CHAPTER VIII 



The Garden Gate 



I am finishing these notes under the 

 shade of one of the oaks that seduced 

 me into making the original drive for 

 personal liberty and privacy during 

 the heated term. Fussing with her 

 pansies there is Billy. You who knew 

 her just before we found this retreat 

 in an out-of-the-way corner of the 

 world would not know her now. She 

 was always fair enough — at least to 

 me — but the fact is she is now flirting 

 desperately with two other /'j, for 

 which two g''s — golf and gardening — 

 are primarily responsible. 



Since my earliest recollections I have 

 ever been fascinated by the first fore- 

 casts of spring as evidenced by vegeta- 

 tion. I knew where the peonies and 

 [89] 



