COMMUTER'S WIFE 61 



tables to help out the scanty resources of the hospi- 

 tal. Peter was slow, but oh, so reliable ! True, he 

 would insist upon shearing the roses and shrubs out 

 of all identity, like so many cropped heads, and the 

 most awful foliage beds were developed in his reign. 

 But I think, as I now look back, Aunt Lot aided and 

 abetted him. Also two gray drain tiles used as 

 vases and filled with sad lilac petunias appeared like 

 sentinels on either side of the walk from the road to 

 the porch. I protested, but Aunt Lot said that Mrs. 

 Schmidt suggested them and thought them grand, 

 and it might hurt her feelings to remove them. 



With my new vision I see that was a fatal mis- 

 take ; where service is concerned, when we hesitate 

 to protect our own rights, the dynasty will soon 

 crumble. 



Father revelled in the man's wholesome enjoyment 

 of the earth, and of the mere planting and tilling. 

 "We need such labourers," he often used to say as 

 he watched Peter at work, " labourers for the wide 

 field and the great crop ; such men have made the 

 West. Our difficulty is that our Eastern labour is 

 too small and detailed, and we scorn plodding peasant 

 toil. 



" I must tell Peter the opportunities of his class for 

 new world citizenship." 



