She watched them until they disappeared over the wooded hill beyond the bridge ; and then she went back home as if she walked in a dream . Crooked Jack was delving vigorously in the garden ; ordinarily the Old Lady did not talk much with Crooked Jack , for she disliked his weakness for gossip ; but now she went into the garden , a stately old figure in her purple , gold-spotted silk , with the sunshine gleaming on her white hair . Crooked Jack had seen her go out and had remarked to himself that the Old Lady was losing ground ; she was pale and peaked-looking . He now concluded that he had been mistaken . The Old Lady 's cheeks were pink and her eyes shining . Somewhere in her walk she had shed ten years at least . Crooked Jack leaned on his spade and decided that there were n't many finer looking women anywhere than Old Lady Lloyd . Pity she was such an old miser ! `` Mr. Spencer , '' said the Old Lady graciously -- she always spoke very graciously to her inferiors when she talked to them at all -- `` can you tell me the name of the new music teacher who is boarding at Mr. William Spencer 's ? '' `` Sylvia Gray , '' said Crooked Jack . The Old Lady 's heart gave another great bound . But she had known it -- she had known that girl with Leslie Gray 's hair and eyes and laugh must be Leslie Gray 's daughter . Crooked Jack spat on his hand and resumed his work , but his tongue went faster than his spade , and the Old Lady listened greedily . For the first time she enjoyed and blessed Crooked Jack 's garrulity and gossip . Every word he uttered was as an apple of gold in a picture of silver to her . He had been working at William Spencer 's the day the new music teacher had come , and what Crooked Jack could n't find out about any person in one whole day -- at least as far as outward life went -- was hardly worth finding out . Next to discovering things did he love telling them , and it would be hard to say which enjoyed that ensuing half-hour more -- Crooked Jack or the Old Lady . Crooked Jack 's account , boiled down , amounted to this ; both Miss Gray 's parents had died when she was a baby , she had been brought up by an aunt , she was very poor and very ambitious . `` Wants a moosical eddication , '' finished up Crooked Jack , `` and , by jingo , she orter have it , for anything like the voice of her I never heerd . She sung for us that evening after supper and I thought 't was an angel singing .
It just XXXXX through me like a shaft o ' light .
listened losing mistaken seen shed shining spoke tell thought went