“10 P. M.—I was interrupted in my letter just as I finished the last paragraph. The girls called me to hurry downstairs and walk with them to Four Corners. I went, but Mrs. James and I stopped to visit Mrs. Tompkins’s gardens while the other girls went on, with Hester Tompkins, to see Nancy Sherman and Dorothy Ames about forming a scout patrol. I can’t go to sleep without telling you about Mrs. Tompkins’s flowers, so I am sitting up to write, but all the others are fast asleep.
“I never thought the plain old earth could produce such lovely colors and the delicate perfumes Mrs. Tompkins’s flowers have. She has a large area devoted to her flowers, and there I saw almost every kind of plant, blossom, shrub, vine or tree that grows north. She says it is because she loves them so much that they bloom and thrive so splendidly for her.
“I believe that I could love flowers that way, too, and maybe they will bloom and thrive successfully for me, too. I told Mrs. Tompkins that I knew of no pleasanter way to live than to see such lovely rewards as the flowers, for one’s time and patience.
“She looked at me very searchingly, for a minute, and then said: ‘Norma, I think you will be a successful florist if you keep at the work. But you cannot slight such a calling once you undertake to grow the plants.’
“I wish you could see the great basketful of slips, roots and cuttings that I brought home from Mrs. Tompkins’s gardens tonight. I am going to get up at sunrise in the morning and plant them. Jimmy and I were visiting Mrs. Tompkins for almost two hours, yet it seemed like ten minutes.
“Now that this letter is finished, it can be mailed in the morning and I am free to start my garden work. Don’t be alarmed if you do not hear from me again for a long time as I will not have much time to spare once I begin gardening and landscaping the farm. When it begins to look like a real picture garden I want you both to come out and see what I can do. But do write often,
To your loving
Norma.
P. S.—If you possibly can send me my two months’ allowance in advance, I would be very grateful, as I want to buy seeds and bulbs, and lots of things for my work. Please send it at once.
Norma.