AN ISLAND GARDEN 57 



large green clump of tender Columbine. He 

 really was n't more than half awake, after his long 

 winter nap, but he was alive and well, and when 

 later I went to look after him, lo ! he had crept 

 off, perhaps to snuggle into the earth once more 

 for another nap, till the sun should have a little 

 more power. 



To our great joy the frogs that we imported 

 last year are also alive. We heard the soft rippling 

 of their voices with the utmost pleasure ; it is a 

 lovely liquid-sweet sound. They have not lived 

 over a winter here before. We feared that the 

 vicinity of so much salt water might be injurious 

 to them, but this year they have survived, and 

 perhaps they may be established for good. 



May 2Oth. All the past days have been filled 

 with transplanting and the most vigorous weed- 

 ing. In these five days the Sweet Peas have 

 grown so tall I was obliged to go after sticks for 

 them to-day, wheeling my light wheelbarrow up 

 over the hill and across the island toward the 

 south, where among the old ruined walls of cel- 

 lars and houses, and little, almost erased garden 

 plots, the thick growth of Bayberry and Elder 

 offered me all the sticks I needed. Such a charm- 

 ing business was this ! So beautiful the narrow 

 road all the way, bordered by the lovely Shad- 

 bush in bridal white, the delicate red Cherry with 

 flowers so like Hawthorn as to be frequently mis- 

 taken for it, the pink Chokecherry, the common 

 Wild Cherry (which seems to attract to itself most 

 of the caterpillars in the land), all blossoming for 

 dear life, and among thickets of Blackberry, Rasp- 



