22 DUTCH BULBS AND GARDENS 



country. A very straight white road ran by the 

 canal on one side. It was by this on his bicycle 

 den Heer Karel would have gone to the bulb 

 garden had he been alone. A remark on the 

 subject drew from him the assurance that it was 

 much cooler to go this way, and that the glaring 

 white dust of the road often hurt his eyes. The 

 which, with its dwelling on the one point of the 

 journey agreeable to him, seems more really 

 graceful than an assurance of delight in it ; this 

 even if he had not added, " besides, then I should 

 not have had company, and now I have, which is 

 pleasant." There is a certain sincere politeness 

 among the Dutch, which is attractive in its 

 simplicity, and at its best recalls the Quakers. 



I have been told that the village to which I 

 went that day is surprisingly wicked. The same 

 has been told of every village, except one, with 

 which I have come in contact in England. 

 Possibly, usually, with some truth, though the 

 surprise may have lain more in the nature of the 

 surprisee — it is hard not to think of picturesque 

 cottages and green fields as Gardens of Eden — 

 than in the outrageous iniquity of the villagers. 

 Certainly den Heer Karel was no connoisseur of 

 wickedness in any of its branches ; he would be 



