THEIR GARDEN VACATION 63 



with them and offers to give me her right-hand- reliable, 

 Jane McElroy, who cared for me when a baby, to stay 

 here with the Infant. The second letter .was from 

 Maria Maxwell, a distant cousin of Bart's. She has 

 also heard of our intended vacation, indeed the 

 rapidity with which the news travels and the interest 

 it causes are good proofs of our stay-at-home tenden- 

 cies and the general sobriety of our six years of matri- 

 mony ! 



" Maria is a very bright, adaptable woman of about 

 thirty-five, who teaches music in the New York public 

 schools, is alone in the world, and manages to keep an 

 attractive home in a mere scrap of a flat. When she 

 comes to visit us, we like her as well the last day of her 

 stay as the first, which fact speaks volumes for her 

 character! Though forced by circumstances to live 

 in town, she has a deep love for the country, and wishes, 

 if we intend to leave the house open, to come and care 

 for it in our absence, even offering to cook for herself 

 if we do not care to have the expense of a maid, say- 

 ing, 'to cook a real meal, with a real fire instead of 

 gas, will be a great and refreshing change for me, so 

 you need feel under no obligation whatever !' 



" Thinking of the pity of wasting such tempting offers 

 as these, I went to church with my body only, my 



