We don't mind _very_ much now,' said
Hollyhock; and she began to dance wildly about the room.

'You will have to behave, Hollyhock,' said her father with a smile.

Hollyhock drew herself up to her full height; her black eyes gleamed
and glowed; her lips parted in a funny, yet naughty, smile. Her hair
seemed so full of electricity that it stood out in wonderful rays all
over her head.

'And why should I behave well _now_, daddy mine?' she asked.

'Oh, because of Aunt Agnes.'

'Catch me,' said Hollyhock.--'Who is with me in this matter, girls?
Are you, Delphy? Are you, Jasmine? Are you, Gentian? Are you, Rose
of the Garden?'

'We 're every one of us with you,' exclaimed Jasmine, snuggling up to
her father as she spoke. 'Daddy,' she continued, 'I want to ask you a
question. Even if it hurts you, I must ask it. Was our own, _ownest_
mother the least like Aunt Agnes?'

'As the east is from the west, so were those two sisters apart,' he
said.

'Then _that's_ all right,' said Hollyhock. 'I'm happy now. I couldn't
have endured being rude to a woman who was like my mother, but as it
is'----

'You mustn't be rude to her, Hollyhock.'

'We 'll see,' said Hollyhock. 'Leave her to me. I think I'll manage
her. Perhaps she's a good old sort--there's no saying. But she and
her _scheme_--daring to come and disturb us and _our_ scheme! I like
that--I really do. Good-night, dad; I'm off to bed. I 've had a very
happy day, and I suppose happy days end. Anyway, old darling, we'll
always have you on our side, sha'n't we?'

'That you will, my darlings,' said Lennox.

'What fun it will be to talk to the Precious Stones about Aunt Agnes!'
said Hollyhock. 'Flowers are soft things; at least _some_ flowers are.
But stones! they can _strike_--and ours are so big and so strong.'

'Whatever happens, girls,' said their father, 'we must be polite to
your step-aunt, Agnes Delacour.'

'Oh, she's only a "step," poor thing,' said Hollyhock. 'No wonder they
were as the east is from the west. Now good-night, daddy. Don't fret.
I wish with all my heart we could go back to the Precious Stones
to-night and prepare them for battle. They ought to be prepared,
oughtn't they?'

'Well, you can't go to see them to-night, Hollyhock; and to-morrow,
early, we shall be very busy getting the room ready for Aunt Agnes, for
she _is_ my half-sister-in-law, and she did her best to bring up your
dearest mother. But I may as well say