in pretty fall order, trim and clean;
bushes pruned, canes tied up, vines laid down, leaves raked off; all
the work done, up to the very day. Christopher bestowed an approving
glance around him as he went among the beds; it was all right and
ship-shape. Nobody was visible at the moment; and he passed on round
the house to the rear, from whence he heard a great racket made by the
voices of poultry. And there they were; as soon as he turned the corner
he saw them: a large flock of hens and chickens, geese, ducks and
turkeys, all wobbling and squabbling. In the midst of them stood the
gardener's widow, with her hands in the pockets of a great canvas
apron; or rather, with her hands in and out, for from the pockets,
which were something enormous, she was fetching and distributing
handfulls of oats and corn to her feathered beneficiaries. Christopher
drew near, as near as he could, for the turkeys, and Mrs. Blumenfeld
gave him a nod.

'Good morning, mum!'

'Good day to ye.'

'Them's a fine lot o' turkeys!' Christopher really had a good deal of
education, and even knew some Latin; nevertheless, in common life, the
instincts of his early habits prevailed, and he said 'Them' by
preference.

'Ain't they!' rejoined Mrs. Blumenfeld. 'They had ought to be, for
they've given me plague enough. Every spring I think it's the last
turkeys I'll raise; and every winter, jes' as regular, I think it 'ud
be well to set more turkey eggs next year than I did this'n. You see, a
good fat roast turkey is what you can't beat--not in this country.'

'Nor can't equal in England, without you go to the game covers for it.
They're for the market, I s'pose?'

'Wall, I calkilate to send some on 'em. I do kill a turkey once in a
while for myself, but la, how long do ye think it takes me to eat up a
turkey? I get sick of it afore I'm done.'

'You want company,' suggested Mr. Bounder.

But to this the lady made no answer at all. She finished scattering her
grain, and then turned to her visitor, ready for business. Christopher
could not but look at her with great approbation. She was dressed much
as Esther had seen her a few weeks before: a warm shawl wrapped and
tied around the upper part of her person, bareheaded, hair in neat and
tight order, and her hands in her capacious pockets.

'Now, I kin attend to ye,' she said, leaving the chickens and geese,
which for the present were quiet, picking up their breakfast. But Mr.
Bounder did not go immed