoon. She won't be back in time for me to play with Phil to-morrow."
"No, but next day, perhaps," said Dorcas.
"Oh, but that won't do," said Griselda, beginning to cry again. "Poor little Phil will be coming up to the wood-path _to-morrow_, and if he doesn't find me, he'll be _so_ unhappy--perhaps he'll never come again if I don't meet him to-morrow."
Dorcas saw that the little girl was worn out and excited, and not yet inclined to take a reasonable view of things.
"Go to sleep, missie," she said kindly, "and don't think anything more about it till to-morrow It'll be all right, you'll see."
"You are very kind, Dorcas," she said. "I don't mean to be cross to _you_; but I can't bear to think of poor little Phil. Perhaps he'll sit down on my mossy stone and cry. Poor little Phil!"
But notwithstanding her distress, when Dorcas had left her she did feel her heart a little lighter, and somehow or other before long she fell asleep.
When she awoke it seemed to be suddenly, and she had the feeling that something had disturbed her. She lay for a minute or two perfectly still--listening. Yes; there it was--the soft, faint rustle in the air that she knew so well. It seemed as if something was moving away from her.
"Cuckoo," she said gently, "is that you?"
A moment's pause, then came the answer--the pretty greeting she expected.
"Cuckoo, cuckoo," soft and musical. Then the cuckoo spoke.
"Well, Griselda," he said, "and how are you? It's a good while since we have had any fun together."
"That's not _my_ fault," said Griselda sharply. She was not yet feeling quite as amiable as might have been desired, you see. "That's _certainly_ not my fault," she repeated.
"I never said it was," replied the cuckoo. "Why will you jump at conclusions so? It's a very bad habit, for very often you jump _over_ them, you see, and go too far. One should always _walk_ up to conclusions, very slowly and evenly, right foot first, then left, one with another--that's the way to get where you want to go, and feel sure of your ground. Do you see?"
"I don't know whether I do or not, and I'm not going to speak to you if you go on at me like that. You might see I don't want to be lectured when I am so unhappy."