"
Mr. Andrewes kept me with him for some hours, but he persuaded me to
return and meet the old gentleman, saying that it was only due to his
real kindness to bear with his little jokes; and that I ought to try
and learn to make allowances, and "put up with" things that were not
quite to my mind. So I went back, and partly because of my efforts to
be less easily annoyed, and partly because I was older than at his
latest visit, and knew all the riddles, and could see through his
jokes more quickly, I got on very well with him.
Very glad I was afterwards that I had gone back and spent a friendly
evening with the kind old man; for the following spring his asthma
became worse and worse, and he died. That visit was his last to us. He
teased me and Rubens no more. But when I heard of his death, I felt
what I said, that I was very sorry. He had been very kind and his
pokes and jokes were trifles to look back upon.
Mr. Andrewes kept up his interest in my garden. Indeed, I soon got
beyond the childish way of gardening; I ceased to use my watering-pot
recklessly, and to take up my plants to see how they were getting on.
I was promoted from my little beds to some share in the large
flower-garden.
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