Magnolia?" Phyllis said, her fine cornsilk eyebrows arched a
trifle. "What is this favor?"

"When you plant the little fellow--you said you were going to,
anyhow--would you plant him near me?"

Phyllis looked down at the plant she held cradled in her arms and then
up at the tree. "Of course, Magnolia," she said, frowning slightly. "I
didn't realize...." Her voice began to tremble. "I _have_ been pretty
rotten, haven't I?" She looked toward James, but he turned his glance
away.

"Just because you were a plant," Phyllis continued, "didn't mean I had
to be a b-b-beast. It must have been awful for you, seeing me like this,
practically crowing over you, and knowing that you yourself would never
have the chance to be a m-m-m-mother."

"'Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,'" Magnolia said sadly,
"'and waste its sweetness on the desert air.'"

* * * * *

Phyllis was crying unashamedly now. "I'll plant him right next to
you--Maggie. I want you to have him. He can be your baby."

"Thank you, Phyl," Maggie said softly. "That's very ... blue of you."

"Although I think that's a jim-dandy idea," the biologist said, "and I
sure wouldn't want to do anything to discourage it, being real
interested in the results of an experiment like that my own self, I
don't think you ought to feel so mean about it, Miz Phyllis. If all she
wanted--begging your pardon, Miss Magnolia, ma'am--was a baby, why
didn't she take an interest in the holly until she found out it was a
male? Why wouldn't a little old girl holly have done as well?"

"Why--why, you scheming vegetable!" Phyllis exploded at Magnolia,
clutching the holly plant to her protective bosom. "He's much too young
for you, and I'm going to plant him far away, where he can't possibly
fall into your clutches."

"Now, Miss Phyllis, we-all mustn't look at things out of their proper
perspective."

"Then why did you take your hat off when you were introduced to Miss
Magnolia, Cutler?" Dr. Lakin asked interestedly.

"Sir, where I come from, we respect femininity, whether it be animal,
vegetable or mineral. Nonetheless, we-all got to remember, though Miss
Magnolia is unquestionably a lady, she is not a woman."

Phyllis began to laugh hysterically. "You're right!" she gasped. "I had
almost forgotten _she_ was only a tree. And that _it_ is only a little
Christmas holly plant that's probably going to die, anyway--they almost
always do."

"That's c