Margaret led the Autumn division, her dress copied from a chestnut tree
and burr. Her kirtle was of the long, slender leaves overlapping each
other. The bodice was in the tones of dull yellow found in the velvety
inside of the opened burr and of the deep brown of the chestnut itself.
This, too, was approved by the onlookers.
Behind her walked Della, a combination of purple asters and golden rod,
the rosettes of the former seeming a rich and solid material from which
the heads of goldenrod hung in a delicate fringe.
A "long-haired Chrysanthemum" was among the autumn flowers, his tissue
paper petals slightly wired to make them stand out, and a stalk of
Joe-Pye-Weed strode along with his dull pink corymb proudly elevated
above the throng.
All alone as a representative of Winter was Tom Watkins, decorated
superbly as a Christmas Tree. Boughs of Norway spruce were bound upon
his arms and legs and covered his body. Shining balls hung from the
twigs, tinsel glistened as he passed under the lantern light, and
strings of popcorn reached from his head to his feet. There was no
question of his popularity among the children. Every small boy who saw
him asked if he had a present for him.
The flower procession served to draw the people into the hall and the
screened corner. They cheerfully yielded up a dime apiece at the
entrance to each place, and when the "show" was over they were
re-replaced by another relay of new arrivals, so that the program was
gone through twice in the hall and twice in the open in the course of
the evening.
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