resumably making up
her mind for three days, she exhibited signs of irritability and
impatience. These Wade construed as evidences of boredom and acted upon
as such, cheerfully taking himself off.

The house-warming, as Wade chose to call his dinner-party, came off on
Saturday night. Wade had moved his bed back to the guest-room upstairs
and the sitting-room had regained its former character. In this room and
in the parlor and dining-room bowls and vases of pink roses--which had
come from Boston on ice in great wooden boxes, and about which the
village at large was already excitedly speculating--stood in every
available spot. But if Eden Village found subject for comment in the
extravagant shipment of roses, imagine its wonderment when it beheld,
shortly after six o'clock, Doctor Crimmins parading magnificently up the
street in swallow-tailed coat and white vest, a costume which Miss
Cousins was certain he had not worn in twenty years!

Wade and his guests sat on the new side porch while awaiting dinner and
Wade came in for a lot of praise for the improvements he had worked in
his garden, praise which he promptly disclaimed in favor of Miss
Mullett.

"Goodness only knows what I'd have done if it hadn't been for her," he
laughed. "I wanted to plant American Beauty roses and maiden-hair fern
all over the place. I even think I had some notion of growing
four-dollar orchids on the pear trees. The idea of putting in things
that would really grow was entirely hers."

"I like the idea of planting the old-fashioned, hardy things," said the
Doctor. "They're the best, after all. Asters and foxgloves and deutzia
and snowballs and all the rest of them."

"And phlox," said Wade. "They told us we were planting too late, but the
phlox has buds on it already. Come and see it."

So they trooped down the new gray steps and strolled around the garden,
Wade exhibiting proudly and miscalling everything, and Miss Mullett
gently correcting him.

Their travels took them around the house and finally to the gate in the
hedge, over the arch of which Miss Mullett was coaxing climbing roses.
When they turned back Eve and the Doctor walked ahead.

"Eve told me once such a quaint thing about that gate," said Miss
Mullett. "It seems that when she was a little girl and used to play in
the garden over there, she imagined all sorts of queer things, as
children will. And one of them was that some day a beautiful prince
would come through the gat