"Mr. Jost is coming round at once, Excellency. He ordered his carriage
directly he read your note."
"He sent no answer?"
"None, Excellency."
"When he arrives, show him into the library."
"Yes, Excellency."
The Marquis thereupon left his sleeping apartment, and descended to the
library himself. The sun was streaming brilliantly into the room, and
the windows, thrown wide open, showed a cheerful display of lawn and
flower-garden, filled with palms and other semi-tropical shrubs, for
though the Premier's house was in the centre of the fashionable quarter
of the city, it had the advantage of extensive and well-shaded grounds.
A law had been passed in the late King's time against the felling of
trees, it having been scientifically proved that trees in a certain
quantity, not only purify the air from disease germs affecting the
human organization, but also save the crops from many noxious insect-
pests and poisonous fungi. Having learned the lesson at last, that the
Almighty may be trusted to know His own business, and that trees are
intended for wider purposes than mere timber, the regulations were
strict concerning them. No one could fell a tree on his own ground
without, first of all, making a statement at the National Office of
Aboriculture as to the causes for its removal; and only if these causes
were found satisfactory, could a stamped permission be obtained for
cutting it down or 'lifting' it to other ground.
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