Page:Christian Science War Time Activities.djvu/321

 and after exclaiming over the Carbone vase with its pussy willows, or wondering how wild ferns and violets and lady's-slippers happened to grow in a window, you settled down to an exhaustive survey of the attractive garments before you. What a layette,—with its thirty-six pieces, so very white, so sensible, so complete! What unwelcome baby, what stricken mother, would be comforted and encouraged by that? Those little shirts, made so deftly from adults' garments that one hardly suspected their origin; those warm yet dainty bootees in pink and white and blue; the baby bonnets crocheted of softest wool; surely it was not hard routine, but warm, inspired love that fashioned these. The baby blankets and little jackets lay just beyond, but your practical mind was already contemplating the garments on the right, complete outfits for both winter and summer wear, for girls from two to fourteen years of age; the undergarments all so new and strong and durable; the dresses simple in design and serviceable. A belt, a pocket, a bit of braid or embroidery, however, lifted them into the realm of the custom-made, and gave evidence of the loving thought of the makers.

Then, too, there were outfits for boys between the ages of six and twelve; blouses that looked a bit expensive for the times, because there was nothing to reveal the fact that they had been made from some man's choicest shirts which had become worn at the neck. How diminutive, too, were those little trousers, especially when one thought of the castaway garments from which they were cut. But they were not all “made-overs.” Those smart suits of blue denim, for instance; who could have designed them? And, oh, those policemen's and firemen's uniforms, children's