"Mv FATHER'S GARDEN." 495 



but when they found I never lost my temper, nor reported 

 them as I threatened to do if they did not be more atten- 

 tive and behave better, yet never fulfilled my threat, they 

 said ' I was a good sort and no gammon/ and I was soon 

 able to do anything I pleased with them, for I began in the 

 first instance by selecting them myself, for the head 

 gardener had long known my father. .... The first one 

 I selected was an impudent-looking little rascal, who was 

 taking a sight at me with the end of his thumb to his nose, 

 and his four little fingers expanded, but there was such an 

 expression of good humour in his roguish face, that I 

 picked him out at once, while he blushed as if ashamed at 

 what he had done. . . . The second was a sturdy deter- 

 mined-looking little fellow, who was taken red-handed 

 with a lump of bacon he had snatched from off the open 

 window shelf, where it was exposed as if to tempt him, 

 and who offered no other defence than that he was hungry 

 and thought it would be jolly to have a frizzle as he had 

 got some 'toke.' His father was transported for felony. 

 I picked him out because he looked me full in the eye, 

 and a smile lighted up his firm square face as I placed 

 him beside his companion. The third I picked out was a 

 gipsy boy and had lived in tents. He was a swarthy little 

 scoundrel, and the expression of his dark eyes was like that 

 of a rat's. So I went on completing my number, partly 

 from the impression made upon me by their looks, and 

 partly from what the head gardener told me of their 

 precedents and behaviour while they had been in the 

 reformatory. I had arranged beforehand where they were 

 to commence and had marked out the ground, for there 

 were full two acres in all under spade cultivation. Spades 

 were given to them suitable to their age and strength, and 

 they were delighted when they got out into the open air." 



As George's bedding plants came to maturity he visits 

 Mr Rose, a rich nurseryman in the neighbourhood, with 

 whom the family had long dealt for seeds, and does a 

 satisfactory stroke of business with him. But his cus- 



