The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-09-09

Alice Had Hit Upon His Own Design.
magic when the first green sprouts
appeared. And after a while a tiny
bloom made its appearance In the
flower garden.
Nov, Jim, no looking" said Alice
mischievously.
"But-hang 1t, Alice, you're not 60
ing to keep me out of the garden the
whole summer, are your" he asked.
But Jim, you can look from afar.
And you can walk on the lawn. Only,
you must not come up to the flower
beds. Because / have a big surprise
for you in preparation"
It must be confessed that Jim did
look. And as the flowers bloomed and
the whole garden became one riotous
mass Of blossoms, he began Emporium
ing Alice more and more frequently
to be allowed to see his surprise. At
last she fixed upon the following Sat
urday.
Meanwhile Jim had not been idle.
He, too, had prepared little surprise
for Alice. He had taken advantage of
her permission to plant flowers, and,
with great dexterity, had placed bed
of sweet alyssum, as a compliment to
her, setting 1t out in such a way that
the arrangement of the flowers
spelled out the letters of her name.
When the green leaves appeared and
actually grew true his delight was
unbounded.
One Of the hardest things he had
to do was to remember the various
vegetables. He had hit upon an In
genious method of overcoming this
dif1culty-he had planted them alpha
betically. Beginning at the tool shed
were artichokes; then came the as
paragus-not to bloom till the second
year; beans, beets. Brussels sprouts,
and cabbages, ranging all the way
down to turnips and watermelons.
There was no vegetable listed on the
catalogue after watermelons, so he
concluded that that growth was al
phabetically the last that was known
to science.
tory, too, for it would have been i'm
possible for him, city-bred as he was,
to have distinguished the succulent
turnip from the radish or peanut, un-
less he could have pulled 1t out by
the roots and examine 1t.
Saturday came. Jim was in fer
ment of excitement when his wife led
him into the garden. He shifted the
breeze, laden with fragrant doors, and
1t smelled very good to him. Alics
led him to q corner where some deli
cately tinted flowers we're pyicking
their way up through the mud
Jim looked and stared Alice had
hit upon his own design. The flowers
were growing in rather straggly but
unmistakable letter J.
Sweet Williams" whispered Alice,
looking at him triumphantly.
'Yes-but-" stammered her hus-
band.
That's a compliment to you, dear.
est" she said. You see, there isn't
any Sweet James. SO l pretended that
your name was William instead.
Aren't you pleased?"
Pleased? I'm delighted" he cried
But Alice, dear, do you know have
thought Of just the same thing for
your"
For me?"
Yes You know you said that 1
could plant some flowers, SO l have
planted some sweet alyssum-aly
sum-that means Alice, you know"
Show me at once, JIM" command
ed his wife delightedly. And 80 he
led her through the little rustic wick
ct gate and into the forbidden veget-
able garden. where. near the tool
shed, he triumphantly displayed his
precious secret.
Alice looked at the growth in per
plexity.
But Jim. where are the nowersf"
she asked.
'Flowers2 / didn't know sweet
alyssum had any flowers. You are my
flower" he added automatically, for
the expression on his wife's face had
become quite curious.
She stopped over the growth and
suddenly reached out her hand and
pulled a handful from the ground.
And then she sat down upon the path
and burst into tears
"AliceI DearestI What's the mat
teri" cried Jim. huxyyiug toward her,