198 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 19 15 



c r^eoerry harden, 



( ^— "*T^ ^J^ Jrances i ^Duncan ^ 



*~^ ^Decorations 5y 'Jack, GKCamey, 'Rose 



"r\ 





MICHAEL,' he says, givin' me 

 his check. 'There's some 

 plants marked; ye can put 

 down the cost. The check 

 will cover it, an if there's some left, sind 

 — well ye can sind somethin' pretty. 

 Use yer taste,' he says." 



" ' Where shall I sind them to? ' say I." 



'"Oh yis,' says he, 'I forgot,' says he. 

 'Let me see' says he, 'my word,' says he 

 — 'where shall I sind them!'" 



"Thin he thinks a bit and thin pulls 

 out a card. 



" 'Sind them to Mr. Stackpole, Hinery 

 F. Stackpole, av Chistnut Hill. He's 

 been after buying a new place, he should 

 larn to buy plants,' he says. 'To sind 

 him some is the best way to teach 

 him.'" 



Because of this careful arrangement 

 of the time-table, it would happen that 

 when Mr. Herford entered the office he 

 would be surprised to chance on the 

 secretary only. His first inquiry would 

 be for Mr. Worthington. Miss Daven- 

 ant was very sorry; he had only just 

 gone in. 



"Ah, yes!" Mr. Herford would glance 

 at the clock. "It takes a good bit of 

 time to get here. Michael? Is Michael 

 near at hand?" 



Roberta thought a minute. "I be- 

 lieve he's at the end of the dogwood 

 plantation; he said he was going there. 

 I'll send Barney and have him here 

 shortly." 



"About how long would it take?" 

 would be the next query. 



Roberta was truthful. "Perhaps 

 twenty minutes." 



"I'm so sorry," he would say. "I 

 haven't the time. It's a pity, too, to 

 break in on his work." 



"Would one of the other men do?" 

 Roberta would ask. "Pete is quite 

 near, or Reilly?" 



He shook his head. " I'd rather have 

 Michael. I can easily come again." 



And then doubtfully. 



"Would it be too much trouble, I 

 wonder, if you could " 



" It would be no trouble/' Miss Daven- 

 ant answered in her most businesslike 



{Continued from page 156, December number) 



mannner, "but I don't know the prices 

 of those specimen plants." 



Mr. Maurice Herford's face lightened. 

 "That would be no difficulty — you 

 know the location. If you would only 

 mark for me the ones I want, Michael 

 can affix the proper prices later. If it 

 would not be too much trouble," he 

 would repeat apologetically. 



So Mr. Herford would have his desire 

 and Roberta, her pockets stuffed with 

 labels, would go with him out into the 

 late afternoon sunshine, along the broad 

 grass path and by the brilliant azaleas, 

 stopping here and there to mark a 

 plant. 



He was rather silent, was Mr. Herford, 

 and shy and middle-aged and growing 

 early gray. Roberta's whole impres- 

 sion of him was of silvery-gray. He 

 used to wear grayish clothes. He had a 

 clear, delicate profile and very, very 

 unexpectedly dark brown eyes that could 

 flash with sudden pleasure. 



Mr. Herford chose his plants for cur- 

 ious reasons. He selected some beauti- 

 ful azaleas, Indicas, that were over by the 

 hedge, standing, himself, on the grass path 

 some yards distant, since from that 

 place he could see which plants he 

 wanted. Also he wished to see Roberta 

 bending over the dazzling whiteness of 

 the azaleas, her coppery hair in the 

 late afternoon sun shining like an 

 aureole of red-gold against the dark back- 

 ground of the hedge. It took him quite 

 a while to find the right azaleas. 



After about twenty minutes of se- 

 lecting plants, he would go back con- 

 tentedly to the office where Michael 

 would probably be waiting, a smile of 

 bland contentment on his face. 



"Would you let me drive you in?" 

 asked Maurice Herford of Roberta, 

 with a shy hopefulness in his voice. 



"I'm sorry," she said, "it's very kind 

 of you, but I have work to do that will 

 take until six to finish. It's impossible." 



Mr. Herford entered his carriage, 

 carefully attended by Michael, and drove 

 off a bit regretful, but on the whole well 

 content. 



Michael returned to the office, sat 



down and adjusted his red neckerchief 

 with complacent pride. 



"Michael," said the girl, "did you 

 know Mr. Herford was coming out this 

 afternoon?" 



"He said somethin' of ittheother day," 

 returned Michael airily, "but 'twas 

 nothin' to be depended on." 



"And you knew he was coming when 

 you went to the far end of the dogwood 

 lot! And I rang and rang for Barney!" 



"I had the lad with me wor-rkin'. 

 'Tis a shame he knows so little about 

 plants!" 



"Michael!" she said reproachfully. 



"Well!" he demanded, "do ye think 

 I'll let a tow-headed lad have the run of 

 the place all morning and give no chance 

 to my little man, who's no brass because 

 'tis pure gold, he is? Indeed not!" 



"When ye first came out to Rose- 

 berry Gardens, Miss Davenant, Mr. 

 Worthington says to me, says he, 'Take 

 good care of her, Michael,' he says, 

 'she's but wan gur-rl in a lot of men.' 

 And ye may like it or not, but Oi'm 

 doin' it," concluded Michael firmly, 

 "to the extint of that sinse the Holy 

 Mother has given me! " 



Chapter VIII 



For all the machinations of Michael 

 O'Connor, which alternately amused 

 and annoyed Roberta, she went her way 

 serenely. The Gardens fascinated her. 



Always she would be out early, and 

 after the trucks had gone down the 

 flowery drive carrying with them their 

 load of cases and of Tompkins' griev- 

 ances, she would arrange the day's work 

 with Michael and then be off and away 

 to find Rudolph Trommel. The early 

 morning hours were clear gain. She was 

 not officially due at the Gardens until 

 nine. 



Early as Roberta was, Rudolph Trom- 

 mel was earlier. She would be out at 

 the Gardens at seven, but the old Swiss 

 would already have been up for three 

 hours. Invariably he gave a couple of 

 hours to his beloved philosophers — 

 Emanuel Kant, Schopenhaur, Fichte, 

 or Comte and among English and Dar- 



