Page:The Lark - E Nesbit, 1922.djvu/172

Rh more things to sell, but now we've suddenly got Cedar Court we thought of having Pigs—P.G.'s, you know, Paying Guests. I should think anyone would be glad to live in a place like this. But then if we have Pigs—I mean P.G.'s—we can't be always in the shop, and even as it is. . ." "Exactly," said Mr. Dix. "Now, you've got one thing you wanted: you've got a gardener. And you'll get your P.G.'s all right if you want them. The difficulty at present is money. I can run this garden properly—sell the fruit and vegetables that you don't want for the shop to Covent Garden. But I can't do it alone. I should want two men at once for at least a month and a boy as well. That'll be two pounds ten a week each for the men and a pound for the boy. I can do on a pound a week easily—having nothing to buy but my food. But I should have to have a few pounds to get my clothes out of pawn. You can't do anything serious with this garden without putting a certain amount of money into it. The garden will get worse and worse and you'll get less and less flowers. Even if you gave up the shop and devoted yourselves entirely to the P.G.'s, the garden would have to be kept tidy, and it may as well pay its way anyhow. Now that's my idea. When it pays we can discuss the question of my wages again. I've thought it all over very carefully, and this is the only way I see of making the thing pay. It's no use my taking your money and just going on trying to keep down the weeds. It's the whole hog or none."

"Do you mean that if we don't agree to this you won't go on being our gardener?" said Lucilla sweetly.

"You know I don't. I'm not holding a pistol at your heads. Of course I'll go on, on any terms you like. Only if I'm just grubbing along, keeping the place roughly tidy and not really doing anything to help you, I shall do my best, of course, but I shall only work with half a heart. Whereas if I know that I'm really helping to pull the cart along, and making the money out of this land that ought to be made out of it, I shall work like the—like anything. Well, that's my idea; think it over. I'll get back to work."