THE LILAC TREE

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 63, Issue 3, 15 September 1941, Page 265

THE LILAC TREE

Yet it would be strange, her country cottage, without David, for she . had come to the city immediately after he

had died, and devoted herself to her daughter. Well, she would go back again, now.

*** < - “The lilac is in flower again.” How the words hummed through Martha’s mind as the train. sped through the open spaces. The lilac : how sweet and heavy had been its perfume that day when David had brought her home as his bride. It didn’t seem so long ago; they had been so happy. Then Pauline had come along, and the days had seemed even shorter than before. Life had been very good. . . . There was the old windmill! Martha excitedly craned her head round to see it as the train flashed by. Home was near now. The station had not changed. Old Ben came out and greeted her. as though she had only been on a day’s trip to town, instead of seven years. Yes, he said, the cottage was empty again, the last tenant had left three weeks ago. Martha hurried down the country road. She would go back to the cottage alone, before she went to Jenny. A spring shower had left the tall grasses fresh and sweet-smelling—-breathed deeply of their fragrance, and her heart asked her how she had stayed away so long. • In through the little wicket gate, it still creaked slightly, and . over the wooden bridge that was as strong as the day David had made it. Home! Martha went up the path’ eagerly, and tried the door of the, house. Locked! After the first shock she ' realised of course that no one knew she was coming' So she peeped through the window: there was the sitting-room, with the faded rosebud paper still on the walls. How proud she had been when that was first hung! And here was the bedroom: its walls had been pink, but now they, were patterned with some sunshiny gold and green paper that sang of springtime. Oh! They had not covered the wooden boards on the kitchen floor. How white they still were. . •■ ' ' ' ' Jenny had written that the lilac was in flower again, but she hadn’t told her

that the banks of the creek were a delight of daffodils, with buttercups running riot everywhere; she hadn’t told her that the small, blue hyacinths still guarded the pathway; and she hadn’t told her that the kowhai was in flower. > It was all so wonderful—home! Here she would be happy. She knew in her heart she had been hungering for this through the years away from .it, and she lifted her eyes to the blue heavens

above to thank Him for bringing her back again. * * * . “Oh, it’s not empty at all! There are curtains at the windows, and the door is open wide. Aunt Jenny must have been mistaken.”, Disappointment clouded the girl’s face, but the boy at her side said “Let’s go in—l would like to see the house now we have come so far. Perhaps they wouldn’t mind, if we explained.” She nodded, so together they crossed the bridge, and walked up to the door. . “Better knock,” he suggested,’ so she tapped, gently. But there was no answering sound from within the liquid.notes of a skylark floating down from the blue skies? “Everyone must be out,” said the girl. “But let’s explore—l would like' to see how the lilac tree is.” Martha was out in the garden, gathering the lilac’s fragrance, when the travellers came upon her. “Why Mother The woman turned quickly. ' “Pauline! However did you know I was here?” “Oh, but we didn’t! Aunt Jenny wrote to us that the cottage was empty, so we decided to buy it, and keep it as a weekend house. It’s only two hours from town in the car. We

thought it would be such a surprise for you.” “My dears—” Somehow Martha’s eyes felt wet. “And to , think you have beaten us at our own game,” laughed Jim. Martha laughed too. “The kettle’s on,” she said shortly. “Will you ' have afternoon tea with

me, or will you be weekending? There is still enough room for three.” “Weekending?” said Pauline. “No, we have another week’s holiday, so we’ll stay, if you’ll have us on > our honeymoon.” And as Martha led the way to the house her mind went back to that happy day when David had brought her home, just as Jim was now bringing Pauline. The lilac treeit was her emblem of happiness, and she knew the other two would love it as she did.

Beauty XT ARIE DRESSLER once said that every woman has the right to feel, beautiful, no matter how scrambled her features, or how indifferent her figure. She needs this _ inward assurance . to give her serenity, poise, and power. It is her birthright. ? , ; i . To all ,of you, whether you are eighteen or eighty, who. want to grow in beauty, here is my advice: Forget what your mirror tells you, and instead, say to yourself a dozen times a day “I am beloved.” No woman who really believes that she is precious in the eyes, of some loved person can walk ungracefully, or live without charrm And who ever you are, wherever you are, surely there is someone to whom you are . precious indeed? •. V '