Mary's Meadow, and Other Tales of Fields and Flowers

the hos

Bessy's aunt told me that she had got me a fine lot of roots of double cowslips

ing that I had thought less of my own garden than usual, and had allowed Arthur to do what he liked with it as part of the Ear

n the other side of the Moor, and the Weeding Woman does not get to see her very often. It is a very out-of-the-way

oman's aunt who sent

zickly uns and contrairy uns, as parents will. Many's time I do say to she-'Th' Old Zquire's garden, now, 'twould zim strange to thee, sartinly 'twould! How would 'ee feel to see Gardener zowing's spring plants by the hunderd, and a-throwing of 'em away by the score when beds be vull, and turning of un out for bedding plants, and throwing they away when he'eve made his cuttings?' And she 'low she couldn't abear it, no more'n see Herod a mass-sakering of the Innocents. But if 'ee come to Bible, I do say Aunt put me in mind of the par'ble of the talents, she do, for what you give her she make ten of, while other folks be losing what they got.

t of breath, and I managed to protest again

of un in autumn,' her says. 'Thee've one foot in grave, Aunt,' says I, 'it don't altogether become 'ee to forecast autumns,' I says, 'when next may be your latter end, 's like as not.' 'Niece,' her

d think of my own garden, but not for long. M

ows by the high-roads, and in waste places, like the old quarry, and v

one of Arthur's old exercise-books, which he had "thrown in," in a bargain we had, and there were very few blank pages left. I had thought a couple of pages would be

d where I meant to sow forget-me-nots, like Alphonse Karr, for there are none there as it happens. On the other side, at the top of the field, it is dry, and blue succory grows, and grows out on the road beyond. The most beautiful blue possible, but so hard to pick. And there are Lent lilies, and lords and ladies, an

the hose-in-hose, when I had planted six of them

might want some of the plants for our Earthly Paradise, and I wanted to put them all in Mary's Meadow. I said to myself, like Bessy's great-aunt, that "if I was spare

here it was very green. The nightingale had long been silent, I do not know where he was, but the rooks were not at all silent; they had been holding a parliament at the upper end of the field this morning, and were now all talking at once, and flapping about the tops of the big elms which were turning bright yellow, whilst down be

the fifth in my hand, and the sixth still in the basket, when all these nice noises were drowned by a loud harsh shout wh

and shaking his fist at me as he came. But with the other hand he held Sax

pefied and confused, and really did not at first hear what he said. But when I understood that he was accusing me of digging cowslips out of his field, I said

ng about our game, but a thing being unlikely is no reason for calli

they had been adders, but I could not speak again. He must have been beside himself with rage, for he called me all sorts of names, and said I was my father's own child, a liar and a thief

is paws were almost on me the Old Squire left off abusing me, and yelled to the dog, who at last, very unwillingly, went back to him, but when he just got to the Squire's feet he stopped, and pawed the ground in the funny way he sometimes does, and looke

e time, you cannot hear anything else, so

mewards as fast as I could go, which was not very fas

shouting and gesticulating, and Saxon was at his heels, and over the hedge two cows were

lost every one of my hose-in-hose; and this was all that had come of trying to make an