SCENES XV. AND XVI

À young couple were once married, and went to live i house on the Promenade in as pened to be vacant at the time, hold by the Young man's father,

n a pretty mall country town. The house hapand was rented for the little house.

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Exercises FoR COMPo8ITION. 87

The girls father naturally felt very grieved when his daughter agreed to accept the young man for her husband. She had copied all his letters, and he would miss her on that account ; besides, Lo loved her tenderly. The daughter, too, showed much emotion ut the thought of leaving her father; s0 it was arranged that she stiould live part of the time at her old home.

The house the young people went to live in had a pretty garden with strawberries and p'1m-trees in it, and a smooth lawn, and they were very provd of it.

One duy when the young wife was in the drawing-room sho heard some one outside, She went to the door and found a man whose appearance at first startled her. It is hard to describe him. He wus a little, bald-headed man, very corpulent, and he seemed to be shortsighted. He had his hat in his hand, and when he saw the lady he bowed. He asked her if her husband was at home, and when he spokoe he showed that he had lost three teeth in front.

When he heard that the man of the house was not in, he said that he would wait. Then he drew from his pocket an enormous paper which he gave to the lady, saying that it was a certificate given to him by a man who had employed him as gardener. He was now looking for work. The lady listened to him, and replied that the, only wanted a boy. Anyway, this was a detail of the household which she left to her husband. Perhaps she might be able to influence him if she found a worthy object. The man said that he was poor, and would be glud to get a chance to show how indefatigable he could be in his work.

When the husband returned, he agreed to take the man for a time. A few days afterwaids one of the plum-trees was found broken down, with a hole under it. The gardener had dissppeared. They were very much annoyed until they heard from some neighbours that the man was an imbecile, who had escaped. He thought that he} .1 to look for some money which was in a hiding-place, and he had an ;dea that this was under a tree. Going as a gardener was the ruse he employed to get into gardens. The poor man was found afterwards a long way from there, after having tramped the country, and was taken back to his home.