84 JUNE 



an interval for getting the master to office and 

 back ! 



" How beautiful is the rain ! 

 After the dust and heat, 

 In the broad and fiery street, 

 In the narrow lane, 

 How beautiful is the rain ! " 



Another joy ! I have given away half of Pene- 

 lope ! At least, a friend is going to divide him 

 with me ; so that now I shall have two weeks' 

 reprieve in each month, without having to invent 

 tasks for him, on days when there are absolutely 

 no ravages in the laundry linen to repair ; and now 

 C. S. and I are going to start at once on road- 

 making, culvert building, path alterations; and 

 grandest of all, a large new fern-house facing north, 

 which he is going to build himself from his own 

 design. According to the plans for this, I shall 

 want about 2000 pots to fill the stands ! What a 

 business it will be preparing them, but now that 

 the rain is loosening the earth, one can do anything. 

 These will be grand growing times, and I must 

 take up and divide the ferns of all kinds that are 

 growing under the south wall, which will give me 

 ample for my fern-house. There they will do much 



