I myself have tried to raise magnolias near my house, and I know how difficult it is.
As I approached nearer to the cottage, I could see a man and woman sitting on the porch in the twilight and swaying back and forth in rocking-chairs.

I fancied--it may have been only a fancy--that when I first saw them their hands were clasped as they rocked side by side.
It was indeed a charming little cottage.

Crimson ramblers, giving promise of the bloom that was yet to come, climbed over one end of the porch, and there were fine dark-leaved lilac-bushes near the doorway: oh, a pleasant, friendly, quiet place! I opened the front gate and walked straight in, as though I had at last reached my destination.

I cannot give any idea of the lift of the heart with which I entered upon this new adventure.

Without the premeditation and not knowing what I should say or do, I realized that everything depended upon a few sentences spoken within the next minute or two.
Believe me, this experience to a man who does not know where his next meal is coming from, nor where he is to spend the night, is well worth having.