He made up his mind to contribute regularly to the _Croppy_, and had visions of a great future as a journalist, or perhaps a literary exponent of the ideas of Independent Ireland.
Meanwhile, he became very intimate both with the Quinns and with Canon Beecher's family.

Mrs.Quinn was an enthusiastic gardener, and early in the spring Hyacinth helped her with her flowerbeds.

He learnt to plait the foliage of faded crocuses, and pin them tidily to the ground with little wooden forks.

He gathered suitable earth for the boxes in which begonias made their earliest sprout-ings, and learned to know the daffodils and tulips by their names.

Later on he helped Mr.Quinn to mow the grass and mix a potent weed-killer for the gravel walks.