e two gardeners to
her presence, and gave orders that the hammock should be securely hung
in a shady place. The men were unaccustomed to hammocks, but with the
help of some advice from the maid, they tied it to two trees in a
corner of what had once been a tennis court. They were so pleased with
it that they stood looking at it with great appreciation until Miss
King came out at about twelve o'clock. She brought with her a bundle
of manuscript and a fountain pen, intending to work into her new novel
a description of Ballymoy House and the demesne.

The men watched her settle herself, and then came forward cautiously
and asked if there was anything they could do for her. Miss King
suggested that they should go away and do their work. They went
obediently, but returned in a few minutes with two scythes.

"If it's pleasing to your ladyship," said the elder of the two, "I was
thinking of cutting the grass beyond, while the weather's fine, and
we'd have a chance of getting the hay saved without rain."

Miss King was not very well pleased. She would have preferred to be
left alone, in order that she might enjoy thoroughly the picturesque
dilapidation she wished to describe. But she did not see her way to
forbid the cutting of the grass. The two men sharpened their scythes
noisily and mowed down several swathes of long grass. Miss King
watched them, mildly interested. At the end of five minutes they
stopped mowing and whetted their scythes again. Then they sat down,
lit their pipes, and looked at Miss King. She busied herself with her
papers, and made some corrections with the fountain pen. When their
pipes were about half smoked, the men rose, whetted their scythes for
the third time, and mowed again. Miss King stopped writing and watched
them. The day grew hotter, and the spells of mowing became shorter.
Miss King gave up the attempt to write, and lay dreamily gazing at the
men, roused to active consciousness now and then by the rasp of the
hones against the scythe blades. At one o'clock the men, guessing it
to be dinnertime, stopped pretending to work and went away. A few
minutes later Miss King, feeling the need of luncheon, disentangled
herself from the hammock, bundled her papers together, and went into
the house.

At two o'clock the men, carrying their scythes, returned to the tennis
court, which was nearly half mowed. At half-past two Miss King joined
them, and climbed as gracefully as she could i