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with those stories about that country of yours. Now I know it," he said.

All this time we were finding good avocados here and there, and making notes
so that we could come back and examine them again. For there were thousands of
trees, and we wanted only the best; it would not do to be hastily in choosing those
destined for introduction into the United States.

Finally twenty-three were selected, and twigs suitable for grafting were cut
and hurried to Guatemala City when they could be dispatched by mail to Washington.
This was the hardest task of all. Time after time I got back a cablegram saying
that my "budwood", as it is known to horticulturists, had arrived in bad condition,
and could not be used. I could imagine the disappointment of Ed Groucher, who was
waiting at the other end with several thousand young avocado seedlings on which to
graft my introductions.

Something had to be done. As a precautionary measure - as my last resort to
fall back upon in case everything else failed - I started a nursery of avocado
seedlings at Quirigua, and prepared to bud young trees and take them back with me
to the States.

Finally news came through that my budwood was arriving in better condition.
The season had changed: spring growth had appeared, and had hardened sufficiently
so that the twigs would carry in sphagnum moss. I was tremendously relieved.

By late autumn 1917 the twenty-three varieties I had selected were safely
established in Washington, and I was ready to go home. It was hard to think of
leaving. I rode to Antigua for a last visit just a few days before I planned to
sail. The Rojas girls were voluble in their expressions of regret, and fed me even
better than they ever had before. Pedro Cofiño, a simpático young Guatemaltecan
who had just returned home after having attended college at Louisiana State University,
gave me a bag of the best coffee which his finca had produced, and urged me to
come back. And even old Gregorio forgave me the lies he thought I had told him,
and wished me well.

As I rode out of the valley on Starlight, and turned for a last glimpse of the
towering volcanos which stand guard over it, I could not bear the thought that I
would never see this place again.