A JOURNAL KEPT IN THE COUNTRY. 79 



palms or Nile banks had come between. The cuckoo 

 came on the seventeenth, a little late for the hurrying 

 season. As a rule he is tolerably punctual to Cuckoo- 

 Day, when the fabled old lady lets him out of the 

 basket at Heathfield. The cuckoo's-mate calls his 

 " r ee tee, tee, tee, tee, tee ! " all day from the 

 orchard trunks. Nightingales are reported ; but 

 nightingales are too good to be taken on hearsay 

 just yet. 



There is a manner of holiday in the garden. The 

 heavy work of getting in summer crops is nearly 

 done, and we have broken the back of the potting 

 and re-potting in the frames. There is less of 

 planning and more time to admire. To-day is 

 Alice's birthday ; and in the afternoon we held a 

 small commemoration, with tea in the garden. 

 Alice came early, and employed herself in gathering 

 by special leave, given to mark the day, an eclectic 

 posy from the borders. Nearer the hour fixed in 

 the invitations came Kitty Culpeper, a contemporary 

 of Alice's in the village. She promptly discharged 

 her attendant nurse and joined Alice among the 

 flower-plots ; where I presently saw the yellow head 

 and the brown in close conference over an armful of 

 pink and white tulips. The other guests arrived at 

 the grown-up equivalent, on the other side of the 



