AUGUST 191 



with their stems. This is the one flower game 

 that I can remember in which boys ever en- 

 gaged, and this only, I fancy, because of the 

 shuddering horror of the little girls at their 

 blood-thirstiness. Boys never cared to hold 

 buttercups under each other's chins to see if 

 they were fond of butter they knew that 

 already ; nor did they puff themselves black 

 in the face to learn from a dandelion ghost if 

 their mothers wanted them that they would 

 learn all too soon without questionings. But 

 with the aid of these golden fancyings, which 

 are a part of children, the little girls found 

 whole summersful of things to do in the garden. 

 If dandelion stems are split back to the blossom, 

 and the bitter strips are warmed for a moment 

 in the mouth, curls can be made which will 

 instantly transform copper-brown heads into 

 blonde curly ones. Months later, much finer 

 wigs may be made of cornsilk, and the striped 

 grass called gardeners' garters will always turn 

 one into a mermaid, if the drama in hand be 

 Hans Andersen's Little Mermaid. A basin 

 of water tinted to a proper blue by the sur- 

 reptitious borrowing of the family indigo-bag 

 is ocean enough for the fairy shallops made 



