332 THE GARDEN, YOU, AND I 



is this mental perturbation, in his very slow nature, 

 that is, I believe, keeping him an invalid ! 



What Maria wants of the farm neither Bart nor I 

 can imagine. She has a little property, a few thousand 

 dollars, enough probably to buy the farm and put it 

 in livable repair, but this money we thought she was 

 saving for the so-called rainy day (which is much more 

 apt to be a very dry period) of spinsterhood ! Of course 

 she has some definite plan, but whether it is bees or 

 boarders, jam or a kindergarten, we do not know, 

 but we may be very sure that she is not jumping at 

 random. Only I'm a little afraid, much as I should 

 like her for a next-door neighbour, that, with her 

 practical head, she would insist upon making hay of 

 the lily meadow! 



"Straying away again from the horticultural to the 

 domestic things," I hear you say. Yes; but now that 

 the days are shortening a bit, it seems natural to think 

 more about people again. If I only knew whether 

 Maria means to give up her teaching this winter, I 

 would ask her to stay with us and begin to train the 

 Infant's mind in the way it should think, for my head 

 and hands will be full and my heart overflowing, I 

 imagine. Ah ! this happy, blessed summer ! Yes, 

 I know that you know, though I have never told you. 



