A Long Way Round 



A peep into the doll's house will be suffered by 

 Master Gardener. He has not yet begun to resent 

 intrusion or to regard the cottage as exclusively 

 his house. Later on though, he will reach human 

 egoism and the doll's house will be written all over : 



" The house where I live." 



He will be a gardener like his father — (indeed, 

 as soon as he can crawl, he is to be set a-weeding) 

 — and gardeners grow out of that sort of thing 

 sooner than most of us. 



Jane peeps into the tiny kitchen, and I tell her 

 how the gardener made the house ready against 

 the coming of his bride, working through the night, 

 painting, and papering, and whistling like a thrush : 

 and how she came and was like a little white dove, 

 so soft and pretty ; and how Master Gardener 

 shouldered his way into the world with a lusty 

 yell, and put us all in our places by the mere fact 

 of his arrival, and how the Newfoundland had 

 received an intimation that he had set out on his 

 journey and made inquiries every day for a week 

 and barked a welcome when at last he descended 

 upon us out of the night. 



And simple Jane declares that she has found 

 the perfect place on earth and will never, never 

 stir. She actually sits down and puts the most 

 embarrassing questions to Mrs. Gardener — (Jane 



89 



