“You may select any scents you wish,” Mrs. Langley said, leading the girls on to another old-fashioned garden. “Lavender—heliotrope—mignonette—rosemary or lemon verbena.”
“Say, that tussie-mussie idea is good! Has great commercial possibilities!” exclaimed Mr. Piff. “We could set up a booth and have the Brownies sell them at the flower show!”
“The Brownies are not interested,” Miss Gordon said firmly. She had grown increasingly annoyed by the promoter’s tactics. “Really, we should be going—”
Mr. Piff ignored the hint. While Vevi and Connie gathered flowers for their tiny bouquets, he kept talking to Mrs. Langley about his wonderful plans for the tulip festival.
“You have one of the finest gardens I ever have seen,” he flattered the club woman. “It should be thrown open to the public—for a fee, of course.”
“I do open my gardens each year, Mr. Piff,” she told him. “However, I have never charged admission.”
The visitors were conducted to the greenhouse, where orchids and other tropical plants were grown. Under the glass roof it was so warm that Vevi and Connie were glad to get outside again into the fresh air.
They ran on ahead of the adults to the old wishing well.
“I’m going to make a wish,” declared Vevi quickly. “It’s about Mr. Piff too!”
She dropped a flower petal down into the water and was very quiet for a moment.