AN ISLAND GARDEN 117 



minute that was ever created. I watched it with 

 breathless interest, completely puzzled by it. Per- 

 fectly tame, it flew all about me and investigated 

 the flowers in my hand. Suddenly I discovered 

 that it had three pairs of legs! No bird, I said, 

 ever had more than one, and then I was satisfied 

 that it must be the most marvelous moth in the 

 world. It was so happy and beautiful, flying 

 about so confidingly in the bright sunshine within 

 reach of my hand ! But I knew of some one to 

 whom it would be a treasure, so I threw a light 

 veil over, caught it, and sent it softly to sleep 

 forever with some chloroform. It was j&Lllopos 

 Titan, very rare, and found in the tropics. 



The dazzling white Lilies blossoming now, 

 bright as silvery snow below the Larkspurs, are 

 taller than they by several feet. I wish I could 

 in any words paint the hues of these splendid 

 Delphiniums ; such shades of melting blue, some 

 light, others dark, some like the summer heaven, 

 and dashed across their pale azure wings with de- 

 licious rose. Now is the garden at high tide of 

 beauty. Sweet Peas are brilliant in all their vivid 

 tints ; they are doing bravely, spite of the drought, 

 because their roots are so well shaded. They 

 bloom so plenteously that they can hardly be 

 gathered, though they are cut daily. The Rose 

 Campion bed is a lake of delicate colors with its 

 border of scarlet Flax. Poppies of every tint are 

 blazing; the Hollyhocks are splendid, with their 

 comrades the Sunflowers; every day the single 

 Dahlias surprise me with new and unexpected 

 flowers ; the Tea Rose bed is a perpetual delight 



