The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1913-05-30

NEHEA6HITT fIE~Jte.NTES tSGsT 4AE$
Flower Language {
BY F. a. M1TcHEL s
March /.
My Dear Adele-Here we are in. our
new home in this quaint New England
town, which l think can have changed
very little in the last 200 years. The
people who lived In 1t then were doubt
less well to do, for there are many
places which were at that time quite
imposing. Our house Is built on the
street, with a terrace garden in the
rear. and the place IN n side is much
the anne Everything smacks Of the
seventeenth or eighteenth century.
I am glad that we have taken posses
sion before the flower planting season.
for / am sure l shall be devoted to the
old fashioned garden. I shall u
the services Of a man to spade up the
beds for me, but l shall do all the rest
Of the work myself. You should see
how arti1cially they are laid out.
every one inclosed in a narrow border.
Besides. there are low hedges and
dwarf trees cut in shapes that remind
one Of the present cubist pictures.
While our garden has been long neg
lected, the one beside It has been well
kept up. Everything there is as trim
as If Miss Dorothy Somebody in the
quaint costume of two centuries ago
was still caring for it. Some one doubt
less lives there who cares for flowers.
for. though spring has scarcely arrived.
I q see that when the season comes
l shall look out upon a delightful
scene. Your loving RUTH.
March -.
have discovered who 1t is that is in
terested in keeping up the garden next
door. and my discovery is surprising.
| The flower cultivator issnot woman.
but q man. Who would expect a man
to take an interest in flowers? I
wish rather that he; would take an in
terest in me, for he is fine looking, and
from observing him through the win
| dow. carefully concealed by the cur
tains, I am sure I shall like him. But
I fear he Is not inclined to be neigh
borly. for, though we have been here
nearly two weeks, he has not called.
March 20.
I have learned something about our
next door neighbor. They say he is
peculiar, preferring to live alone in the
house he has inherited from a long
line Of ancestors. He neither goes
out into company nor entertains. This
is strange in a man who cannot. be
more than thirty years old. They say
he loves only two things In the world
his library and his garden. What q
temptation for me to make him love
a third thing. which is human-a
temptation to which ! have already
yielded!
1 must attack him through his taste.
for flowers since / know nothing Of
books. Indeed. / think l shall keep
Paway from him, fearing to reveal my
shallowness until 1 shall have effect
ed an entrance to his favor through
his plants. l have already two men
digging up my beds preparatory to the
siege l am about to lay to his heart.
He little thinks that there 10 one next
door to him who is planning TO batter
down the old fashioned high brick wall
that protects him and his garden from
as and ours and that my siege guns
will be roses and lilies and %geraniums
and peonies. But ] must be careful
not to let him come near me until l
have effected this breach. What would
I do II he were to begin to talk to me
before I had excited an interest
through our both loving the same
thing? What would I say II he should
speak about the relation between the
edict OF Nantes and the Thirty Years
war? The only war / am interested
in is the war Of the roses which, pro
pose to wage myself.
April 10.
Ny neighbor next door ID taking his
plants from his conservatory and put
ting them in beds. L amSustng needs
almost entirely. for mytgardsn has not
] been cultivated for years. He. too,
is laying out a few spaces TO- be filed
In with9seeds. lam doing alto make
my garden attractive. What plants
buy are OF rare and beautiful varieties.
Ny neighbors plants are chiefly what
he has always possessed. All 4 can do
- to make my garden 90 beauhful5as
possible. On that ! relysto attract him lil1a
Ny is.
NY flowers are an doing well.
have eclipsedmy neighbor. From my
window j have seen him adtnifing my
display. q few$daysa soI sawshim5go
70 bsd and prepars it to rsceiye some
seeds. I wonder whAtSShsais going g
plant there----sonnsthing very nice. fof
10 NJ particular about getting y
smooth thirowing ont eyety stggnpas
v1nls. Are FY.afy sfI83S