TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING 



" BESSIE, my lassie," exclaimed the Poet, as 

 they entered their new garden for the first time 

 together, " what a time we shall have ! " 



When the Poet called his wife "lassie" she 

 knew he was in a happy frame of mind, and 

 was happy herself. It was long since she 

 had heard the word ; illness, overwork, and the 

 dull surroundings of a London suburban villa, 

 had taken all the spring out of his body, and 

 all its natural joyousness from his mind. I 

 call him Poet because it was the name by 

 which his best friends knew him ; I cannot be 

 sure that he ever wrote poetry, and certainly he 

 never published any ; but they called him Poet 

 because he was dreamy, and hated the fag and 

 the noise of London, and pined for the country, 

 and loved to talk of his old Yorkshire home and 



