The secret garden — Chapter Fifteen Trouble in the night

　　Mary didn"t waste any time. She ran down the hall to Colin"s room. The louder the screams got, the angrier Mary became. By the time she threw open Colin"s door, she was ready for a fight!

　　She ran over to his bed.

　　"Stop it!" she shouted. "Stop it right now! I hate you! Everyone hates you! Everyone should leave this house and let you scream until you die! I wish you would!"

　　Now, a nice, ordinary child would never have said these things. But Mary was not a nice, ordinary girl. Fortunately, the shock of hearing someone shouting at him was enough to make Colin stop. His face looked terrible, it was white and red. But Mary did not care.

　　"If you scream one more time. I’ll scream too. I can scream louder than you can, and I"ll frighten you!" she said.

　　"I can"t stop! I can"t!" he cried.

　　"You can!" shouted Mary. "The only thing wrong with you is your temper. You"re not sick! Just be quiet!"

　　"I felt the lump in my back!" cried Colin. "I knew it would come. I"m going to be a hunchback and then I"ll die!"

　　"You did not feel a lump!" said Mary. "That"s only your imagination. There"s nothing wrong with your horrible back. You let me look at it. Nurse! Come here and show me his back this minute!"