THE WILD GARDEN 



stopped to chat with me as I worked among my 

 plants. 



" That's a beauty," he said as he leaned across 

 the fence near the Golden Rod. I don't know's 

 I ever saw anything like it before. I reckon, 

 now, you paid a good deal of money for that 

 plant.'' 



"How much do you think it cost me?" I 

 asked. 



" Oh, I don't know," he answered, looking at 

 the plant admiringly, and then at some of foreign 

 origin, near-by. He knew something about the 

 value of these, as he had one of them growing in 

 his garden. He seemed to be making a mental 

 calculation, based on the relative beauty of the 

 plants, and presently he said: 



" I ain't much of a judge of such things, but 

 I wouldn't wonder if you paid as much as three — 

 mebby four — an' like's not five dollars for it." 



" The plant cost me nothing but the labor of 

 bringing it from the pasture," I answered. 

 " Don't you know what it is? There's any quan- 

 tity of it back of your barn, I notice." 



" You don't mean to say that's yaller-weed," 

 exclaimed the old gentleman, with a disgusted 

 look on his face. " I wouldn't have it in my yard. 

 We've got weeds enough 'thout settin' 'em out." 



285 



