The Washington herald., 1907-06-16

Jane, as she laid down her trowel and
pushed back her calico sunbonnet, If /
never heard anything funny again in this
world. / could keep on laughin' till l dled
Jest over things ! ricOllect The trouble
is there amt always anybody around TO
laugh with me sam Amos ain't nothin
but a name 10 you. child. but 60 me he's
Jest as real as II he hadn't been dead
these many years. and | can laugh over
the things he used 10 do the same as II
they happened yesterday.
Only n name And / had read II on a
lichen-covered stone in the old burying-
ground, but as l walked home through
tho twilight I would hardly have been
startled II sam Amos. In the pride OF
life had come riding past me on his bay
mare. or II Uncle Jim Matthews voice
Of cheerful discord had mingled with the
spring song Of the frogs sounding from
every marsh and pond.
Il was Aunt James motto that wherever
a weed would grow a flower would grow;
and carrying out this principle OF plant
ing, her garden was continually extend
Ing its boundaries; and deniZens of the
garden proper were to be found IN every
nook and corner of her domain. In the
spring YOU looked for grass only: and lo,
starting I'D at your feet, like the uncy-
Dected joys Of life, came the golden
daffodil. the paler narclssus, the purple
iris and the red and yellow tulip flour
ishing as bravely as in the soil Of its
native Holland. and for a few sunny
weeks the front yard would be a great
flower garden. Then blossom and leaf
would fade. and you might walk all
summer over the velvet grass, never
knowing how much beauty and fragrance
lay hidden IN the darkness Of the earth
But when ! go back TO Aunt James gar
den, / pass through the front yard and
the back yard between rows Of lilac
syringas. calycanthus and honeysnckle
open the rckety gate and find myself
IN a genuine 0id-fashioncd garden, tho
homely. inclusive spot that welcomed all
growing things 10 its hOspitable bounds
type Of the DAYS when there were no i'm
passable barriers Of gold and caste be-
tween man and his brother man. In the
middle Of the garden stood a sumner
house" or arbor, whose cEumbling tim
hers were knit together by interlacing
branches Of hOneysuckle and running
roses. The summer-house had four en-
frances, opening on four paths that di-
yided the ground into quarter-seCtlons
occupied by vegetables and small fruits
and around these, like costly embroidery
on the hem of a homespn garment, ran
wide border Of flowers that blossomed
from early April TO late November, shift
ing from one beauty 20 another as each
flower had its little day.
There are fiower-lOvers who love some
flowers and other fiower-lovers who love
all flowers. Aunt Jane was Cf the latter
class. The commonest plant. striving In
its own humble way % be sweet and
beautiful, was sure Of place here. and
the haughtlest arist0cTat who sought ad-
mission had 20 lay aside all pride Of place
or birth and acknowledge her kinsf.p
with common humanity. The Bourbon
rose could not hold aside her skirts from
contact with the Cabbage-rose: the Law
ender could not disdsin the companion
snip Of sage and thyme All must live
together IN the concord OF perfect de-
mOcraCy. Then II the great Gardener be-
slowed rain and sunshine when they
were needed. midsummer days would
show n glorious symphony Of color
around the gray farmhouse, and through
the enchantment Of bloom and fragrance
fitted an old woman, whose dark ewes
glowed with the Joy Of living. and the JOY
Of remembering all lifes other summers.
To Aunt Jane every flower in the garden
was a human thing with n life story. and
close 20 the summer-house grew one
historic rose, heroine Of an old romance.
% which 7 listened one day as we sat
in the arhor, where hundreds Of honey
suckle blooms were trImpeting their
fragrance on the air
Grandmother rose. child, that's all
the name it's got" she said, IN answer
20 my question. 7 reckon YOU think
fne-lo0kin' rose like that ought % have
q fne-soUndin' name But I never saw
anybody yet that knew enough about
roses TO tell what its right name is May
be when I'm dead and gone somebody.u
tack a French name on 70 Il, but as long
as il grows fin my gyarden TN be jest
grandmotker's rose. and this is how It
come by the name.
MY grandfather and grandmother was
amongst the first settlers Of Kentucky.
They come from the Old Dominion over
the wilderness road way back wonder.
goodness knows when. Did you ever think.
child, how curious IL was for them men 20
leave their homes and risk their own
lives and the lives Of their little children
and their wives jest % git 10 a new
country u appears TO me they must a
been led Jest like Columbus was when
he crossed the big ocean IN his little ships
I reckon II the women and children had
had their way about il, the bears and