“He reached the figure, but what was his chagrin when he saw the wonderful golden hair had faded to grey, and the youth of the charming dancer had turned to old age upon a bended stem! Poor South Wind knew it was because of his delay in wooing and winning the object of his love, while youth and beauty remained, that now filled his heart with bitter disappointment. He sighed heavily with his sorrow, and his breath blew over the grey head of Sun Lion and at that breath of love lost, the whitened hair fell from her crown and were lightly wafted, here and there, and far away, leaving the old head shorn of all its covering, and bent low in useless regrets.”
This story met with more appreciative applause than the white rose legend, and then so many girls called for their natal flowers and the legends to go with them, that the Captain held up a hand for patience. When quiet reigned once more, Mrs. James said:
“I propose that we hear from our hostess of Green Hill Farm. Perhaps she has a favorite natal flower and a pretty legend to go with it.”
“Yes, Natalie—what is your birth date?” asked Mrs. Tompkins.
“My birthday is on the eleventh of June?” said the girl eagerly.
“June eleventh has the field daisy for its flower. It means ‘optimism.’ There are many stories in connection with the daisy—or Marguerite, as it is known in France. But the story that is claimed to be a true one, tells how Marguerite of heathen times, was driven from her father’s home in Antioch because she would not renounce the Christian faith and bow low to the pagan god. She loved the daisy and it became her flower after her martyrdom.
“There is a legend, or myth, about the daisy that says: ‘Once the dryads were dancing on the great Green of the world, when the god of spring passed by and stopped to watch the dance. The dryads were so merry and gay in the abandon of their whirl that they did not see the god of spring creep up and await his opportunity to spring forward and catch up the sweetest of them all—a modest lovely little form which had attracted his eye.
“‘Just as the god snatched the beauteous maiden from her companions, she lifted her head and called to heaven for help. Instantly she was turned into the lovely little daisy that always lifts its head toward heaven and greets the sun with smiles.’”
When the girls’ applause for this tale died out, Norma suggested eagerly: “Now we ought to hear Jimmy’s natal flower and its legend.”
“I already know my natal flower, and my birthday being so near at hand I think I will ask to be excused from the publicity such a revelation will make just now,” laughed Mrs. James.