io6 THE GARDEN OF A 



country life, whereas the intelligent country life, if it 

 is lived and not merely toyed with in an amateurish 

 manner, is a full, sparkling, strenuous course, calling 

 for a more inventive brain and greater activity than 

 that of the city in proportion as its satisfaction is 

 greater. The difference is that in the city at best 

 one lives the life of others, the life of the shop, the 

 street, the crowd, while in the country one must live 

 one's own life. A selfish, warped, narrow life, some 

 say ? Doubtless it might he ; but if one has a home 

 to keep, a husband weaving his web daily to and fro, 

 and a country doctor, vibrating with sympathies of 

 many lives, for a father, the pulse can never beat 

 slow nor the heart grow cold. 



I am daily realizing that it is a liberal education of 

 both heart and head simply to be Evan's wife and my 

 father's daughter. Father's private means, though 

 small comparatively, enable him to keep abreast of 

 outside affairs and the newest methods of his profes- 

 sion, so that he can do the best possible for his 

 poorest patient, regardless of fees or criticism, thus 

 carrying comfort and hope miles beyond the usual 

 limited circuit when controlled by mere pay. 



The saying that " shoemaker's children lack 

 shoes " is simply a criticism of the relations between 

 the children and their cobbler parent. The parental 



