XXX MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR 



cultivation holds good whether you wish for the 

 mass or whether you only want the single bloom. 



To find humour in everything is a happy gift, and 

 Mr . Foster-Melliar had it in abundance . His humour 

 was sometimes sarcastic, which is dangerous, but more 

 generally he used his gift to poke gentle good- 

 natured fun at things and people. He nearly 

 always managed to bring out the funny side of 

 things, and especially did he have unending amuse- 

 ment with his gardener, Paine. Paine was with 

 him for a great number of years, and was a very 

 quaint and rather illiterate individual. At the time 

 that Osman Digma was defeated in the Soudan, 

 Paine had a son born, and he decided that the 

 unfortunate youth should be baptised with the name 

 of Osman Digma. Fortunately, however, Paine 

 wasn't much of a " schollard," and when he was 

 asked for the name in church, he boldly replied 

 "Osborne," and "Osborne" the boy is to this day. 

 But Paine still fondly imagines that the boy is 

 named after the eastern warrior. 



Paine had some peculiar disability which pre- 

 vented him from ever giving an animal or insect its 

 proper sex. He would call the cow " he," the barn- 

 door cock "she," the mare "he," and the tom-cat 

 "she." Mr. Poster-Melliar came into lunch one 

 morning, rejoicing in Paine's latest exploit in this 

 direction. A wasp's nest was being built in a hole 

 under the eaves of the roof, and Paine had been sent 

 up to deal with it. Having dealt with it he reported 

 progress to Mr. Foster-Melliar. It seems he applied 

 smoke to the hole and, as a result, various young 

 wasps dropped down it and were duly despatched. 

 And "at last," remarked Paine with triumph, "out 



