The children were soon busy tracing their States and cutting them out. Alice found New Hampshire so hard to do that she was sorry she had not chosen Alabama, but she would not let anybody know this on any account. She painted New Hampshire a delicate shade of pink. Peggy painted Pennsylvania a blue that shaded in with her blue frock. Diana painted Delaware green, and Tom chose crimson for Texas, the color of the college he hoped to go to some day.
“I was going to paint Colorado crimson,” said Christopher.
“You can’t,” said Tom. “I have chosen crimson.”
“Can’t I paint Colorado crimson, Uncle Joe?”
“If you like. I think I’ll paint Utah orange, so as to have as much variety as possible on the map.”
“That is a good idea,” said Christopher; “I’ll paint Colorado yellow.”
Alice and Peggy were so interested in the game that they played it every morning when they first waked up, and they got so they could say the forty-eight States while they were putting on their shoes and stockings. It amused them to see which States their different friends could live in.
They felt there were very few children and still fewer grown people who ought to be told the game. It was like a secret society. Some people were so scornful they would think it silly, and they did not care enough about most people to let them into the secret. Mrs. Owen thought it a good game, but she was too busy to play it. Age did not seem to make any difference. Old Michael, for instance, took to it very kindly.
Peggy sat in the wheelbarrow one day while he was raking leaves and she explained the game to him.
“You are very lucky,” she ended, “for you can live in so many States—Maine, Massachusetts—” she began; and she said over the whole eight, ending with Minnesota.