Tommy could never have put this thought into words , but it was there in his heart . He wished he could save the flowers . And could n't he ? Newspapers spread over the beds and tied around the dahlias would save them , Tommy knew . He had seen Miss Octavia doing it other springs . And he knew there was a big box of newspapers in a little shed in her backyard . Ned Williams had told him there was , and that the shed was never locked . Tommy hurried home as quickly as he could and got a ball of twine out of his few treasures . Then he went back to Miss Octavia 's garden . The next forenoon Miss Octavia got off the train at the Arundel station with a very grim face . There had been an unusually severe frost for the time of year . All along the road Miss Octavia had seen gardens frosted and spoiled . She knew what she should see when she got to her own -- the dahlia stalks drooping and black and limp , the nasturtiums and balsams and poppies and pansies all withered and ruined . But she did n't . Instead she saw every dahlia carefully tied up in a newspaper , and over all the beds newspapers spread out and held neatly in place with pebbles . Miss Octavia flew into her garden with a radiant face . Everything was safe -- nothing was spoiled . But who could have done it ? Miss Octavia was puzzled . On one side of her lived Mrs. Kennedy , who had just moved in and , being a total stranger , would not be likely to think of Miss Octavia 's flowers .
XXXXX the other lived Miss Matheson , who was a `` shut-in '' and spent all her time on the sofa .
On along at for in into of that to with