COMMUTER'S WIFE 249 



"Last fall, when we hired your Chris as second 

 gardener for the outdoor things, I particularly 

 charged him to find out which was which, and re- 

 member it. Instead, to make things sure, he has 

 shaved 'em off all alike, round as cheeses and the 

 twigs as short as my French poodle's hair when 

 he's clipped for summer. Yes, my dear, not a bud 

 left on the rhododendrons, two hundred bushes of 

 them arranged with rocks behind to make a ravine 

 effect on the left side of our lawn by the grand 

 drive. All connected, too, for lighting 'em with 

 electrics. It is simply maddening. Jenks-Smith 

 has just bounced him, and we've got to fill in the 

 ravine with cannas and coleus. The landscapist was 

 up yesterday, fifty dollars every time he comes, 

 and he was shocked, and says the scheme is wholly 

 inconsistent. But what can we do? 



" Perhaps your husband would come over some 

 evening and suggest something, not in the way of 

 business, just an informal call, you know, for 

 those poor clipped things look like left-over Christ- 

 mas greens. How do you manage your pruning 

 now?" 



I smiled internally as I thought of Chris, and told 

 her that the old shrubs had largely taken care of 

 themselves, except for a little shortening of strag- 



