"Pink rambler," they all wrote. "What's its name?"
"Dorothy—"
"Smith?"
"Perkins."
James went through a pantomime that registered severe disappointment.
"Suppose we begin at the beginning," suggested Mr. Emerson. "I believe we can make out a list that will keep your pink bed gay from May till frost."
"That's what we want."
"You had some pink tulips last spring."
"We planted them in the autumn so that they'd come out early this spring. By good luck they're just where we've decided to have a pink bed."
"There's your first flower, then. They're near the front of the bed, I hope. The low plants ought to be in front, of course, so they won't be hidden."