“A unanimous vote, I think,” said Bachelor, after the excitement had somewhat subsided.
“The next question is, When shall we have it?”
“Oh! right away, of course,” nodded a buttercup. “See! the sun has come out to help us.”
“But,” objected white Violet, “we can’t. We must invite all the flowers and birds and brooks and trees all over the world, and they will have to get ready. It will take the flowers the rest of this summer and all of next winter to get their dresses made and packed in their brown travelling seed trunks. I’m sure it would me if I were to go away from here for the summer, and it is late in the season already. We couldn’t get word to them all in time.”
“Yes,” said the fish, “and there are the travelling expenses to be arranged for such a large company. We should have to secure reduced rates. They always do on Chautauqua Lake.”
“Oh! as to that,” said the wind, “I and the birds would do the transportation free of charge, and the brook would do all it could, I’m sure.”
“Of course, of course,” babbled the brook.
“That is very kind of you indeed,” said Bachelor. “But I should think that the earliest possible beginning that we could hope to have would be next spring.”
After much impatient arguing on the part of the buttercups and daisies, it was finally agreed that the first meeting of their Chautauqua should be held the following spring.
“It must last all summer,” they said, “because some of us can come early and some late. There is the golden-rod now, it never can come till late in the fall.”