The bee., 1909-01-28
Mackintyre's
Garden
A STUDY IN sE7VITUDE.
BY =. 6. Nernede.

least, | suppose he wouldn't, though 1
am not sure about IL: "Ye daft anna
teur, what are ye doing in my gar
den?"
In vino veritas, as the Romans had
IL. Celia and had known dimly for
a long time that the garden was no
longer ours. The freehold belonged to
me, because had bought It. We lived
in the house attached. Before Mack
intyre came we had often walked In
the garden, and Celia had picked the
flowers. She had also planted most of
them. But those were in the days Of
freedom. For months past Celia had
been forbidden TO pick anything, and
in some parts Of the garden we were
not even allowed to stroll. The wild
garden, for example. Celia had
planted that, too, before Mackintyre
came. She had been very proud OF
it. But Mackintyre was so much
prouder that trespassing was now for
hidden there At one point Of II we
were allowed to look through, II Mack
intyre stood by. For a minute or two.
We ANA1 AZ buCn iAlOHlGAAb lhC huoAH
and Eve when the fiery angel was in
genial mood and let them have a
look through the gate. Not that Mack
intyre was ever genial. Still, we
thought at times that be must be try
ing to be.
To get back to my point. Mackin-
tyre was exceedingly drunk, and saw
that II behooved me to be careful how
! answered him. He had a spud in his
hand and regarded me as one might
regard some peculiarly malignant
weed previous to destroying 1t. To
humor him seemed best
I'm what sense, Mackintyre," said,
do you mean that am in your gar
den? was under the impression that
it was my garden"
YOUR gardenl" He withered me
with rolling RS. What ha' ye done
that It should be your-r garden?"
II bought IT," said, modestly.
Bought III" Mackintyre laughed
loudly. And did We put mulch Of
gold round this delphinium? Were
yon hybrid teas pruned by you with
silver secateur? Is this spud wi the
which l ha' weeded night and day
shod with your ill-gotten copper" He
swung 1t round so violently as he
spoke that instinctively recoiled, and
nearly fell into bed OF carnations.
The movement I made to recover my
self gave him a wrong impression.
Move a step" he said, Ito Gull one
O. they picotees, and I'll brain We on
the spot"
|, Il don't want to pick One,%I said,
hurrledly
do ye not?"
Certainly not" I repeated. "At the
same time, Mackintyre," l continued,
with an assumption of authority, 81
must tell you that"
''The woman wants tor" he inter
rupted. WAS that what ye meant?"
NO" replied. l knew ne meant
Celia by the woman.
"'Tis well for her! And We may
tell her from me that IL find her
proving in my garden-whether with
scissors in her hand or mol will
/ will" He broke OF, but his eyes
looked death and destruction. This
menace to Celia moved me to a burst
Of firmness that nothing else would
have occasioned. Look here Mack
intyre," said, speaking quickly, your
behavior is, 10 put 1t mildly, out
rageous, and do not intend to put up
with 1t. l have stood a good deal
from You already since you came to US
a year ago from Col. Macpherson's
place. l do not blame Col. Macpher-
son. Nor do deny that you are in
dustrious, and have some knowledge
of vines and herbaceous plants. But
that is not enough-it is very far from
being enough-to compensate for the
very offensive way in which you treat
your employers"
Think ye SOP" said Mackintyre,
somberly.
Yes" replied. For a garden, in
my eyes, is a place where / can wan
der at my ease"
"Never!" he interpolated.
AuQ where, cOQllnueQ urmly
my wife, my friends, and myself can
please ourselves in the matter OF pick
ing flowers and fruits"
"Ah, ye're wanting the asparagus"
he cried, jeeringly.
Il am wanting freedom" I said,
holly. Liberty, Mackintyre, which
men die for. And / mean to have 1t.
l give you a months notice, Mackln-
tyre"
"And I give ye five seconds" he
yelled. after the which will plant
a Siberian crab on your measly re-
mains. With a judeecious addition OF
artificial, / ha' ma doot It will eventu-
ally grow"
What do you meanT"
die, monl" he screamed.
BY q superhuman effort I lodged
him, as he rushed at me with the
spud, only to stumble-and wake.
Whatever is the matter, John?''
said Celia, beside me. Are you hay
ing a nightmare"
[ groaned aloud In NV Wratchednesa