"At last he pined away and died, and in the place of his body was found a beautiful flower, with soft white petals, nodding to its reflection in the water.
"The Daffodils are also my cousins," the Jonquil explained, "and descend from the beautiful Narcissus."
"That is a very pretty story," said Martha, "and the fate of Narcissus should teach all vain people a lesson."
The Tiger Lily told her story next.
"Mine is not a love story," she said; "it is about something I saw in far-off China before I bloomed here.
"In that land little girls are not so happy as they are here because the boys are the pride of the family.
"One day a poor beggar who was faint from hunger and thirst lay down close beside where I bloomed. He groaned aloud in his misery, and a little girl who was passing heard him. She came to him and gave him water from a near-by stream and bathed his face. When he was refreshed he asked, 'Who are you, and how did you happen to be here?'
"'I am only a miserable daughter on her way to the mission,' she replied. 'My father is very poor and can provide only for his sons. If I can reach the mission they will take me in and I shall be taught many things.'
"The beggar only shook his head; he did not believe that a girl was worth even thanking, and that anyone should bother to teach her was past his belief, and so the little girl passed on.
"I am telling you this story," said the Tiger Lily, "that you may know how much good your pennies do that you drop into the missionary box, for you see by the kind act of that little girl the Chinese girls are worth saving, for they are kind and good and grow up to be a blessing to their country."