Nature and the 

 Materialist 



DON'T see what you get out of this 

 nature study," said the materialistic 

 one, helping herself a second time to 

 strawberries, and emptying half the 

 cream-jug on to them. " Of course 

 it's very pretty and romantic, this 

 caring for flowers and birds and 

 creepy things, but what do you get 

 out of it?" 



" Nothing to eat or drink," I 

 murmured, with an eye on her 

 piled-tip plate. 



" No, nor much to wear, I should say," she retorted, with 

 a glance at my washed-out holland. 



I laughe.d. 4< Holland's a good colour for the bush ; it 

 doesn't show the 'stains when you crouch under a low bush 

 and squat on the ground." 



" Ugh, and have things crawling up your sleeves and down 

 your neck. I know." 



I looked at her pink, slightly puffed cheeks, her round, 

 clear, rather colourless grey eyes, her grey hair brushed 

 smartly up over a frame and wondered if she did know. I 



