Departure 



It may not be a universal truth that absence 

 makes the heart grow fonder ; it may even 

 rather be that partir cest mourir tin pen ; yet 

 whatever may be the case as regards human 

 relations, on some natures countries, places, or 

 climates once visited and enjoyed exercise a 

 powerful attraction. In our hot youth perhaps 

 ** the call of the wild " is strongest ; it may be 

 the abounding waters, the sombre fells, the 

 deep-set fjords of Northern Europe that 

 summon us most loudly ; it may be the limit- 

 less distances of the African veldt sweltering 

 beneath its pitiless sun. In our later age we 

 may be drawn rather to reseek the shady side 

 of Pall Mall, the quays by the Arno, or a 

 Madeira garden. And perhaps he is a wise 

 man who cultivates, and represses not, such 

 cat-like attachments. To every one upon this 

 earth death cometh soon or late ; but before it 

 comes it is given to some to reach old age, not 

 it may be the least pleasant period of life, but 

 depending for much of its contentment on 

 simple joys. And among these not the least 

 may be reckoned the love of a garden, a pride 

 and pleasure in the successful growth of the 

 trees and shrubs and flowers you have planted 



289 u 



