dless chain always on
top. It makes but little difference which links are up, so the work goes
smoothly. Polly thinks the maids come to Four Oaks just as less
independent folk go to the mountains or the shore, for a vacation, or to
be able to say to the policeman, "I've been to the country." Their
system is past finding out; but no matter what it is, we get our dishes
washed and our beds made without serious inconvenience. The wage account
in the house amounts to just $25 a week. My pet system of an increasing
wage for protracted service doesn't appeal to these birds of passage,
who alight long enough to fill their crops with our wild rice and
celery, and then take wing for other feeding-grounds. This kind of life
seems fitted for mallards and maids, and I have no quarrel with either.
From my view, there are happier instincts than those which impel
migration; but remembering that personal views are best applied to
personal use, I wish both maids and mallards _bon voyage_.

CHAPTER XLIX

THE SUNKEN GARDEN

Extending directly west from the porch for 150 feet is an open pergola,
of simple construction, but fast gaining beauty from the rapid growth of
climbers which Polly and Johnson have planted. It is floored with brick
for the protection of dainty feet, and near the western end cluster
rustic benches, chairs, tables, and such things as women and gardeners
love. Facing the west 50 feet of this pergola is Polly's sunken flower
garden, which is her special pride. It extends south 100 feet, and is
built in the side of the hill so that its eastern wall just shows a
coping above the close-cropped lawn. Of course the western wall is much
higher, as the lawn slopes sharply; but it was filled in so as to make
this wall-enclosed garden quite level. The walls which rise above the
flower beds 41/2 feet, are beginning to look decorated, thanks to creeping
vines and other things which a cunning gardener and Polly know. Flowers
of all sorts--annuals, biennials (triennials, perhaps), and
perennials--cover the beds, which are laid out in strange, irregular
fashion, far indeed from my rectangular style. These beds please the
eye of the mistress, and of her friends, too, if they are candid in
their remarks, which I doubt.

While excavating the garden we found a granite boulder shaped somewhat
like an egg and nearly five feet long. It was a big thing, and not very
shapely; but it came from the soil, and Polly wanted it for the b