OUR COUNTRY LIFE 



of Madam Polemonium I might not have been so 

 ready to undertake her culture! Gayly I pinched off 

 the first flower stalks here and there along the border; 

 cheerfully I searched for any indications of such pur 

 pose among the leaves ; very beautiful was the shining, 

 dark-green effect between the bricks and bright colors 

 of the garden plots. Of course it cannot be supposed 

 that Madam Polemonium consciously began to dis 

 guise her object in life, but certainly those flower stalks 

 grew harder and harder to distinguish from the leaves, 

 and I could almost hear her chuckle when I cut off 

 one of the latter by mistake! Finally convinced that 

 she was utterly discouraged I took a vacation for three 

 days. The advantage she took of my absence was- in 

 credible. Nearly every plant had shot up a lovely 

 stalk of pale-blue florets, and they made so charming 

 a picture that I almost left them. 



"This is too wrenching for my sensibilities," I con 

 fessed. "Don't let's have Polemonium next year." 



"Well, you know there 's nothing takes the place of 

 box." 



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