Hollyhock Place was as beautiful a spot as children ever had for a
home. Hollyhocks were blooming everywhere. All about the house and
along the lane leading to it were great stalks bearing satiny blossoms
of all shades, from delicate shell pink to the deepest, richest red.
Besides, there were countless white and golden yellow ones.
[Illustration]
When the little Wests came to live there it seemed like fairy land
to them. All their lives they had lived in the city with its severe
looking houses and hard brick and stone pavements. There their
playthings, even, were made of wood and china and tin—all ready made
and finished.
Here everything was so different. There were flowers and vines
everywhere about their cottage home, shading the windows and trailing
over the fences. In the garden at the back were beds of tender radishes
and rows of tomatoes, cabbages, potatoes, corn and other vegetables,
while over the fence grew vines bearing green and yellow gourds.
In the city the children had never seen these things growing; here
they could not only see them, but could help them to grow, by watering
them and stirring up the ground about their roots. And afterwards,
they could have them for their very own. It was just the place to be
perfectly happy in.
Cousin Charlotte was to live with them. She was fifteen and knew how
to do many things to help children enjoy themselves. The little Wests
thought it was because she had always lived in the beautiful country.
Perhaps it was.
She knew how to make the most wonderful dolls out of almost anything
and could make rhymes and stories about them. The first doll she made
for them Eugenie had named Lady Hollyhock. Eugenie had always liked
stories of lords and ladies and knights and other great folk so the
others were not at all surprised that their new visitor was a Lady.
A most wonderful lady she was with the daintiest of satiny gowns of the
most beautiful shade of pink. In her hair—or on her head—she wore a bow
of green, while round her neck was a great pointed green collar such as
Queen Elizabeth might have envied. The pink and green were wonderfully
becoming, for, being a lady of high degree and having excellent taste,
she was careful in choosing colors which not only harmonized with each
other, but with her complexion.
Lady Hollyhock’s complexion was a marvel—different from anything the
children had ever seen in that line,—being a peculiar light shade of
green. This was not to be wondered at though, when you know that Lady
Hollyhock’s head was nothing but a green tomato, her body another, the
green bow in her hair the stem and calyx of the tomato, and her collar
the fuzzy double calyx of a hollyhock. Her gown—waist, sleeves and
skirt—was of the beautiful flower cups of hollyhocks tied in at the
waist by a long blade of grass.
Her piercing black eyes were glass headed pins, her nose a bit of a
match, and her pearly teeth white headed pins. Tooth picks served for
neck, arms and legs. Of these last it took three to support so great a
personage.
The daughter of this noble lady looked much like her mother though she
was dressed somewhat differently. The face was the same but the cap and
gown were just a little different. There was no sash about the waist
of the daughter—her gown hung loose from the shoulders making her look
younger. Having but one leg, this strange child was always compelled to
stand with that in a slice of potato to keep from tumbling over.
After a time other members of the family joined these two—some wore
gowns of red, some of white, and some of yellow, but none were more
charming than the first Lady Hollyhock and her daughter.