“Where shall I put the poster?” the promoter asked. He seemed rather
annoyed by Mrs. Langley’s refusal to let him tack it up in the
greenhouse.
“Not anywhere on the estate, please.”
“Don’t you want to advertise the festival?”
“This is a private, non-commercial judging show,” Mrs. Langley
explained. “I can’t have the grounds cluttered with cheap signs.”
“Cheap signs!” Mr. Piff exploded. “Well, I like that! Let me tell you,
if we don’t advertise, the festival will be a flop. Your money is
invested in it too.”
“How well I know,” replied Mrs. Langley coldly. “I deeply regret that I
allowed you to talk me into the affair. Your methods--”
The garden club president did not finish what she had intended to say.
At that instant she saw the tulips which Mr. Van Der Lann had brought
into the greenhouse.
“Oh, such beautiful flowers!” she exclaimed. “I have never seen more
lovely blooms. And this golden-hued tulip! What is it, Mr. Van Der
Lann?”
“A new variety I am introducing,” the nurseryman replied politely. “I
call it the Golden Beauty.”
“It is the showiest flower so far brought in.”
“Thank you, Ma’am, for the praise,” said the nurseryman. “I only wish
that you were to be one of the judges.”
While Mr. Van Der Lann was arranging his display, Mr. and Mrs. Mattox
drove up in their truck. They too had brought many gorgeous flowers for
the judging contest.
“Look at that rosy-red tulip,” Connie directed Vevi’s attention to
a potted plant which Mrs. Mattox was showing to the garden club
president. “Isn’t it pretty?”
The tulip which Mrs. Mattox had named Candy Stick, resembled
peppermint. It stood on a tall, graceful stem, its outer petals a
cherry-rose color. Inside petals were a delicate white.
Vevi was deeply worried when she saw the handsome tulip. For a second
she thought it was a prettier flower than the one Peter Van Der Lann
had developed. Then she decided that the Golden Beauty was the better.
“They’re both very nice,” Connie said. “I hope though, that Peter’s
tulip wins the blue ribbon tomorrow.”
After admiring all the lovely flowers, the Brownies helped Miss Mohr
and Miss Gordon decorate the outdoor booth. They put up colored crepe
paper to cover the rough boards and pasted on the tulips they had made
at the library. When the job finally was finished, the Brownies were
very proud of their work.
“I just hope a wind doesn’t come along tonight and ruin everything,”
Vevi said anxiously. “That would be too mean.”
“Or a rain,” added Connie, glancing up at the slightly overcast sky.
“If it should rain, workmen will move the booth indoors,” Miss Mohr
reassured the girls. “I think though, that tomorrow will be fair.”
Her prediction proved true. The day of the flower show dawned warm and
clear.
Vevi and Connie were up with the birds. Even before breakfast they were
dressed in their Dutch costumes, ready to go to Mrs. Langley’s estate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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