It would be a great deal pleasanter, my dear, and much cleaner."

"There are patent contrivances for garden-work," said John Gayther, "and
I don't say that they don't help, especially in planting-time; but, like
the captain, I prefer the old ways that bring the gardener and the earth
close together. The old, simple instruments seem like friends. I feel as
if something went from me through the hoe-handle to the plants; and when
the seed drops from my hands instead of from a seeder, it seems to me it
takes a message direct from me to the earth that receives it."

* * * * *

The stories are all told. The winter has come. The orchard is stripped
of its leaves, and, sere and brown, they cover the garden paths and are
strewn over the box borders. The fruits are all garnered. The bare vines
that cover the summer-house are like dead memories of what has been. The
vegetable-beds are empty. The black frost has settled upon bloom and
foliage on the upper terrace. The sweet, blithe song of the red thrush
has ceased. The family have gone to a sunnier clime. And John Gayther
walks alone in his garden.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of John Gayther's Garden and the Stories
Told Therein, by Frank R. Stockton

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN GAYTHER'S GARDEN ***

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