Cambridge sketches
Estelle M. H. Merrill, Ed.

[254] into a large, central court. At each end there is a beautiful flower-bed, and there are grass borders round the sides, and vines, which by and by will cover the fences and walls with their waving green. The centre is bricked and so is the broad walk which runs around the court. It is kept in perfect order, not an unsightly thing allowed, nor even a dirty scrap of paper on the walks. Hardly a flower has been ruthlessly broken, or a vine injured this whole season. The tenants feel that it is their garden, and take such pride in it that any one attempting to molest it would receive sharp rebukes — not to say even worse things-especially from the mothers. Even on the hottest days it is cool and shady here in the afternoon, and the women of the block, in clean aprons, come down with their babies to sit about on the settees; some bring their sewing from their stifling rooms; while the children, who last summer had only the narrow doorsteps or the dirty sidewalks for playgrounds, run and play games on the broad walk. After supper the men come to smoke their pipes, and to watch the watering of the flowers with the hose, cooling the air like a fountain.

People talk of the ingratitude of the poor! I can only say that in this block everything done for the comfort and health of the tenants has been appreciated, while the joy and satisfaction they have expressed in the garden has been a constant surprise and pleasure to its projectors.

On Decoration Day, the owner celebrated the completion of the garden by giving a party there to all her tenants. There were eighty people, representing seven nationalities. There was a pretty table of refreshments beside one of the flower beds, and two Italians with harp and violin played the gayest music. Never did people have a better time.