“With the floss, make a loop, Hold it with your thumb. Back I jump, step in again, Out through the loop I come. Pulling after me the floss, To make a loop again, Looping, stepping, right along We make a pretty chain.” Around the neck one inch from the edge frolicked the Crewel One with the floss in his eye and the pink fingers of Margaret’s right hand holding him. In her left hand she held the dress. Looping and stepping along their way a pretty trimming was soon formed. When the chain was finished, the floss was fastened securely on the wrong side of the dress. “That looks good. Now do the armholes the same way. Be sure you link the two ends of the chain together on the underneath side of each armhole before you fasten the floss,” said the King. [Illustration] “Yes, Sire,” answered the Crewel One respectfully. He and Margaret worked busily for a while. “Now they are both done and my dress is trimmed. I must say it looks wonderful!” said Margaret at last. Crewel skipped away to the table-top and began to jump rope with the strand of floss that was left over. “I didn’t know you liked to jump rope as we girls do,” said Margaret to him, laughing. “I must keep myself in trim, you know,” he said very seriously. Margaret giggled at this and took up her dress to go out of the room. “I thank you both very much,” she said hurrying away to show her mother how pretty the new dress looked finished. [Illustration] “Sir Bodkin and the Crewel One are very fine friends for my little daughter to have. How charming your dress looks now it is trimmed with that scarlet chain-stitching!” said her mother. “We had a ‘Crewel Frolic,’” laughed Margaret catching the punning habit from her One-Eyed friends. “And I certainly think they say comical things, don’t you?” “Yes,” answered her mother, “they are very wonderful, indeed.” CHAPTER XVI MARGARET MAKES BUTTON HOLES “Oh, Mother dear, we’re going on the most wonderful hike to-morrow! Are my new bloomers ready to wear?” cried Margaret one afternoon as she ran into the house after school. “They are finished except the buttonholes, which I am about to cut and make now,” her mother replied. Then the telephone bell rang and Mrs. Allen was obliged to talk about something so important that Margaret knew it might take up a good deal of time before dinner. “I believe I’ll run up-stairs and ask Sir Bodkin to show _me_ how to make these buttonholes,” she said to herself. Suiting the action to the word she picked up the new bloomers and ran up-stairs with them to her own room. [Illustration] “Sir Bodkin,” she called. “Here I come,” he answered hopping out of the work-basket. “Do you know how to make buttonholes?” she asked him. “Well I should say so,” he said.