A FIRST-RATE ONE. 79 



over confused, and made an excuse to be off ; 

 and I was glad to get rid of him, though I 

 didn't let him go without bidding him not 

 forget the Icarbonic hacid gas to venerate my 

 plants with. How foolish we are to use 

 words we don't know the meaning of! 



But I must say a word about a very dif- 

 ferent kind of man Fm afraid to say gar- 

 dener ; for if he's a standard for gardeners, 

 I'm not one, I'm only a labourer ; and I'd 

 rather, if I had to start afresh, be like him 

 than be the greatest man in the land. He 

 was none of that wishy-washy sort that you 

 may wring like a dish- clout and get nothing 

 out of, but of that kind that says little, ^and 

 yet knows and can do much. How I wished 

 he'd lived only some few miles off instead of 

 in another county. I carried him a note 

 from the squire, who was a friend of his 

 lady's ; and as I got to the place rather late 

 in the evening, I thought I'd walk to his 

 house and give him the letter, just to see 

 what kind of a greeting I was to get, and so 

 be ready for the morning. His little maid 

 took in the note, which brought him to the 

 door directly; and he had me in at once, 

 more like an old friend than a stranger. 



