Nut and Shell whisked up trees with pieces of cake and Soot took the entire half of a buttered crumpet into a corner and pecked at and examined and turned it over and made hoarse remarks about it until he decided to swallow it all joyfully in one gulp.
The afternoon was dragging towards its mellow hour.

The sun was deepening the gold of its lances, the bees were going home and the birds were flying past less often.

Dickon and Mary were sitting on the grass, the tea-basket was repacked ready to be taken back to the house, and Colin was lying against his cushions with his heavy locks pushed back from his forehead and his face looking quite a natural color.
"I don't want this afternoon to go," he said; "but I shall come back tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after, and the day after." "You'll get plenty of fresh air, won't you ?" said Mary.

"I'm going to get nothing else," he answered.

"I've seen the spring now and I'm going to see the summer.