cle assented. "I shall be glad to see my old
friend Apollonie again! March ahead now!"

They had soon reached the cottage at the foot of the hill, which lay
bathed in brilliant sunshine. Only the old apple-tree in the corner
threw a shadow over the wooden bench beneath it and over a part of the
little garden. Grandmother and grandchild were sitting on the bench
dressed in their Sunday-best and with a book on their knees. A delicious
perfume of rosemary and mignonette filled the air from the little
flower-beds. Uncle Philip looked over the top of the hedge into the
garden.

"Real Sunday peace is resting on everything here. Just look, Maxa!" he
called out to his sister. "Look at the rose-hushes and the mignonette!
How pleasant and charming Apollonie looks in her spotless cap and shining
apron with the apple-cheeked child beside her in her pretty dress!"

Loneli had just noticed her best friends and, jumping up from the bench,
she ran to them.

Apollonie, glancing up, now recognized the company, too. Radiant, she
approached and invited them to step into her garden for a rest. She was
already opening the door in order to fetch out enough chairs and benches
to seat them all when Mrs. Maxa stopped her. She told Apollonie that
their time was already very short, as they intended to climb the hill,
but they had wished to greet her on their way up and to see her
well-ordered garden.

"How attractively it is laid out, Mrs. Apollonie!" Uncle Philip
exclaimed. "This small space is as lovely as the large castle-garden
used to be. Your roses and mignonette, the cabbage, beans and beets, the
little fountain in the corner are so charming! Your bench under the
apple-tree looks most inviting."

"Oh, Mr. Falcon, you are still as fond of joking as ever," Apollonie
returned. "So you think that my rose-beds are as fine as those up there
used to be? Indeed, who has ever seen the like of them or of my wonderful
vegetable garden in the castle-grounds? There has never been such an
abundance of cauliflower and peas, such rows of bean-poles, such
salad-beds. What a delight their care was to me. Such a garden will
never be seen again. I have to sigh every time when I think that
anything so beautiful should be forever lost."

"But that can't be helped," Uncle Philip answered. "There is one great
advantage you have here. Nobody can possibly disturb your Sunday peace.
You need not throw up your hands and exclaim: 'Falcon is the worst of
all.'"