CHAPTER VI
THE REAL NEW HAMPSHIRE
On Ella’s side of the street, as well as on Ida’s, interesting things were often going on. The mother and her friend were making wax flowers, and this was a delight to see. Ella thought that the pink mossrose buds were the loveliest things in the world. The mother had brought with her some thin sheets of white wax, and out of these she cut the petals, using the real buds for patterns. Some people made the petals of pink wax, but it was thought to be much more artistic to make them of white and paint them with pink powder.
These were pressed into the hollow of the hand and bent around the wire stem. Real moss from the north side of the beech tree was twisted on at the base of the petals. Leaves were made by dipping real rose leaves first into water, then into melted green wax and peeling off the impression of the under side to use. The rosebuds and the sprays of leaves were brought gracefully together, and there was the bouquet, all ready to take its stand in a little vase under a glass shade on the parlor mantel.
Wax pond lilies, with long stems of green rubber, were also made. The stems were coiled upon a round piece of looking-glass to represent water. A glass shade in the shape of a half sphere was placed over them, finished with a chenille cord. “And there you have a thing that will always be an ornament for your parlor,” said the teachers of wax-flower-making. “It will never go out of fashion because it is true to nature.”
The two grown-ups were very kind to the smaller folk. They let them try and try until they had each made a really pretty bud and a spray of leaves to go with it. Then they made some little forget-me-nots and some syringas. This was as much as they could find time for without neglecting their large families of dolls.
One day Ella’s mother and her friend planned to go a little way out of the city to call on an old friend of theirs.
“Put on your blue-and-white checked silk and your leghorn hat,” said the mother.
“Do I have to go?” Ella asked in dismay, for she and Ida had some interesting plans for the afternoon.
“Yes,” said her mother. “This lady is an old friend, and she will want to see you.”
“Would she want to see me if she knew that I didn’t want to come?”