thought
her rendering extremely creditable.

So, I think, did Vandy, for he threw an approving glance in her
direction, heaved a sigh of relief, and screwed up his mouth into a
sickly smile.

"Took up gardening during the War," he announced. "I--we all did. Any
amount of money in it. Quite surprised me. But," he added, warming to
his work, "it's the same with gardening as with everything else In this
world. The most valuable asset is the personal element. If you want a
thing well done, do it yourself. Ha! Ha!"

My brother-in-law looked round, regarding the howling riot of waste.

"And where," he said, "shall you plant the asparagus?"

Vandy started and dropped the sickle. Then he gave a forced laugh.

"You must give us a chance," he said. "We've got a long way to go before
we get to that. All this"--he waved an unbusiness-like arm, and his
voice faltered--"all this has got to be cleared first."

"I suppose it has," said Berry. "Well, don't mind us. You get on with
it. Short of locusts or an earthquake, it's going to be a long job. I
suppose you couldn't hire a trench-mortar and shell it for a couple of
months?"

Apparently Vandy was afraid to trust his voice, for, after swallowing
twice, he recovered the sickle and started to hack savagely at the grass
without another word.

With the utmost deliberation, Berry seated himself upon the flagstones
and, taking out his case, selected a cigarette. With an equally
leisurely air I produced a pipe and tobacco, and began to make ready to
smoke. Our cousins regarded these preparations with an uneasiness which
they ill concealed. Clearly we were not proposing to move. The silence
of awkwardness and frantically working brains settled upon the company.
From time to time Emma and May shifted uncomfortably. As he bent about
his labour, Vandy's eyes bulged more than ever....

Nobby, whom I had forgotten, suddenly reappeared, crawling pleasedly
from beneath a tangled stack of foliage, of which the core appeared to
have been a rhododendron. For a moment he stared at us, as if surprised
at the company we kept. Then his eyes fell upon Vandy.

Enshrined in the swaying grass, the latter's knickerbockers, which had
been generously fashioned out of a material which had been boldly
conceived, presented a back view which was most arresting. With his head
on one side, the terrier gazed at them with such inquisitive
astonishment that I had to set my teeth so as not to laugh outright. H