COMMUTER'S WIFE 93 



and the view from the window. During the past 

 two years when I have closed my eyes, led by 

 memory I have gone from room to room of the ram- 

 bling house, and trodden every inch of the home 

 soil from the path beneath the Mother Tree in the 

 garden to the farther side of the field toward the 

 bars where the wild apple blossoms make a rosy 

 wall. When I arrived at the attic, the room and 

 the odour always came together, the pungent, waxy 

 smell of wasps ! 



To-day, in addition to wasps and wood smoke, 

 a third tincture is added, wet dogs ! Bluff is 

 here as a matter of course, and owing to his long 

 hair and affectionate disposition, his fragrance is 

 the most in evidence of the five. It has been very 

 amusing to watch Bluff, for his perturbation of 

 mind as to whether he should follow father or 

 me is singular. The first week he bounced wildly 

 hither and thither as if he had lost his wits, not 

 being able to decide what to do ; but during the 

 past few days he has adhered to an evidently 

 thought-out plan of following the Stanhope in the 

 morning and staying with me in the afternoon, 

 that is, unless I then go out also, in which case 

 he continues to follow until he begins to lag, and 

 we stop and pull him into the gig, where he lies 



