"It really isn't worth hearing!" said Rose. "Still, if you want it you shall have it; so listen!
"Larry Larkspur, Larry Larkspur,
Wears a cap of purple gay;
Trim and handy little dandy,
Straight and smirk he stands alway.
"Larry Larkspur, Larry Larkspur,
Saw the Poppy blooming fair;
Loved her for her scarlet satin,
Loved her for her fringèd hair.
"Sent a message by the night-wind:
'Wilt thou wed me, lady gay?
For the heart of Larry Larkspur
Beats and burns for thee alway.'
"When the morning 'gan to brighten,
Eager glanced he o'er the bed.
Lo! the Poppy's leaves had fallen;
Bare and brown her ugly head.
"Sore amazed stood Larry Larkspur,
And his heart with grief was big.
'Woe is me! she was so lovely,
Who could guess she wore a wig?'"
Hildegarde was highly delighted with the verses, and clamored for more; but at this moment some one was seen coming toward them through the trees. The some one proved to be Martha, with her sleeves rolled up, beaming mildly through her spectacles. She carried a tray, on which were two glasses of creamy milk and a plate of freshly baked cookies. Such cookies! crisp and thin, with what Martha called a "pale bake" on them, and just precisely the right quantity of ginger.
"Miss Rose doesn't look over and above strong," she explained, as the girls exclaimed with delight, "and 't would be a pity for her to eat alone. The cookies is fresh, and maybe they're pretty good."
"Martha," said Hildegarde, as she nibbled a cooky, "you are a saint! Where do you keep your aureole, for I am sure you have one?"
"There's a pair of 'em, Miss Hilda," replied Martha. "They build every year in the big elm by the back door, and they do sing beautiful."
CHAPTER IV.
THE DOCTORS.
"My dears," said Miss Wealthy, as they sat down to dinner,—the bell rang on the stroke of one, and the girls were both ready and waiting in the parlor, which pleased the dear old lady very much,—"my dears, when I made the little suggestions this morning as to how you should amuse yourselves, I entirely forgot to mention Dr. Abernethy. I cannot imagine how I should have forgotten it, but Martha assures me that I did. Dr. Abernethy is entirely at your service in the mornings, but I generally require him for an hour in the afternoon. I am sure Rose will be the better for his treatment; and I trust you will both find him satisfactory, though possibly he may seem to you a little slow, for he is not so young as he once was."