THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
213 
Did yo^T go to hear the suiiflo%rer man when he was 
'‘”®The””imllower man! Wlmm do yon mean?” ex- 
•cljxiinccl 
“ AVeU that’s what I call him ; he caUs himself Oscar 
Wilde ’l-Ie tries to write poetry sometimes when he 
•don’t reel well. My Papa went to hear hun lectui-e one 
”'“How did your Papa like him?” asked Mi-s. Burke. 
“ I don’t know, but he said he was terribly asthmatic,” 
replied Daisy. ,.i ui o.i 
** I guess your Papa said cGSthetic, didnt he? sug 
nested Mrs. Burke. 
“ Perhaps that was it,” replied l:er caller, but I sup 
pose it don’t make much difference.” 
“ It might make considerable difference in the young 
man’s feelings,” laughed Mi’S. Burke. 
The baby now began to cry, and Mrs. Burke’s 
attention was diverted from Daisy a few minutes, and 
the latter soon took her leave. 
A few blocks fiuther on lived Jlrg. Chellis, and here 
Daisy made her second call. Mr. Cliellis was at home, 
and had been smoking, and the room was still full.of 
the fragrance of his cigar. No sooner was Daisy seated 
than she curled up her little nose and said, “ I should 
think there was a epreer smell here.” 
Sir. Chellis laughed and said, “I have just been 
smoking, and of course you are not accustomed to that 
sort of thing.” 
“ Oh, yea, I am,” exclaimed the irresponsible cliild ; 
“ my Papa smokes, but JIamma don’t let him smoke in 
the parlor—he has to go dowir collar to smoke.” 
“Well, I never would ha-ve believed it,” ejaculated 
Mrs. ClieUis. 
“ If the truth were always known, there wouldn’t be 
so much to choose between saints and sinners after all,” 
said Mr. Chellis with ill-concealed satisfaction at having 
ajrparently discovered a flaw in his nrinister. 
By this time Daisy’s attention was attracted by-Mrs. 
CheUis’ hah', which was quite elaborately done up on 
her head and down on her forehead. Daisy had often 
wondered at its marvelous arrangement, and now deter¬ 
mined to satisfy her curiosity. “ Do you wear store 
hair, Mrs. Chellis?” she asked. 
Mr. Chellis laughed heartily at his wife’s evident dis- 
eomflture under this abrupt question, and said, “Good 
for you, Daisy ! ” 
This h-ritated his wife still more and she said, 
“ You are a very imirolite little gu-1, Daisy Green; my 
hair grows on my own head.” 
“ She means that a part of it grows there, Daisy,” said 
Mr. Chellis, still laughing; but Daisy felt quite mortified 
.at being called impohte, and hastened to apologize. 
“Excuse me. Sirs. Chellis, I thought store hair was 
very nice; I see lots of it when I go to town with 
Slanuna. I saw some real pretty yellow curls in a win- 
•dow the other day, and I wanted Mamma to buy them 
to wear on her head, but she said she didn’t propose to 
make a sunflower of her head by nutting yellow cm-ls 
round her black b-aids.” 
“You jnust try and cultivate your Mother’s tastes, 
Daisy; don’t let her fall behind the times,” said Sir. 
■Chellis. 
“I do all I can for Slan'una,” replied the mature 
young person of seven. “ I heard her s ly one day that 
1 taught her a good many lessons ; but she’ll be worry¬ 
ing if I don’t go home.” And Daisy rose and went 
towards the door. 
“ Come again, Daisy,” said Sir. Chellis; “I find you a 
veiw entertaining little girl; I have enjoyed your call 
exceedingly.” 
■ “ I’m afraid you don’t mean all that; it sounds as if 
you were making fun of me,” said Daisy. 
“I’m glad you can see through hun, Daisy,” inter¬ 
posed Sirs. Chellis ; “ he isn’t to be trusted.” 
Daisy took the shortest way home, but in so doing 
had to pass the place where Sliss Helen Lawrence 
boarded, and it occurred to her to stop there a moment., 
Sliss Lawrence was a maiden of at least thirty-five, a' 
lovely woman, whose only weakness was a foolish sensL 
tiveness concerning her own lonely condition—she al¬ 
ways feared that people should think that she had re¬ 
mained unmarried because no one had wanted her. No 
sooner was Daisj' seated in Sliss Lawrence’s neat little 
parlor than she unconsciously attacked her at this weak 
point by blandly remarking— 
I thought likely you’d be lonesome, seeing you’re an 
old maid, so I ran in to make you a call.” 
“Very kind, I’m sure,” munuured Sliss Lawrence 
‘ ‘ who told you that I was an old maid ? ” 
“ Why, I’ve heard my Slother say you was, and she 
thought it was a gi'eat pity, and she said she guessed 
you would be glad to marry Mr. Adams,” said the teiri- 
ble caller. 
“ You may tell your Slamma that I am not ready to 
fall into Sir. Adams’ arms yet,” answered Sliss Laivrence 
shortly, and she left her seat and commenced to water 
the plants that filled her bay window. “ I think,” she 
continued piesently, “that you had better go home, 
Daisy ; your mother would be distressed if she knew 
what you were about.” Both felt uncomfortable, ^Sliss 
Lawrence felt hurt that her pastor’s wife had spoken of 
her as an old maid, and the accusation of u-ishing ^ to 
mai-ry Sir. Adams was the more bitter because iu the 
depths of her heart there had been securely hidden just 
such a wish. Daisy felt hui't at being advised to go 
home; she didn’t believe it was quite proper to send call¬ 
er's home. But after a brief hesitation she started. She 
had gone but a few steps from Sliss La-ivrence’s door 
when she met Mr. Adams. 
“Why, Daisy,” he exclaimed, “are you really out 
alone this afternoon?” 
“Yes, I’lh making parish calls,” she replied -vrith a 
most unpor'tant air. “ I’ve just been to see Sliss Law¬ 
rence, and I told her she’d better get mar-ried to you, 
but she said she wasn’t ready to faU into your arms 
yet.” 
“ Whew !” exclaimed the surprised gentleman. “I’m 
very much afraid your parish calls have beerr of a vei-y 
ecoentrre nature. You had better cut for home as fast 
as those small legs will carr-y you.” And Mr. Adams 
passed on, but as he went by Miss Lawi-ence’s -window 
he glanced up, and, seeing her among her flowers, 
bowed and smiled. As she returned his gi-eeting, the 
recollection of Daisy’s words caused her to blush, and 
Ml'. Adams wondered that he had never before iioticed 
what, a very loyely woman she was, and how gh’lish she 
looked when she blushed. 
Daisy i-eached home -without further- adventure, and 
found her Mother greatly alai'med at her long absence. 
Daisy frankly confessed where she had been, and her 
