i 9 4 A GARDEN DIARY 



MAFEKING-DAY, 1900 



T T is the nineteenth of May. S. S. has re- 

 * turned, and the east wind which has long 

 been vexing our souls has departed for the 

 moment, and a soft caressing zephyr blows 

 seductively. The garden, comforted by recent 

 showers, is smiling one broad smile from the red 

 steps at the top of it to the new pergola at the 

 bottom. And now this morning comes the news 

 of the Relief of Mafeking. Joy for the victors ; 

 joy for the nation ; joy for everything and every- 

 body. Flags flutter from all the posts ; the dogs 

 strut about in new tricolor rosettes; "the air 

 breaks into a mist with bells." All this is well, 

 very well. Only ; only. A few lines coming by 

 the same post, a single short note, and for one 

 person that May sunshine is blotted out as effec- 

 tually as though the very orb itself had perished. 

 The garden with all its flowers ; the copse sur- 

 rounding it, new clad in gala attire ; the whole 

 cheerful little picture has become darkened ; its 

 atmosphere changed ; its pleasant anticipations 



