The Secret Garden: Chapters 22–27

by Frances Hodgson Burnett
When her parents die from an infectious outbreak in colonial India, ten-year-old Mary Lennox is sent to live with her uncle in England, where she discovers a garden that seems to make magical things happen. Read the full text here.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–10, Chapters 11–16, Chapters 17–21, Chapters 22–27
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. testy
    easily irritated or annoyed
    "What art sayin'?" he asked rather testily because he did not want his attention distracted from the long thin straight boy figure and proud face.
    Although this is a fitting description of the surly gardener, here, Ben's testiness shows he cares about Colin (because he cared for Colin's mother and she is the reason he still has his job); he is only annoyed that Mary's muttering could take his attention away from the sight of a supposed cripple standing tall against a tree.
  2. persevere
    be persistent, refuse to stop
    Colin persevered. After he had turned a few trowelfuls of soil he spoke exultantly to Dickon in his best Yorkshire.
  3. hobble
    walk unevenly due to pain, injury, or weakness
    He hobbled over the grass as fast as he could.
  4. impartial
    free from undue bias or preconceived opinions
    "Yes," answered Mary, "very. But you needn't be cross," she added impartially, "because so am I queer—and so is Ben Weatherstaff. But I am not as queer as I was before I began to like people and before I found the garden."
  5. crevice
    a long narrow opening
    At first it seemed that green things would never cease pushing their way through the earth, in the grass, in the beds, even in the crevices of the walls.
  6. hue
    the quality of a color determined by its dominant wavelength
    Then the green things began to show buds and the buds began to unfurl and show color, every shade of blue, every shade of purple, every tint and hue of crimson.
  7. mortar
    a substance used as a bond in masonry or for covering a wall
    Ben Weatherstaff had seen it done and had himself scraped out mortar from between the bricks of the wall and made pockets of earth for lovely clinging things to grow on.
  8. promptly
    with little or no delay
    "Aye, aye, sir!" said Ben Weatherstaff promptly, though this was the first time he had heard of great scientific discoveries.
  9. fakir
    a Muslim or Hindu mendicant monk regarded as a holy man
    Magic is a great thing and scarcely any one knows anything about it except a few people in old books—and Mary a little, because she was born in India where there are fakirs.
  10. imposing
    impressive in appearance
    This sounded so imposing that Ben Weatherstaff became quite excited and really could not keep still.
  11. gratify
    make happy or satisfied
    Ordinarily he was very fixed in being what he called "agen' prayer-meetin's" but this being the Rajah's affair he did not resent it and was indeed inclined to be gratified at being called upon to assist.
  12. dervish
    a Muslim monk of an order noted for fast ceremonial dancing
    "Shall we sway backward and forward, Mary, as if we were dervishes?"
    A dervish is similar to a fakir: both are poor monks who beg, but dervishes are also known for whirling and possessing miraculous powers. The question seems like a joke, but Colin seriously wants to believe that "there is Magic in everything, only we have not sense enough to get hold of it and make it do things for us." So he is willing to experiment—with chants, dervish movements, or muscle exercises—so that he can become stronger and live to be a man.
  13. stimulate
    cause to act in a specified manner
    And the thought which stimulated him more than any other was this imagining what his father would look like when he saw that he had a son who was as straight and strong as other fathers' sons.
  14. snub
    reject outright and bluntly
    He really did not mind being snubbed since the snubbing meant that the lad was gaining strength and spirit.
  15. sow
    place seeds in or on the ground for future growth
    Dickon had bought penny packages of flower seeds now and then and sown bright sweet-scented things among gooseberry bushes and even cabbages and he grew borders of mignonette and pinks and pansies and things whose seeds he could save year after year or whose roots would bloom each spring and spread in time into fine clumps.
  16. regretfully
    with sadness or remorse
    "I may be obliged to have a tantrum," said Colin regretfully.
  17. bounteous
    given or giving freely
    "Tell her she has been most bounteous and our gratitude is extreme."
    Colin also says this about Dickon's mother: "She is a Magic person. Tell her we are grateful, Dickon—extremely grateful." Colin is thankful for the hot currant buns and delicious fresh milk that Dickon's mother had sent. Coming from a woman who struggles to feed fourteen people in her own family, this bounty seems even more magical.
  18. copious
    large in number or quantity
    And then forgetting his grandeur he fell to and stuffed himself with buns and drank milk out of the pail in copious draughts in the manner of any hungry little boy who had been taking unusual exercise and breathing in moorland air and whose breakfast was more than two hours behind him.
  19. mystic
    relating to a belief in communion with an ultimate reality
    Every beautiful morning the Magic was worked by the mystic circle under the plum-tree which provided a canopy of thickening green leaves after its brief blossom-time was ended.
  20. tinge
    a pale or subdued color
    The waxen tinge had left Colin's skin and a warm rose showed through it; his beautiful eyes were clear and the hollows under them and in his cheeks and temples had filled out.
  21. severe
    very harsh or strict, especially when dealing with others
    Mary became quite severe in her manner.
  22. glum
    moody and sorrowful
    The glummest, ill-natured little thing she used to be and now her and Master Colin laugh together like a pair of crazy young ones.
  23. distinct
    not alike; different in nature or quality
    He could speak robin (which is a quite distinct language not to be mistaken for any other).
  24. disconcerting
    causing an emotional disturbance
    He did not act as the other humans did. He seemed very fond of walking but he had a way of sitting or lying down for a while and then getting up in a disconcerting manner to begin again.
  25. fluent
    expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively
    He could only say that he was sure that the Eggs would never flap about in such a manner; but as the boy who could speak robin so fluently was doing the thing with them, birds could be quite sure that the actions were not of a dangerous nature.
  26. atrophy
    undergo weakening or degeneration as through lack of use
    Robins are not like human beings; their muscles are always exercised from the first and so they develop themselves in a natural manner. If you have to fly about to find every meal you eat, your muscles do not become atrophied (atrophied means wasted away through want of use).
  27. restive
    impatient especially under restriction or delay
    One morning when the rain streamed down unceasingly and Colin was beginning to feel a little restive, as he was obliged to remain on his sofa because it was not safe to get up and walk about, Mary had an inspiration.
  28. inordinate
    beyond normal limits
    Mary giggled inordinately.
    "The nurse would come running and Mrs. Medlock would come running and they would be sure you had gone crazy and they'd send for the doctor," she said.
  29. incantation
    a ritual reciting of words believed to have a magical effect
    After the morning's incantations Colin sometimes gave them Magic lectures.
  30. earnest
    characterized by a firm, sincere belief in one's opinions
    Sometimes when Colin felt Ben's earnest gaze meant that he was much impressed he wondered what he was reflecting on and once when he had seemed quite entranced he questioned him.
  31. ruddy
    inclined to a healthy reddish color
    When he came he was ruddy with running and his funny face looked more twinkling than usual.
  32. perceive
    become aware of through the senses
    Dickon answered with his all- perceiving animal charmer's smile.
    The phrase "all-perceiving" makes Dickon sound like a god who is all-seeing and all-knowing. But while he seems to have a Magic that touches the lives of all living creatures, including plants, and while Mary and Colin seem to worship him as an angel, Dickon is too humble to see himself as a god, and he would only use his powers to spread happiness and growth.
  33. dapple
    color with streaks or blotches of different shades
    With the ivy behind her, the sunlight drifting through the trees and dappling her long blue cloak, and her nice fresh face smiling across the greenery she was rather like a softly colored illustration in one of Colin's books.
  34. hypochondriac
    a patient with imaginary symptoms and ailments
    So long as Colin shut himself up in his room and thought only of his fears and weakness and his detestation of people who looked at him and reflected hourly on humps and early death, he was a hysterical half-crazy little hypochondriac who knew nothing of the sunshine and the spring and also did not know that he could get well and could stand upon his feet if he tried to do it.
  35. stagnant
    not circulating or flowing
    It was as if a sweet clear spring had begun to rise in a stagnant pool and had risen and risen until at last it swept the dark water away.
  36. repose
    the absence of mental stress or anxiety
    The singular calmness remained with him the rest of the evening and he slept a new reposeful sleep; but it was not with him very long.
  37. verdure
    green foliage
    He spent his days upon the crystal blueness of the lake or he walked back into the soft thick verdure of the hills and tramped until he was tired so that he might sleep.
  38. salver
    a tray for serving food or drinks
    The man held a salver with some letters on it and he waited quietly until Mr. Craven took them.
  39. suppressed
    held in check or kept back with difficulty
    They were the sounds of running scuffling feet seeming to chase round and round under the trees, they were strange sounds of lowered suppressed voices—exclamations and smothered joyous cries.
  40. headlong
    excessively quick
    It was the strangest thing he had ever heard, Archibald Craven thought, as it was poured forth in headlong boy fashion.
Created on Wed Sep 18 15:47:52 EDT 2013 (updated Mon Jul 17 18:33:36 EDT 2023)

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