“My Nan seems to wish to make many experiments,” the little old lady said merrily. “Is not housekeeping enough?” Then, noting an expression of disappointment in the face of the girl, she added, “Bring your flock of children to our garden, if you wish dearie, I, too, will enjoy having them here.”
And so, the very next afternoon a dozen boys and girls, the oldest not seven, appeared, and though, for a time, some of them seemed shy, Nan soon won their confidence and had them merrily romping on a velvety stretch of lawn which she had chosen for a playground. Then when they were weary, they went into the vine-covered rustic house, and, sitting about the long table, they played quiet games that were both instructive and amusing.
After receiving her first week’s check, Nan visited the town and purchased books and materials that would assist her in teaching and entertaining her little “guests.”
Happy times Miss Dahlia and Nan had in the long evenings as they sat in the cheerfully lighted library reading these books, and then they would try to weave a pattern from gaily colored wools or bright strips of paper according to the instructions. The next day that particular pattern would be the one that Nan would show the children how to make.
One afternoon Miss Dahlia wandered out to the rustic house during this rest period, and, sitting at one end of the table she assisted a darling five-year-old to make a paper mat of glowing colors.
“See, Miss Nan,” the little fairy called joyously when the task was done, “see my pitty mat! May I take it home to show muvver?”
“Yes indeed, dearies, you may all take home whatever you make,” their young teacher told them.
“I wish we could make doggies or elphunts,” one small boy said. And that night Miss Dahlia and Nan hunted through the books for instructions on “elphunt” making, but failed to find them. Then Nan, not wishing to disappoint the little lad, brought forth scissors and cardboard and after many amusing failures, at last cut out a figure which Miss Dahlia laughingly assured the artist could be recognized as an “elphunt” at a single glance. They then cut out a dozen that the children might each have a pattern.
The little boy was delighted because his suggestion had been followed. Nan showed them how to make their card-board animals stand, and soon they had a long procession of rather queerly shaped “elphunts” and dogs all the way down the length of the table. The pleased children clapped their hands gleefully, and one little girl looked up with laughing eyes as she said: “Miss Nan, it’s as nice as a party every day, isn’t it?”
Sometimes the older girl, watching these children of the rich as they romped about on the velvety lawn, recalled another picture of the long ago. A group of dark-haired, dark-skinned, fox-like little creatures scrambling and rolling over each other as puppies do, but, when Nan had appeared, they had left their play and raced to meet her with outstretched arms.