But now it 's only once in a while you 'll find a plot -- and never when you 're looking for it . You jest have to stumble on it -- you 're walking along on the sand hills , never thinking of sweet-grass -- and all at once the air is full of sweetness -- and there 's the grass under your feet . I favor the smell of sweet-grass . It always makes me think of my mother . '' `` She was fond of it ? '' asked Anne . `` Not that I knows on . Dunno 's she ever saw any sweet-grass . No , it 's because it has a kind of motherly perfume -- not too young , you understand -- something kind of seasoned and wholesome and dependable -- jest like a mother . The schoolmaster 's bride always kept it among her handkerchiefs . You might put that little bunch among yours , Mistress Blythe . I do n't like these boughten scents -- but a whiff of sweet-grass belongs anywhere a lady does . '' Anne had not been especially enthusiastic over the idea of surrounding her flower beds with quahog shells ; as a decoration they did not appeal to her on first thought . But she would not have hurt Captain Jim 's feelings for anything ; so she assumed a virtue she did not at first feel , and thanked him heartily . And when Captain Jim had proudly encircled every bed with a rim of the big , milk-white shells , Anne found to her surprise that she liked the effect . On a town lawn , or even up at the Glen , they would not have been in keeping , but here , in the old-fashioned , sea-bound garden of the little house of dreams , they BELONGED . `` They DO look nice , '' she said sincerely . `` The schoolmaster 's bride always had cowhawks round her beds , '' said Captain Jim . `` She was a master hand with flowers . She LOOKED at 'em -- and touched 'em -- SO -- and they grew like mad .
Some folks have that knack -- I reckon you have it , too , Mistress XXXXX . ''
Anne Blythe Dunno Glen Jim cowhawks first quahog scents sweet-grass