CHAPTER XI 



CUTTING, PACKING, SHIPPING 



MUVVER, see what a nice present I have 

 brought you!" and the Ray of Sunshine 

 danced into the room bearing in his hot, chubby 

 little hands the remnants of what had once been 

 blooms from some of my finest dahlias. Jerked 

 off the bush, with short ragged stems at the hot- 

 test hour of the morning, they were wilted al- 

 most past recognition; yet the lovelight in the 

 eyes of the child, and the happiness expressed 

 there because he could share the beautiful 

 blossoms with someone whom he loved, checked 

 the first impulse on my part to mourn over the 

 poor dead things. 



So with great elaboration we prepared vases 

 and bowls of fresh water, found some soft 

 foliage, and arranged the corpses to look as well 

 as possible. (I felt a little like an undertaker 

 arranging for the last rites!) When all the 

 work was finished, a little gray cloud passed 

 over the face of Sunshine. His mouth pursed 



146 



