After that, March,
as if ashamed of her untoward behavior, donned her sweetest smiles and
"went out" like the proverbial lamb. With the coming of April, and the
stirring of life in the trees, Billy, too, began to be restless; and at
the earliest possible moment she made her plans for her long anticipated
"digging in the dirt."
Just here, much to her surprise, she met with wonderful assistance from
Bertram. He seemed to know just when and where and how to dig, and he
displayed suddenly a remarkable knowledge of landscape gardening. (That
this knowledge was as recent in its acquirement as it was sudden in its
display, Billy did not know.) Very learnedly he talked of perennials and
annuals; and without hesitation he made out a list of flowering shrubs
and plants that would give her a "succession of bloom throughout
the season." His words and phrases smacked loudly of the very newest
florists' catalogues, but Billy did not notice that. She only wondered
at the seemingly exhaustless source of his wisdom.
"I suspect 'twould have been better if we'd begun things last fall," he
told her frowningly one day. "But there's plenty we can do now anyway;
and we'll put in some quick-growing things, just for this season, until
we can get the more permanent things established."
And so they worked together, studying, scheming, ordering plants
and seeds, their two heads close together above the gaily colored
catalogues.
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