194 THE JOY OF GARDENS 



which we know so little, since we have forgotten the 

 "glories whence we came." 



The message sent to the door bespoke plain food. Why 

 not cake"? Have the good people ever thought that the 

 repressed little bodies clad in subduing gingham might 

 hunger for flowers to feed their souls? It was my gentle 

 neighbor who wound the message about a late-blooming 

 Japan lily "Hast thou two loaves of bread? Then sell 

 one to buy flowers of the narcissus, for though the bread 

 will nourish thy body, the flowers will strengthen thy 

 soul." 



Mohammed said it long ago, repeating a message from 

 the Infinite. The mission of loveliness created in the 

 Garden of Eden has fed the souls of poets and prophets 

 and those who thirsted by the wayside. What has pre- 

 served the ideal of beauty like -the rose, of purity like the 

 lily, of sweetness like the violet, of grace like that of the 

 primrose? 



The church clock struck nine as the demure procession 

 came in sight under the arching trees. A golden shower 

 of tinted maple leaves floated down upon the uncovered 

 heads of little boys and girls, walking two by two. The 

 leaders stopped as they reached the gate, as if dazzled by 

 the baskets of bloom, and stepped back abashed at the 

 offering of flowers. Then, with the quick acceptance of 

 blessings natural to hopeful childhood, both hands soon 

 reached out, and eyes shone on the scarlet of geranium, 



