"I see where we dinna fish much this summer," said Dannie, as he
waited. "And where we fish close home when we do, and where all
the work is done before we go."
"Aha, borrow me rose-colored specks!" cried Jimmy. "I don't see
anything but what I've always seen. I'll come and go as I please,
and Mary can do the same. I don't throw no `jeminy fit' every time
a woman acts the fool a little, and if you'd lived with one fiftane
years you wouldn't either. Of course we'll make the garden. Wish to
goodness it was a beer garden! Wouldn't I like to plant a lot of
hop seed and see rows of little green beer bottles humpin' up the
dirt. Oh, my! What all does she want done?"
Dannie turned another spadeful of earth and studied the premises,
while Jimmy gathered the worms.
"Palins all on the fence?" asked Dannie.
"Yep," said Jimmy.
"Well, the yard is to be raked."
"Yep."
"The flooer beds spaded."
"Yep."
"Stones around the peonies, phlox, and hollyhocks raised and manure
worked in. All the trees must be pruned, the bushes and vines
trimmed, and the gooseberries, currants, and raspberries thinned.
The strawberry bed must be fixed up, and the rhubarb and asparagus
spaded around and manured. This whole garden must be made----"
"And the road swept, and the gate sandpapered, and the barn
whitewashed! Return to grazing, Nebuchadnezzar," said Jimmy. "We
do what's raisonable, and then we go fishin'. See?"
Three beds spaded, squared, and ready for seeding lay in the warm
spring sunshine before noon.
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