GARDENS OF SWEET SCENT 



metry of design that their plenteous sentiment is de- 

 tected. Perhaps it is in the knowledge that they have 

 weathered many things without themselves changing. 

 At least, one cannot walk through such places without 

 acknowledging that they exhale a calm and restful 

 influence. 



Naturally, there are many flowers associated with 

 special sentiments; a vast number have figured in 

 folklore; there are plants of renownedly romantic 

 traditions. Still, even these mysterious plants cannot 

 alone make up a so-called garden of sentiment. On 

 the other hand, it seems as if incidents that have 

 happened in certain garden sections have left an imprint 

 that cannot be effaced. 



A curious story is told in connection with an old 

 garden near Narragansett Pier. The garden is one from 

 which a stone might readily be thrown into the water. 

 There, long ago, a young girl was wooed by an ardent 

 lover, a son of the woman who built the garden. As 

 these two walked up and down its paths in the twilight, 

 they stopped sometimes to sit on a bench placed in 

 front of an old York and Lancaster rose a rose of the 

 world, one with a vital spirit that has figured bril- 

 liantly in history and romance. The young girl leaned 

 toward the bush to pick one of its buds to place in 

 her lover's buttonhole; again he plucked a rose to 

 fasten in her hair. The twilight deepened, and then, 

 as sometimes happens, there slipped in a misunder- 

 standing. Harsh words were spoken before the rose 

 bush, swayed violently back and forth by the wind. 

 In a burst of rage the young man fled from the girl, 



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