256 SINCE AUTUMN HAS COME 



Each day they grew a little stlfFer and then sud- 

 denly I felt sure they would never fade, and that 

 this was why they were called Everlastings. 



I can't tell just why, but I didn't love these 

 flowers nearly so much as If they had drooped their 

 heads and died after a day or two. Tommy 

 doesn't like them much either. They don't seem 

 to him like real flowers, because they have this 

 funny way of living so long. It would Indeed be 

 strange If Violets, or Roses lived on like the Ever- 

 lastings and had their stiff, straw-like feeling. 



An old lady who keeps a bunch of Everlastings 

 In her parlor all winter told Philip a story about 

 them. She said that once an evil fairy took a spite 

 against them, and cast a spell, forbidding that they 

 should ever fade. Of course when they saw that 

 all the other flowers were dying, they wanted to 

 curl up and die too; but no matter how hard they 

 tried. It was quite useless. The most they could 

 do was to make their little centers turn from yellow 

 to brown. They felt very sad at having to stay 

 In bloom so much longer than other flowers, and 

 when the evil fairy passed by and called them Llve- 

 forevers they knew It was her work, but they also 

 knew that it would do no good to complain. So 

 from that day until this they have bloomed a 

 great deal, and whispered to nobody that they were 

 ashamed. 



Philip feels quite sure that Everlastings do die 

 after all, because they leave the fields, and the side 



