GARDENS NEAR THE SEA 



and sprang lightly into a boat fastened at the side 

 of the water touching the garden. He put off, knowing 

 not where, and heedless of the rising gale; for in his 

 heart there raged a storm even fiercer — one which knew 

 no calm, since his boat was shortly swamped and he 

 perished without a look backward toward the garden. 



The girl remained to weep; but when her tears were 

 dry she married a cousin of her former lover, and 

 together they went to live in a neighboring state. 



Years afterward she returned, bringing with her 

 a son on the edge of manhood. She took him to walk 

 in the garden — the garden where she had wept. Now 

 it is related in all seriousness that as they drew near 

 the spot where the bench still stood before the York 

 and Lancaster rose, the boy was seized as with a frenzy. 

 He talked strangely, and at length ran in despair to 

 the nearby water and drowned himself. 



The story is followed by the tradition that the 

 rose bush then withered and refused to blossom any 

 longer, and undoubtedly it should have done so if only 

 to make a fitting end for the melancholy occurrence. 

 But beside this account runs another put forth by a 

 purely realistic person, who insisted that the bush 

 not only bore better than ever before, but that he 

 gave away cuttings from it to many of his friends as 

 a very great curiosity. In truth, the power of associa- 

 tion in a garden is inexplicable and very strong. 



There are innumerable tales about the phantom 

 spirits of those who have loved and tended certain 

 gardens, walking in them in the moonlight and stooping 

 to smell the flowers, whose perfume is greatly intensified, 



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