ut even the bone and the hank of hair!

XVI

THE FRAME OF THE PICTURE

VINES AND SHRUBS

(Mary Penrose to Barbara Campbell)

_Woodridge, September 10._ Your chronicle of the Pink Family found me by
myself in camp, dreaming away as vigorously as if it was a necessary and
practical occupation. After all, are we sure that it is not, in a way,
both of these? This season my dreams of night have been so long that
they have lingered into the things of day and _vice versa_, and yet
neither the one nor the other have whispered of idleness, but the
endless hope of work.

Bart's third instalment of vacation ends to-morrow, though we shall
continue to sleep out of doors so long as good weather lasts; the
remaining ten days we are saving until October, when the final
transplanting of trees and shrubs is to be made; and in addition to
those for the knoll we have marked some shapely dogwoods, hornbeams, and
tulip trees for grouping in other parts of the home acres. There are
also to be had for the digging good bushes of the early pink and clammy
white azalea, mountain-laurel, several of the blueberry tribe, that have
white flowers in summer and glorious crimson foliage in autumn,
white-flowered elder, button-bush, groundsel tree, witchhazel, bayberry,
the shining-leaved sumach, the white meadow-sweet, and pink steeplebush,
besides a number of cornels and viburnums suitable for shrubberies. As I
glance over the list of what the river and quarry woods have yielded us,
it is like reading from the catalogue of a general dealer in hardy
plants, and yet I suppose hundreds of people have as much almost at
their doors, if they did but know it.

The commercial side of a matter of this kind is not the one upon which
to dwell the most, except upon the principle of the old black woman who
said, "Chillun, count yer marcies arter every spell o' pain!" and
to-day, in assaying our mercies and the various advantages of our garden
vacation, I computed that the trees, shrubs, ferns, herbaceous wild
flowers, and vines (yes, we have included vines, of which I must tell
you), if bought of the most reasonable of dealers, would have cost us at
least three hundred dollars, without express or freight charges.

The reason for my being by myself at this particular moment is that
Bart, mounted on solemn Romeo, has taken the Infant, astride her
diminutive pony, by a long leader, for a long-promised ride up the river
road, the same being the _fina