The bee., 1909-02-18
Mackintyre's
Garden
A STUDY IHeEnVITUpE.
BY n. E. Eer1Bdo.

he would hardly have said to me (at
least, suppose he wouldn't, though l
am not sure about III: "Ye daft anna
teur, what are ye doing in my gar
denY
In vino veritas, as the Romans had
It. 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. Fof 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
| bidden there. At one point of It we
were allowed to look through, II Mack
intyre stood by. For a minute or two.
We felt at such moments like Adam
and Eve when the fiery angel was in
a genial mood and let them have
look through the gate. Not that Mack
intyre was ever genial Still, we
thought at times that he must be try
ing to be.
To get back to my point. Mackin-
tyre was exceedingly drunk, and saw
that It behooved me to be careful how
1 answered him. He had a spud in his
hand and regarded me as one might
regard some peculiarly malignant
weed previous TO destroying it. To
humor him seemed best
"In what sense, Mackintyre," said,
do you mean that l am in your gar
den? was under the impression that
1t was my garden"
"Your-r garden" He withered me
with rolling RS. What ha ye done
that 1t should be your-r garden7"
II bought It." | said, modestly.
Bought it," Mackintyre laughed
loudly. And did ye put mulch OF
gold round this delphinium? Were
yon hybrid teas pruned by you with a
silver secateur? Is this spud WI the
which ha' weeded night and day
shod with your ill-gotten "copper"" He
swung It round so violently as he
spoke that instinctiyely recoiled, and
nearly fell into bed Of carnations.
| The movement 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 ye on
the spot"
II don't want to pick one," ! said,
hurriedly.
"Do ye not?"
Certainly not" repeated. "At the
same time, Mackintyre," l continued.
with au assumption OF authority, II
must tell you that" ..tA
"The woman wants TOP he inter
rupted. was that what ye meant?"
mo-" replied. knew he meant
Celia by the woman. t&e .3
"'Tis well for heri And ye may
tell her from me that II find her
! prowling In my garden-whether with
scissors In her hand OF no4AF willie
will" He broke OF, but his eyes
looked death and destruction. This
mepace to Celia moved me to a burst
of firm1ess that nothing else would
have occasioned. Look here, Mack
intyre," said, speaking quickly, :"your
behavior is, to put 1t mildly, out
rageous, and l do not intend to put up
with II. l have stood good deal
from you already since you'came to us
| a year ago from Col MacpherSon's
place. do not blame Col. Macpheri
son. Nor do l 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. at-
"Yes."I replied. For garden, in
my eyes, is a place where l can wan
der at my ease"
"Neverl" he interpolated.
And where" ] continued firmly,
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" l said,
hotly. Liberty, Mackintyre. which
men die for. And / mean TO have II.
I give you months notice. Mackin.
tyre"
"And give ye five seconds" he
yelled. after the which / will plant
a Siberian crab on your measly re-
mains. With judeecious addition OF
artificial. | ha' ma doot 1t will eventu-
ally grow"
What do you mean?"
"Die, mOnl" he screamed.
BY a superhuman effort I lodged