181)G 



THE AM KinC AN BEE-KEEPER. 



107 



For t)ieiu es is married— an T flayer 

 myeelf is I knows, being myself a mar- 

 ried WdUKU) — this 'ere bijou residence 

 ain't 'all, nor yet a quarter, large enough. 

 A U'au may be es fond o' his wife es 

 ever it is possible fur 'im to be, a wo- 

 man may bo cs fond of 'er 'usbsnd es 

 'er ever ken be, but they don't want to 

 bo knocking up agin each other all the 

 livelong day. " 



Hero the ficiure in the rowan berries 

 stni!n:arily disappeared into the tiny 

 dra',viiig room. The tall patrician man, 

 pretcruaturaiiy embarras.scd, strode into 

 the ti'jy dining room, and the garrulous 

 caici'al'or was left to fmi.sh her speech 

 yi enipty benches. Slie imagined herself 

 to be a woman of singular penetration, 

 howfTor. It was her boast that she 

 oovrj-i grr.sp a situation at a glance and 

 takfi ii nil ill. Therefore she was by no 

 uawtj^s'di:- concerted till a flutter of skirt.s 

 emo'e- hfr e;\r and Iho woman wiih the 

 rowiin !)crrJrs reappeared, the juau hav- 

 liig k>-iio up stairs, saying in a v.t isper, 

 Vith iiijlsiiaticn titfC^nMo in every 



"Ti.r.t i^entlemau is a perfect stranger 

 to nje. I Iv.ive never seen h;ni before 

 today ;d niy life. We cluuice5 to arrive 

 at '::e sta' ion together and to v.">»lk ".ip 

 to iLe ho'^eo together. And cc./ you 

 oau go. There is no cccci&icu fcr ycu to 

 follow me «>ver the ho'ise. I prGur to 

 lock at ir sili.ue. By the hjv,'' ehe rdu- 

 «d. "I hiuMjld advise the ov,-iior.= 1 1" it to 

 prit ;t in other hands. You eviucntly 

 don't want to ler it I" 



It doe.s not take long to look o^-sr a 

 eix rc;.;-ied fotta,;;;e. In ten in In ales the 

 ir:i»!i was cut on the .slope cl' {jarden in 

 the rear looking illy ahead of hira 

 across the t'iach. Co had seen in a flash 

 through the stairc..^!-; window the rowan 

 berries going up staii.-;. Ho caught in a 

 flash now ihe rowr.n berries coming 

 down. 



"Will she go stra'pht out by the hall 

 door," he asked himself, "or come into 

 the gardtij?" 



A rustle of the silk skirts coming 

 down the path toward him, a glimpse 

 of a couifly figuie silhouetted momen- 

 tarily against the pendent ivy, was the 

 agreeable answer to this query. 



"As we have both come very long 

 distances and indisputably upon the same 

 quest," she began, "it is but fair, in- 

 deed the right and civil thing to do, I 



tuink, to ask you if you have come to 

 any decision about the house? I be- 

 lieve" — here her eyebrows went up, and 

 she showed a gleam of teeth — "in all 

 business matters man takes precedence. " 



"But, in matters of sentiment," he 

 interrupted her, "woman." 



"Sentiment?" she said. "Do yon 

 think, then, that even in her business 

 transactions a woman is necessarily sen- 

 timental?" 



"I certainly do," he answered. 



She moved on down nearer the flagged 

 edge of the reach and stood looking 

 away across it to the green meadows op- 

 posite, each detail of her charming per- 

 son duplicated in the water with dis- 

 tracting accuracy. 



"Ah, if you knew me better," she 

 said, "yon would find that I am a most 

 prosaic creature. I threw aside senti- 

 ment ten years ago, when I threw aside 

 my youth. My head at this moment, if 

 you could only see the workings of it, 

 is full of the prosiest speculations as to 

 the drainage of the cottage, the exact 

 character of the soil on which it stands, 

 for I have a strong suspicion it is built 

 upon clay. I am propounding, too, 

 whether I like the kitchen range. The 

 scullery strikes me as having been 

 thought of afterward, and about the 

 bathroom fittings I am just wondering. 

 It seems to me they are inadequate, as 

 compared with the flowery suggestion 

 of sanitary perfection conveyed in The 

 Daily Telegraph ; and, well, the draw- 

 ing and dining rooms are certainly rath- 

 er circum.sc bed, aren't they?" 



"Yet, at me same time, you are agree- 

 ably pleased on the whole?" he suggest- 

 ed. 



"On the principle that nothing, even 

 in six roomed cottages on the banks of 

 the Thames, can entirely reach the full- 

 ness cf our expectations — yes. " 



He smiled and spread his hands. 



"In that respect the best of us are but 

 as little children ever searching after 

 what is absolutely impossible in this 

 world — perfection," he answered. 



"Yes, why is it? We should not like 

 it if we could get it either. Yet we 

 search, search, search, and waste our 

 whole lives. " 



She turned her arch glance toward him 

 and waited. 



"It is our disease. Perhaps it is put 

 there purposelv that we should not 



