"Ben Weatherstaff"
- That afternoon, the weather is so perfect and Colin is so happy that he feels as though everything in the world was just made for him.
- The sky is blue, the fruit trees are flowering—basically, everything is beautiful and amazing in the Secret Garden.
- Colin notices a very old tree with a broken branch in one corner; he wonders aloud how the branch might have broken.
- (If you remember Martha's story in Chapter 5, that's the branch that broke and killed Colin's mom.)
- The robin appears and starts singing, distracting Colin from this line of questioning just in time.
- Needless to say, Mary and Dickon are relieved not to have to explain.
- As the sun is getting lower, Colin suddenly looks up and asks, "Who is that man?" (21.52).
- Mary and Dickon look up to see Ben Weatherstaff on top of a ladder, looking over the garden wall.
- Ben shakes his fist at Mary and yells at her, saying that she has no business being in there.
- Dickon wheels Colin's chair over to Ben so Colin can have his say.
- Colin asks if Ben realizes who he is.
- Ben sees Colin's resemblance to his tragically deceased mom, but he calls Colin "th'poor cripple" (21.73).
- Colin is so offended at Ben's assumption that his back and legs are crooked that he finally stands up on his own.
- Colin's legs are thin and weak because he has never used them, but there is nothing really wrong with him except fear.
- Now Colin has the confidence to tell Ben to leave them alone with their Secret Garden.
- For his part, Ben is quite overcome with emotion by the sight of Colin standing tall on his own.