188 MARY'S GARDEN AND HOW IT GREW 



It was late in the afternoon, and the two were sit- 

 ting on the broad door-step, for it was Herr Trom- 

 mel's hour of shirt-sleeved meditation. 



"Do trees like to be grafted? " asked Mary, after a 

 few minutes. "Do they always like to grow to be 

 something different?" 



"No," he said ; "sometimes they do not like it at 

 all ; sometimes they show you very plainly what they 

 think. But it is life ; it is education. Do you re- 

 member that eglantine of Monsieur Karr's? No? 



"Well, then, this eglantine was grafted with a fine 

 sort-" 



"I know how you do that ! " broke in his listener ; 

 "and you put the grafted place a little way under 

 the ground so the suckers won't come up." 



"Yes, yes ! you have a fine mind, but you should 

 not interrupt. This eglantine did not wish to be a 

 grafted rose and have very fine flowers. He liked 

 better his own little roses. Yes. 



"So he sent up a shoot. The gardener said it was 

 but a sucker, and he cut it off. 



"He sent up another shoot, but the gardener cut 

 that off. And again and again until he found it 

 was no use. 



"Then he sent his roots far along under the ground, 



