`` There 's going to be a hard frost tonight . Octavia 's flowers will be nipped as sure as anything . It 's a wonder she 'd stay away from them overnight when her heart 's so set on them . '' `` Her brother 's wife is sick , '' said Mrs. Jenkins . `` We have n't had any frost this spring , and I suppose Octavia never thought of such a thing . She 'll feel awful bad if her flowers get frosted , especially them dahlias . Octavia sets such store by her dahlias . '' Mrs. Jenkins and Mrs. Reid moved away , leaving Tommy by the paling . It was cold -- there was going to be a hard frost -- and Miss Octavia 's plants and flowers would certainly be spoiled . Tommy thought he ought to be glad , but he was n't . He was sorry -- not for Miss Octavia , but for her flowers . Tommy had a queer , passionate love for flowers in his twisted little soul . It was a shame that they should be nipped -- that all the glory of crimson and purple and gold hidden away in those little green rows and circles should never have a chance to blossom out royally . 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 XXXXX quickly as he could and got a ball of twine out of his few treasures .
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