John Gaythers Garden and the Stories Told Therein | Page 2

place, and all who dwelt upon it, that
there were times when a stranger might have supposed him to be the
common ancestor to the whole estate.
John understood well the mysterious problems of the tillable earth, and
he knew, as well as anybody could know, what answers to expect when
he consulted the oracles of nature. He was an elderly man, and the
gentle exercises of the garden were suited to the disposition of his mind
and body. In days gone by he had been a sailor, a soldier, a miner, a
ranchman, and a good many other things besides. In those earlier days,
according to his own account, John had had many surprising
adventures and experiences; but in these later times his memory was by
far the most active and vigorous of all his moving forces. This memory
was like a hazel wand in the hands of a man who is searching for
hidden springs of water. Whenever he wished it to turn and point in any
particular place or direction, it so turned and pointed.

THIS STORY IS TOLD BY
JOHN GAYTHER
AND IS CALLED
WHAT I FOUND IN THE SEA

I
WHAT I FOUND IN THE SEA

It was on a morning in June that John Gayther was hoeing peas,
drawing the fine earth up about their tender little stems as a mother
would tuck the clothes about her little sleeping baby, when, happening
to glance across several beds, and rows of box, he saw approaching the
Daughter of the House. Probably she was looking for him, but he did
not think she had yet seen him. He put down his hoe, feeling, as he did,
that this June morning was getting very warm; and he gathered up an
armful of pea-sticks which were lying near by. With these he made his
way toward a little house almost in the middle of the garden, which was
his fortress, his palace, his studio, or his workshop, as the case might
be.
It was a low building with a far-outreaching roof, and under the shade
of this roof, outside of the little building, John liked to do his rainy-day
and very-hot-weather work. From the cool interior came a smell of
dried plants and herbs and bulbs and potted earth.
When John reached this garden-house, the young lady was already
there. She was not tall; her face was very white, but not pale; and her
light hair fluffed itself all about her head, under her wide hat. She wore
gold spectacles which greatly enhanced the effect of her large blue eyes.
John thought she was the prettiest flower which had ever showed itself
in that garden.
"Good morning, John," she said. "I came here to ask you about plants
suitable for goldfishes in a vase. My fishes do not seem to be satisfied
with the knowledge that the plants through which they swim were put
there to purify the water; they are all the time trying to eat them. Now it
strikes me that there ought to be some plants which would be purifiers
and yet good for the poor things to eat."
John put down his bundle of pea-sticks by the side of a small stool.
"Won't you sit down, miss?" pointing to a garden-bench near by, "and I
will see what I can do for you." Then he seated himself upon the stool,
took out his knife, and picked up a pea-stick.
"The best thing for me to do," he said, "is to look over a book I have
which will tell me just the kind of water plants which your goldfish

ought to have. I will do that this evening, and then I will see to it that
you shall have those plants, whatever they may be. I do not pretend to
be much of a water gardener myself, but it's easy for me to find out
what other people know." John now began to trim some of the lower
twigs from a pea-stick.
"Talking about water gardens, miss," he said, "I wish you could have
seen some of the beautiful ones that I have come across!--more
beautiful and lovely than anything on the top of the earth; you may be
sure of that. I was reminded of them the moment you spoke to me
about your goldfish and their plants."
"Where were those gardens?" asked the young lady; "and what were
they like?"
"They were all on the bottom of the sea, in the tropics," said John
Gayther, "where the water is so clear that with a little help you can see
everything just as if it were out in the open air--bushes and vines and
hedges; all sorts of tender waving plants, all made of seaweed and coral,
growing in the white sand; and