My First, among flowers you can't find a better,
'T was used by a king for securing a letter.
My Second, whose blossoms of yellow soon fade,
Comes out every night in the calm evening shade.
My Third, oft called Iris, is much in demand,
It grows on an island named Van Diemen's Land.
My Fourth, a wild flower with sweet golden eye,
Is more blessing than "torment" to all who pass by.
My Fifth, with great trusses of lavender hue,
Is the sweetest of shrubs that the spring brings to view.
My Sixth, an old blossom in medicine once famed,
Was good for the eyesight, and thus it was named.
Now if you have guessed all these flowers that I prize,
Please take my initials and finals likewise:
The former you'll find to be hiding the latter;
If you've solved the enigma you'll see 'tis a matter
Perchance may provide you with just a lost link,
And bring you a greater reward than you think.
G. P. C.
Both Lindsay and Cicely were particularly fond of any kind of riddle. They seized upon this floral enigma with delight, and began to puzzle it out with the help of the illustrated catalogue of plants given in the old volume.
"How funny of Sir Giles Courtenay to have written it inside a botany book!" said Cicely.
"I suppose he was quite mad," replied Lindsay.
"He must have made it up himself, as it's signed with his initials," continued Cicely. "It was rather clever of him, wasn't it?—especially if he was mad. I'm sure I couldn't invent verses, however hard I tried."
"'My First, used by a king for securing a letter', is evidently 'Solomon's Seal'," said Lindsay. "Give me that spare piece of paper, and I'll put it down."
"'My Second' must be 'Evening Primrose'," said Cicely. "I can't think of any other yellow flower that comes out at night."
The third for a long time baffled the efforts of both girls to discover it. They searched through the lists of wild and garden flowers in vain.
"Irises are sometimes called 'flags'," ventured Cicely at last, turning to the page of 'F' in the index. "Why, here are quite a number. There are Asiatic flag, and corn flag, and dwarf flag, and Florentine flag, and German flag. Oh! and a heap more, too—golden flag, and Iberian flag, and Japanese, and Persian, and Missouri, and Tasmanian."
"That's the one!" said Lindsay. "Van Diemen's Land is the old name for Tasmania. 'My Third' must be Tasmanian flag."