Gardener's Pride 



the house ! A little double -fronted cottage, 

 crowded in with laurels, and inside as dark as it 

 could possibly be made. What was it made the 

 English of the last century hide away in dark 

 corners ? Of what were they ashamed ? Dark cur- 

 tains, dark mantel-places, dark wood, two conserva- 

 tories — one a " lean-to," at the back of the dining- 

 room — and, as you entered, a little lobby, looking 

 up a straight stair with banisters wrapped in dark 

 red plush. Even in his house, you see, the old 

 gentleman could not stand naked wood. Strange 

 to what eccentricities disappointed men will cling 

 for comfort ! On either side of the little lobby were 

 two rooms, two corresponding rooms above them, 

 and two more above the new kitchen wing : all ugly, 

 dark, hopeless ; but I was carried away by the 

 situation — the pines, the hill behind, the garden 

 (if it could be called a garden then) running into 

 the wood. A heron flew over the house, and that 

 settled it. I had brought some seeds with me, for, 

 to take possession of a piece of land, one must set 

 things growing, and there and then I planted them. 

 That was my first active piece of gardening. Having 

 planted the seeds, I saw the house-agent. That was 

 all some years ago. But at once it was my house 

 and my garden, and I felt the better for it, and yet 

 I think it was never really my house until now. 



ii 



