8 APRIL 



and that is the name it has ever since gone by. 

 What they love are ornamental beds, cut out of 

 the lawn in geometrical designs, edged all round 

 with neat tiles, and filled separately with phlox, 

 verbena, petunias, and pinks; planted exactly 6 

 inches apart. So do I ; and the master is particu- 

 larly good at laying out, with innumerable pegs, 

 and miles of string, the most quaint devices, all 

 mathematically accurate. One design looks rather 

 like an electric fan, swishing round with its load of 

 pansies and phlox. In another place there are the 

 four aces. The ace of clubs is full of pinks ; that 

 of hearts is composed of geraniums and petunias ; 

 the ace of diamonds contains carnations; and 

 spades is full of verbenas. These all look extremely 

 smart in the winter, but for eight months in the 

 year they show nothing but dry earth, or weeds. 



Then is the time for my wilderness, for there is 

 sure to be something cropping up in it, all of its 

 own sweet wild accord. You get down to it by 

 just rushing from shade to shade. From the house 

 to the Debdar Walk, there is a small bit of 

 " scorchiness " to encounter coming up from the 

 gravel drive, which seems to burn one's eyes out 



