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 . On the other lived Miss Matheson , who was a `` shut-in '' and spent all her time on the sofa . But to Miss Matheson Miss Octavia went . `` Rachel , do you know who covered my plants up last night ? '' Miss Matheson nodded . `` Yes , it was Tommy Puffer .
I saw him working away there XXXXX papers and twine .
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