ACT I


SCENE I


_A summer parlor in the_ COLONEL'S _house. Handsome furnishings. In
the centre of rear wall an open door, behind it a verandah and garden;
on the sides of rear wall large windows. Right and left, doors; on the
right, well in front, a window. Tables, chairs, a small sofa_.

IDA _is sitting in front on the right reading a book. The_ COLONEL
_enters through centre door with an open box in his hand in which are
dahlias_.

COLONEL.

Here, Ida, are the new varieties of dahlias our gardener has grown.
You'll have to rack your brains to find names for them. Day after
tomorrow is the Horticultural Society meeting, when I am to exhibit
and christen them.

IDA.

This light-colored one here should be called the "Adelaide."

COLONEL.

Adelaide Buneck, of course. Your own name is out of the running, for
as a little dahlia you have long been known to the flower-trade.