COMMUTER'S WIFE 203 



in which question and approval blended, she said by 

 way of explanation, born of the proper English 

 regard of the man's rights in his home, in which, by 

 the way, there was no tone of apology, rather of in- 

 struction, 



"The gentlemen needs something hearty, Mrs. 

 Evan. Company food and sweets is most destroying 

 to their habits. In the old days at such times I 

 always served the master a steak in my sitting room 

 with my own hands, I bein' housekeeper then, Mrs. 

 Evan." 



Good woman ! I think if the habits of our American 

 men were not so frequently "destroyed" by haste and 

 by company food, we should be better off. Thank you, 

 Martha Corkle. I am not ashamed to learn of you. 



I should be restless or at least tired and fidgety 

 after these months of indoor life and repression, but 

 I'm not. However, indoor life in the country is only 

 a figure of speech to me at any season, save in the 

 evening; and I've been so well that I've not even 

 had the excuse of a snuffle cold to keep me in bed a 

 single dark, sleepy morning. Now I feel, however, 

 that the grip of civilization is loosening, and since 

 morning I've been confronted and surrounded by a 

 Terrible Temptation, one of the greatest that besets 

 the commuter's wife on gardening bent. All day it 



