182 THE GARDEN OF A 



belonging to mother had set this door ajar. They 

 were both Michelet's " The Bird " and " The Ocean." 



Then books on plants and gardening followed 

 thick and fast, and I picked up a few inexpensive 

 oddities at the book sales when I went with father, 

 sometimes venturing to bid myself, the " Flora His- 

 torica " of Phillips, two quaint volumes on the Three 

 Seasons of the British Parterre being one of the 

 results of my prowess; while the first book that 

 Evan gave me was the rare North American Sylva 

 of Michaux and Nuttall, with coloured plates. 



As Evan began to sort and stack the books, I 

 stood by in a state of increasing alarm as one fav- 

 ourite after another went to build up the pile of 

 annuals. I saw the Rollo books and "The Wide, 

 Wide World " depart without a sigh. I never 

 cared for them except when I was rather feeble 

 physically, as after whooping-cough or the mumps ; 

 but when " The Parent's Assistant " and Hooker's 

 " Child's Book of Nature " followed, together with 

 "The English Orphans," "Les Malheurs de Sophie," 

 one of my early French books, "The Children's and 

 the Schoolgirl's Garland " of Mrs. Kirkland, and 

 " The Struggles and Triumphs of P. T. Barnum," 

 a souvenir of a festive trip to the circus, I pro- 

 tested. 



