i88 THE GARDEN OF A 



" ' A Gentleman in a White Wig,' " I replied, on re- 

 ferring to the catalogue where half a dozen pictures 

 and some prints were listed with the books. 



" A true though certainly not very enlightening 

 title," mused father, still looking at the face with 

 narrowed eyes. " Barbara, I believe this is no less 

 than a portrait of Linnaeus. Those are not decora- 

 tive flowers, but botanical specimens, a wild rose 

 and a spray of agrimony, toward which he is calling 

 attention with his outstretched hand, possibly in 

 lecturing. That steeple is of the church in whose 

 manse garden he played when a boy. I'll not say 

 that it is an original painting, but probably a copy 

 of some museum picture abroad, of which there may 

 be fifty others floating about unrecognized. Still it 

 is good, and bears a certain resemblance to prints that 

 I have seen, and I've a mind to buy it." 



" Do, for I am simply in love with it," I assented, 

 "and Aunt Lot doesn't squirm so much about pic- 

 tures as over books. But I won't believe it's a 

 copy. The brush marks are free and without a 

 draggle or stumble. Who knows but it is a master- 

 piece gone astray ? At any rate, we will christen it 

 ' Linnaeus ' at once, and make a shrine for it over 

 your study mantel, and always keep wild flowers 

 under it." 



