“If no one will give us a soldier"...

“But I don’t want a soldier,” says Peggs.  “I want a doll.”

“Let’s make one,” says Jackie.

“That’s a good way,” says Peggs.

“You bet,” says Jackie, and he slapped one of his legs the way sailors do in tales of the sea.

“What’ll we make it of?” asked Peggs.

“Things,” says Jackie.  “Goodie!” says Peggs.

And they went in search of the things they would make the dolls of.  And pretty soon, Peggs made the most wonderful doll of flowers that ever a child could see.

The head was of Sweetclover, the dress was a purple morning-glory turned upside-down so it looked like a bodice and a skirt, and it was tied to the head so that they wouldn’t come apart.  And perched on the top of the head was a little bonnet, only it wasn’t really a bonnet, you know, but a little four o’clock.

And she called it Little Miss Sweetclover and it was the dearest little doll and as fresh as the morning dew.

In the meantime, Jackie had been busy, you may be sure; but he couldn’t find anything to make a soldier of except sticks of wood, but he had no jack-knife, much as he had always wanted one.

“Whatever shall I do?” thought Jackie, as he looked about the garden, and just then he saw an ear of corn and he picked it up.

“Maybe this will do,” and he picked all the kernels off except two for the eyes, one for the nose, two more for the ears and a row for the teeth.

And he ran to Peggs to have her sew some clothes for his soldier.

“What do you think of Little Miss Sweetclover?” says Peggs, holding it up for Jackie to see.

“I think she’s very pretty,” says Jackie, “only she needs legs.”  And while Peggs cut out and sewed a uniform for the soldier, Jackie went in search of legs for Sweetclover.

And these he made of two stems of a flower, bent at the ends to look like feet.  And he ran back to Peggs with them.

“Here are the legs for Sweetclover with green shoes and stockings on.”  And he tied them to the rest of Sweetclover so that when she walked, they wouldn’t come off.

By this time Peggs had finished the uniform for Jackie’s soldier and a hat of newspaper with a great plume of cornsilk and a lot of medals which were cut from the gold leaf that comes on a card of buttons.  And when they were all sewed on the jacket, he cut out a sword from the gold leaf and made hands and feet from the corn husk.  And he colored the eyes with black ink and the lips with red, and, much before you could say “Crickety,” the soldier was all finished.

“What’ll we call him?” asked Jackie.

And they thought, and thought, and thought.

“I have it!” said Jackie.

“What?” asked Peggs.

“We’ll call him Kernel Cob,” says Jackie.

“Goodie!” says Peggs, clapping her hands with glee.

And you will see what wonderful dolls they were, and what wonderful things they did, and how they helped Jackie and Peggs to find ... but never mind.