ally do think of us as a kind of hybrid female," he remarked. Then,
holding his hat in his hand, he drew a long breath of relief at finding
himself in the shade, and looked about him.

"Why, you've got more posies here, on this one side of the house alone,
than mother had in her whole yard," he said, after a little. "Let's
see--I know that one: that's columbine, isn't it? And that's London
pride, and that's ragged robin. I don't know any of the others."

Alice recited various unfamiliar names, as she pointed out the several
plants which bore them, and he listened with a kindly semblance of
interest.

They strolled thus to the rear of the house, where thick clumps of
fragrant pinks lined both sides of the path. She picked some of these
for him, and gave him more names with which to label the considerable
number of other plants he saw about him.

"I had no idea we were so well provided as all this," he commented at
last. "Those Van Sizers must have been tremendous hands for flowers. You
were lucky in following such people."

"Van Sizers!" echoed Alice, with contempt. "All they left was old tomato
cans and clamshells. Why, I've put in every blessed one of these myself,
all except those peonies, there, and one brier on the side wall."

"Good for you!" exclaimed Theron, approvingly. Then it occurred to him
to ask, "But where did you get them all? Around among our friends?"

"Some few," responded Alice, with a note of hesitation in her voice.
"Sister Bult gave me the verbenas, there, and the white pinks were
a present from Miss Stevens. But most of them Levi Gorringe was good
enough to send me--from his garden."

"I didn't know that Gorringe had a garden," said Theron. "I thought he
lived over his law-office, in the brick block, there."

"Well, I don't know that it's exactly HIS," explained Alice; "but it's a
big garden somewhere outside, where he can have anything he likes." She
went on with a little laugh: "I didn't like to question him too closely,
for fear he'd think I was looking a gift horse in the mouth--or else
hinting for more. It was quite his own offer, you know. He picked them
all out for me, and brought them here, and lent me a book telling me
just what to do with each one. And in a few days, now, I am to have
another big batch of plants--dahlias and zinnias and asters and so on;
I'm almost ashamed to take them. But it's such a change to find some one
in this Octavius who isn't all self!"

"Yes, Gorrin