eyond that strip of woods up there,"
and she waved toward a slight rise in the land that was regarded as a
hill of considerable importance in this flat country.

"It does not contain merely a single bed of sweet odours like Barbara's
and mine, but is a garden an acre in extent, where everything admitted
has fragrance, either in flower or leaf. We chanced upon it quite by
accident, Martin and I, when driving ourselves down from Oaklands,
across country, as it were, to Gray Rocks, by keeping to shady lanes,
byways, and pent roads, where it was often necessary to take down bars
and sometimes verge on trespassing by going through farmyards in order
to continue our way.

"After traversing a wood road of unusual beauty, where everything broken
and unsightly had been carefully removed that ferns and wild shrubs
might have full chance of life, we came suddenly upon a white picket
gate covered by an arched trellis, beyond which in the vista could be
seen a modest house of the real colonial time, set in the midst of a
garden.

"At once we realized the fact that the lane was also a part of the
garden in that it was evidently the daily walk of some one who loved
nature, and we looked about for a way of retracing our steps. At the
same moment two female figures approached the gate from the other side.
At the distance at which we were I could only see that one was tall and
slender, was dressed all in pure white, and crowned by a mass of hair to
match, while the other woman was short and stocky, and the way in which
she opened the gate and held it back told that whatever her age might be
she was an attendant, though probably an intimate one.

"In another moment they discovered us, and as Martin alighted from the
vehicle to apologize for our intrusion the tall figure immediately
retreated to the garden, so quickly and without apparent motion that we
were both startled, for the way of moving is peculiar to those whose
feet do not really tread the earth after the manner of their fellows;
and before we had quite recovered ourselves the stout woman had advanced
and we saw by the pleasant smile her round face wore that she was not
aggrieved at the intrusion but seemed pleased to meet human beings in
that out-of-the-way place rather than rabbits, many of which had
scampered away as we came down the lane.

"Martin explained our dilemma and asked if we might gain the highway
without retracing our steps. The woman hesitated a moment, and t