198 GOLDEN GLOW AND HOLLYHOCKS 
them. Joseph would like to take one of the young 
catbirds to bring up in the house, if it did not seem 
so cruel to deprive it of its free life in the open. 
Besides, the parent birds might take alarm at such 
a case of kidnapping and not return to live near us 
another spring. 
Mr. Percy believes that catbirds become great 
thieves near a fruit garden ; but as we have only a 
few old apple-trees at the Six Spruces, this has not 
changed our desire to have them remain our neigh- 
bours. 
The hollyhocks that Joseph bought are all single 
ones, and since about the middle of this month they 
have been doing their best to show us their varied 
colours. We have them white, pink and crimson, 
and a few that seem undecided whether tO' be pink 
or yellow. They, therefore, have taken both col- 
ours, and now appear in something like the tint of 
apricots. I do not think that our hollyhocks have 
bloomed as well as those at Miss Wiseman’s, per- 
haps because they are younger plants. Ours are 
scarcely taller than Little Joseph, while few men 
are as tall as those in her garden. Joseph took 
care to plant them at the very back of the long 
bed, where he thought they w’ould grow tall enough 
to look over the wall. As soon as their seeds are 
ripe he will gather them., that they may dry thor- 
oughly and be ready for him to sow in the seed-bed. 
Perhaps by October the seedlings will be large 
enough to transplant to the places on the triangle 
