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 Indonesian Batik

Ministry of Trade of The Republic of Indonesia

Batik The Cultural Beauty 1
 Handbook of Commodity Profile

“ Indonesian Batik : A Cultural Beauty ”

is developed as part of national efforts to create mutual

beneficial economic cooperation and partnership betwen

Indonesia and wold comunities.

2 Batik The Cultural Beauty

Batik The Cultural Beauty 3
 Introduction
TREDA is tasked, among other, to study a number of major export products and distribute the

results to selected general public to increase their awareness and knowledge about the rich poten-

tiality of each major production center. Towards that end, TREDA has organized a series of efforts at

collecting and analyzing relevant data and information on specific products with regards to their

respective potential in order to improve their competitive advantages.

This booklet under the title “Indonesian Batik: A Cultural Beauty” presents an account of one of

the major Indonesian products, namely batik products. The reader will find interesting background

information about batik, perhaps the most treasured cultural heritage of Indonesia. A better com-

prehension on its background will enhance the readers’ appreciation for this attractive Indonesian

product.

Muchtar D
Director General
Trade Research and Development Agency (TREDA)

i4 Batik The Cultural Beauty

 Minister of Trade
Republic of Indonesia

Message
It is our great pleasure to share with you one special type of numerous product lines belonging to In-

donesian creative industries, in this particular case, batik. As a country situated at the cross-road between

two oceans and two continents, Indonesian culture displays a unique mix shaped by long interaction be-

tween original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences. The creativity of Indonesian people

has given birth to numerous attractive art forms.

Batik is a masterpiece of our cultural heritage which has continued to flourished over the years and has

shown signs of becoming even more widespread boosted by the dynamic development in technology,

aesthetics, and economy. Batik has developed to be an important industry that contributes considerably

to the Indonesian economy through export.

This book has been developed to improve Indonesian share in the world market. This booklet presents

background information on Indonesian batik for the readers to appreciate. Dedicated to everyone that
appreciates the beauty and attractiveness of Indonesian batik, this book will give vivid images of the el-

egance and style of batik designs from every corner of the archipelago.

Mari Elka Pangestu

Batik The Cultural Beauty ii 5

 vi
6 Batik The Cultural Beauty
 CONTENTS

1 THE CULTURAL BEAUTY OF INDONESIA

11 BATIK MOTIFS AND DESIGNS

17 VARIETY OF BATIK CRAFTS

26 BATIK INDUSTRY

40 SALES OF INDONESIAN BATIK

v
Batik The Cultural Beauty 7
8 Batik The Cultural Beauty
 The Cultural Beauty of Indonesia

The Emergence of Batik

Consisting of more than 17,000 islands, Indo-
Indonesia has been known for its
nesia, the world’s largest archipelagic country in
the world, lies across the equator. It is situated Batik since the 4th or 5th century, and
southeast off the Asian mainland and northwest
it has been said that Indonesian batik
of Australia with a population of approximately
245 million people with 300 ethnic groups liv- dye techniques and designs are as nu-
ing on different islands. In addition to its multi- merous as its islands.
ethnic background, Indonesia’s unique culture is
rooted in the country’s history as an outpost of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Arab and Dutch
explorers, colonists and traders.

Indonesia has been known for its batik since the 4th or 5th century, and it has been
said that Indonesian batik dye techniques and designs are as numerous as its islands.
The designs and colors vary in accordance with the villages and ethnic groups that have
spread out in different islands. Several Javanese villages have maintained their heritage of
Batik craftsmanship for hundreds of years.

Batik has been both an art and craft for centuries and is part of an ancient tradition.
The word batik is derived from the Javanese word ‘amba’, means ‘to write’, the suffix ‘titik’
means little dot or to make dots. In a manuscript on a lontar leaf originating from around
1520 AD which was found in Galuh, Southern Cirebon (west Java), it is written that batik
also means ‘seratan’ which in Javanese means ‘writing’.

As a matter of fact, batik is ‘wax writing’, a way of decorating cloth by covering a part of
it with a coat of wax and then dyeing the cloth. It is a technique of covering parts of fabric
which will not receive color. The waxed areas keep their original color and when the wax
is removed the contrast between the dyed and undyed areas forms the pattern.

The emergence of batik art in Java is still in discussion until today. Each expert has his
own opinion. G.P. Rouffaer (1900), Jasper and also Pringadi (1912) said that batik art came
from India together with the arrival of Indian merchants in Indonesia in the 4th or 5th
century. Along with the trading activities, Hindu culture brought by the Indians, including

Batik The Cultural Beauty 1

 batik art, began to enter and develop in the Isle of Java. The relief that decorates the
walls of the famous Borobudur temple, Prambanan, and some temples in Bali, show
that the apparel worn by the Kings resembles Batik motifs

While other archeologists believe that batik art, which has become inseparable
from the Javanese culture, has taken a very long process of cultural transformation.
It emerged from local culture and in the course of its development it was strongly in-
fluenced by Hindu, China and European culture. Batik had emerged from local culture
long before the foreign influence came to Indonesia.

No other country has developed batik to its present art form as the highly devel-
oped elaborately patterned batik found on the island of Java in Indonesia, although
they also use the technique of dye resisting decoration. Some experts think that batik
was originally reserved as an art form for Javanese royalty, as some particular patterns
like the parang design were reserved to be worn only by royalty from the Sultan’s pal-
ace. Princesses and noble women may have provided the inspiration for the highly re-
fined designs in traditional patterns. In those times, the women of the Sultan’s Keraton
occupied themselves by painting delicate Batik designs. This fine art form became a
sign of cultivation and refinement.

For the Javanese, batik is not only a popular decorated textile, but it has a deeper
philosophy of importance which takes each Javanese from the cradle to the grave.
When a baby is born, batik is used to wrap the new born baby in and later to carry
it around. When people get married it is an integral part of the wedding attire of the
bride and the groom as well as their parents. And finally at the end of their life, Batik is
used to cover their bodies during the funeral.

Batik has continued to exist over the years and has shown signs of becoming even
more widespread boosted by the dynamic development in the technological, estheti-
cal, functional and economical aspects. In spite of the many ups and downs and chal-
lenges occurring in the Indonesian economy, batik arts have continued to flourish up
to this decade.

If in the ancient time only noble families were allowed to wear certain batik designs,
nowadays almost everybody from all economic levels wear various kinds of batik for
everyday use as well as for special events. Batik arts have become important product
of Indonesia. In many big cities batik industries are found, which produce either ‘batik
cap’ (stamped batik), or ‘batik-tulis’ (hand-drawn batik). The batik factories are mainly

2 Batik The Cultural Beauty

found in Solo, Yogyakarta, Cirebon, Banyumas, Pekalongan, Jakarta, Tuban, Madura,
Bali, Sumatera, and Kalimantan.

Batik spread to the USA, Europe and other Western countries as it was introduced
by the Dutch who travelled to and from Indonesia, which was a former Dutch colony.
The old Batik cloth was brought to Europe by Governor General Raffles when he re-
turned to England in 1816. The oldest Indonesian batik is now on display in the Victo-
ria and Albert Museum in London.

Traditional Ways of Producing Batik

Raw Materials
The basic needs for batik production are mainly cotton (mori); cotton has been
used because of its low cost and relatively easy to process. The quality of Batik is classi-
fied by its process, design and the type of cotton used. There are three types of cotton
used, they are locally produced and imported from other countries:

Mori Primisima, is the finest cotton used for

hand-drawn batik and is never used
for stamped batik
Mori Prima, is the less fine cotton to be used for
either hand-drawn batik or stamped btik
Blue Mori, is the third class of cotton which is
used for low quality batik. This is
never used for hand-drawn batik

Modern batik makes use of other material too such as :

Silk, Shantung, Wool, Polyester, Linen, Rayon, and many oth-
ers.

For Batik handicrafts the materials used are mostly :

Woods, Ceramics, Leather, Silver

Batik The Cultural Beauty 3

 The other important basic ingredient to produce Batik is the coloring or dye for
textiles. There are two types of dye, natural and synthetic. The natural dye was for-
merly used up to 18th century before the synthetic dye was produced by the Western
countries and imported to Indonesia.

The natural dyes are derived from plants and animals, like the roots of a tree,
branches (wood), wood skin, leaves and flowers. To strengthened and give
desired effect to the color some fruits and other materials were also
used like citrus, palm sugar, guava and many others.

The chemical or synthetic dye stuffs include soga ergan, soga

kopel, indigoida, indigosol and many others. The Center for Handi-
crafts and Batik in Yogyakarta is promoting and encouraging batik
producers to go back to nature by using the natural dyes for human
health safety as well as to save the environment.
In traditional batik, colours are taken from
natural sources, a perfect combination of
traditional wisdom and modern environ- Natural Coloring
mental concerns.
When producing Batik, coloring is the most important components. Traditionally,
the colors used to dye the Javanese Batik consisted primarily of beige, blue, brown
and black which are made from indigenous plants. Blue, which is the oldest color used
to make traditional Batik, is made from the leaves of the Indigo plant. The leaves are
mixed with molasses, sugar and lime and left to ferment overnight. Sometimes sap
from the Tinggi tree is added to act as a fixing agent. To get a lighter shade of blue the
cloth is left submerged in the indigo dye for shorter periods of time. To obtain darker
shades of blue, the cloth is kept in the dye bath for several days.

The second color that is applied when making traditional Batik is soga, a brown
color which can range from shades of light yellow to a dark shade of brown. The dye
is called soga as it comes from the bark of the Soga tree. Mengkuda, another color
used in traditional Batik, is a dark red color. This dye is created from the leaves of the
Morinda Citrifolia.

In addition to the three basic colors, there is green, which is obtained by mixing
blue with yellow, and purple which is obtained by mixing blue
and red. When the soga brown color is
mixed with indigo, it will produce a
dark blue-black color.

4 Batik The Cultural Beauty

Unique Batik Techniques
There are three main batik techniques:
Hand-waxed (hand-drawn)
Hand-stamped
Combination of the two.

The hand-waxed batik or hand drawn Batik (Batik Tulis) is produced by painting the
wax on the cloth using a traditional tool called the canting. The hand-stamped Batik is
produced by stamping the wax on the cloth using a copper stamp to make the Batik
design. The other technique combines both the canting and the stamp in order to
produce more creative designs.

Hand-drawn Batik (Batik Tulis)

There are several stages in the process the hand-drawn Batik including several
sub-processes of waxing dyeing and dewaxing (removing the wax) and preparing the
cloth, tracing the designs, stretching the cloth on a frame, waxing the area of the cloth
that does not need dyeing, preparing the dye, dipping the cloth in
dye, boiling the cloth to remove the wax and washing the cloth. The
characteristic effects of the Batik are the fine cracks that appear in
the wax which allow very small amounts of the dye to seep in. It is a
feature not possible in any other form of printing. It is very important
to achieve the right type of cracks or hairline detail.

The tool that is used to produce the intricate Batik designs is

called the Canting [cha:nting], and it was originally invented by the
Javanese. It is a small copper container with a thin spout connected
to a short bamboo handle. The copper container is filled with melted
wax and the artisan then uses the canting to draw the design on the
cloth. The Canting has different sizes of spouts, which are numbered
to correspond to the size, to achieve varied design effects. Dots and
parallel lines may be drawn with a canting.

In order to be able to bear the heat and wax, the cloth used to
make batik is usually strong material such as cambric, poplin, voiles
and pure silk. The artists usually avoid using synthetic fabrics. High
A woman applies wax using
fashion designs drawn on silk are very popular nowadays and these exceptionally canting. Various designs are
created by using different size
high-quality pieces can take months to create and as a result are quite costly. of canting.

Batik The Cultural Beauty 5

 Stamped Batik (Batik Cap)
It takes months event a year to produce one piece of fine quality hand-drawn batik
and no one denies that creating batik is very time consuming and an expensive craft.
In order to meet the growing demands, and to make the fabric more affordable to
the lower income people, in the middle of the 19th century the ‘Cap’
(copper stamp) was developed by the Javanese, revolutionizing the
batik production. This method of using a copper block to apply a
melted wax pattern is called Batik Cap [cha:p].

The ‘Cap’ is a metal stamp, usually constructed of strips of sheet

copper, used in the Batik process to apply molten wax to the cloth
surface. Smaller pieces of wire are used for the dots. When complete,
the pattern of copper strips is attached to a handle. The cap is made
precisely as it is to be stamped on both sides of the fabric; as a result
both sides of the fabric are printed with identical and consistent pat-
terns.

Stamped Batik allows Batik artists to produce high quality de-

signs and intricate patterns much faster than one could possibly do
by hand-painting. This invention enabled a much higher volume of
Batik to be produced compared to the traditional method which
entailed the tedious application of wax by hand using a canting. It
takes less than 2 or 3 days to produce one piece of stamped Batik or
The making of “batik cap.” In ‘Batik Cap’ in comparison to weeks or even months needed to pro-
this method, hot malam or wax
is applied on cloth surface us- duce one piece of hand-drawn Batik.
ing a specially constructed met-
al stamp, usually from copper.

Combination of Hand drawn and Stamped Batik (Kombinasi)

This is the combination of the first two techniques by using both ‘canting’ and the
copper block. The process allows the artist to produce more creative designs in a faster
mode.

6 Batik The Cultural Beauty

Batik The Cultural Beauty 7
 Batik Process

In producing hand-drawn Batik, there are several steps to follow. Detailed production process of handmade
and printed batik work is described below:

1. Before the wax is applied the cloth is carefully prepared by washing it in water to remove the
starch and then reapplying a particular amount of starch to the cloth to facilitate the waxing
process.

2. Then the fabric goes through the ngemplong process in which the cloth is stretched out on a
large board and pounded with a heavy piece of wood. This process which makes the drawing
of the batik pattern on the cloth easier is only applied to cloth to be used for batik tulis.

3. When the cloth is ready, the first application of wax is applied on both sides of the cloth using
the canting or the cap.

4. Then the second application of wax is applied. This process is called nembok in Javanese, origi-
nates from the word ‘tembok’ meaning wall which literally describes what happens since the
thick layer of wax that is applied forms a kind of wall of defense to keep the dye out.

5. The cloth is now ready for the medel or the first submersion into a bath of dye. When tradi-
tional dyes are used this process can take days as the cloth must be submerged and then air
dried alternately several times. With modern dyes once is enough.

6. Once the cloth is dry, it undergoes the process of ngerok or the removing of the first applica-
tion of wax from those parts that are to be dyed with a brown color. This is done by using a
scraper or cawuk.

7. The following step is mbironi or the third application of wax to cover the parts of the fabric that
have been dyed and leaving the parts to be dyed another color open.

8. The cloth is now ready for menyoga or the application of the second color which in the tra-
ditional process was soga or the natural brown dye. When using natural dyes this will again
take days, whereas when modern dyes are applied the process will not be longer than half an
hour.

9. When the cloth has been dyed as desired, the batik goes through the last stage of the process
called nglorod, in which the wax is removed again by soaking it in boiling water.

8 Batik The Cultural Beauty

Batik The Cultural Beauty 9
 Batik designed by Iwan Tirta

10 Batik The Cultural Beauty

 Batik Motifs and Designs
As many as three thousand different Batik patterns are recorded to have been produced since the 19th century,
and many are considered to be antique designs. This is why Indonesia is considered as the place of Batik with its
many designs for different wearers and occasions.

A piece of Batik is named based on its motif, the whole picture decorating the cloth. The motif is usually re-
peated to cover the whole space of the cloth. In traditional Batik art, especially in Java there are old basic patterns
to assemble Batik motifs, among others are :

1. Parang, meaning knife or sword, which forms a slanting or diagonal pattern. This
basic pattern has several varieties such as ‘rugged rock’, ‘knife pattern’ or ‘broken
blade’.

2. Ceplok is a name for a whole range of fundamentally geometric patterns. Ceplok

can also represent abstractions and stylization of flowers, buds, seeds and even
animals. These series of geometric designs are based on squares, rhombs, circles,
stars, etc.

3. Kawung, a basic pattern of intersecting circles, depicting the fruit of the sugar palm
tree, which has been known in Java since at least the thirteenth century, is a very
old design.

4. Pinggiran is the pattern used as a border along one side of the cloth frame.

5. Tumpal is a pattern that consists of bouquets or flower arrangement (buketan in

Javanese language). The name of this pattern is actually derived from the word
‘bouquet’ taken from the Dutch word.

6. Sido Mukti is a garuda bird pattern, a symbol of prosperity.

7. Truntum is a pattern of flower and star-like symbols in a diagonal pattern.

7.

Batik The Cultural Beauty 11

 The patterns of modern Batik and those produced outside Java are various and
have more freedom in using color. The motif arrangement is often done symmetrically
or asymmetrically by combining several traditional motifs.

Some of the regions that have unique batik motifs and designs

Jambi Jakarta

West Sumatra Riau

Central Kalimantan West Kalimantan

Madura Papua

12 Batik The Cultural Beauty

Symbolism in Batik Design
In the Javanese culture, batik symbolizes a philosophy of the importance of life,
the cycle of birth, marriage and death. Batik is an important part of each of these mile-
stones in a person’s life. Most Javanese start their lives wrapped and carried about in
batik as babies, elaborately dressed in batik when they get married and when it is time
for them to leave this world, their bodies are covered with batik during the funeral.

In addition to the philosophy of life symbolized by batik, Indonesian batik has ritu-
alistic significance. Objects like flowers, trees, birds, twinning plants, leaves buds, but-
terflies, fish, insects and geometric forms are rich in symbolic meaning. Although there
are thousands of different batik designs, particular designs have traditionally been as-
sociated with traditional festivals and specific religious ceremonies.

The majority of motifs are taken from nature, leaves, flowers, mountains,
water, clouds, and animals. These motifs often represent religious or
mystical symbols related to the early beliefs of the Javanese people
and then later to Hinduism. These motives represent simple, natu-
ral objects that are important to the lives of Javanese, such as the
leaves of the ‘aren’ palm or the fruit from the ‘kapok’ tree.

When Islam entered Java and was embraced by the ma-

jority of the people, Islamic prohibitions against showing
human figures or other living creatures slowed down the
development of many art forms, including batik, in areas
where Islam was strong. At the same time, certain motifs
that had been favored and even restricted to the royal
families, especially in batik designs for the Surakarta and
Yogyakarta royal families, one of which is called parang
rusak or the broken Keris, became available to the general
public with the democratization introduced by Islam.

Modernization and Evolution of Batik

Modern batik, which evolved from the traditional
art, utilizes linear representations of leaves, flowers
and birds. It is the designer that determines the design
rather than the traditional guidelines that traditional
craftsmen have faithfully adhered to from generation

Batik The Cultural Beauty 13

 to generation. This is also apparent in the use of color that modern designers use. Ar-
tisans are no longer dependent on traditional (natural) dyes, but have the freedom to
experiment with a rich array of colors that chemical dyes can produce. Nevertheless,
modern batik still utilizes the traditional tools of batik, i.e. the canting and the cap to
create their intricate modern designs. Thus, the horizons of batik are expanding but
their roots are still deeply buried in tradition.

Although the process of making batik remained basically the same over several
centuries, the process has made great progress in recent decades. Traditionally, batik
was sold in 90 X 250 centimeter lengths used for wrap skirts (kain panjang) to be used
with a ‘Kebaya’ or blouse, which form the basic pieces of the Indonesian traditional
dress for women. Nowadays, batik is not only used as a material to clothe the hu-
man body, but it is also used as furnishing fabrics, heavy canvas wall hangings,
tablecloths and household accessories. In addition, batik techniques are used by
artists to create batik paintings which beautify many homes, offices, hotels and
other public buildings.

Machine Printed Batik Textile

Another influence of modern technology is the production of
batik textile which is the printing of Batik designs on cotton or syn-
thetic fabrics using modern machinery. As a result, the process is
quick, low cost and easy to produce; however, mass production
cannot produce quality art. Batik textile is mainly used for school
and office uniforms and household utilities.

The emergence of print and stamp batik produced by modern

machines on a large scale has adversely affected batik tulis on the
market. This is because factory made batik is much cheaper in price
compared to batik tulis. Furthermore, the designs of the factory
produced batiks which integrate contrasting colors and modern
designs have a much stronger appeal to the younger generations
than the traditional batiks such as batik tulis which has preserved
its characteristic colors of brown, blue, black and yellow and its
traditional motives of animals and flowers which are also consid-
ered somewhat monotonous.

14 Batik The Cultural Beauty

Batik from Pekalongan

Batik The Cultural Beauty 15

16 Batik The Cultural Beauty
 Variety of Batik Crafts

Indonesia has various arts and handicrafts which reflect the unity in diversity of
over 300 ethnic groups that are joined together as one nation. Just as every ethnic
group throughout the archipelago has its own language and dialect, cuisine, tradi-
tional dress and traditional homes, they have also developed their own textiles, or-
naments, carvings and items for daily use and special celebrations. This rich cultural
heritage of art and handicrafts is one of Indonesia’s true national riches.

Yogyakarta is considered to be one of the places where arts and handicrafts are
highly developed and the government, aware of this priceless national asset, has sup-
ported batik, silver, wayang and
other artisans for generations re-
Batik and Batik design are not only used
sulting in a rich variety of art forms
today. Bali, as one of the tourist for traditional costumes, but also used
destinations, is also another place
for modern fashion, many kinds of handi-
where handicrafts are very much
supported and developed. crafts and household items. Batik designs
are printed and decorated on many kinds
Besides being used as every day
household items, Indonesian handi- of handicrafts
crafts are also decorated and used
for different kinds of purposes. A wide variety of materials are used such as different
kinds of woods, stone, ceramics, leather, fibers, bamboo, rattan and grasses. Natural
and chemical dyes, beads and other natural ornamentation are used to decorate these
items, many of which have developed over time into distinctive art forms.

Today, Batik and Batik design are not only used for traditional costumes, but also
used for modern fashion, many kinds of handicrafts and household items. Batik de-
signs are printed and decorated on many kinds of handicrafts like leather handicrafts,
wooden crafts, painting, household ceramics, pottery, gift ornaments, bamboo and
many others.

Batik The Cultural Beauty 17

 Batik Garment
Dedication to the Heritage
Indonesian fashion designers have aggressively introduced batik into the world
fashion arena. They have done much to promote the Indonesian art of batik dress,
in its traditional and modern forms. The intricate designs obtained through the resist
dyeing technique are appreciated all over the world, and a source of inspiration for
international fashion and textile designers.

Application of batik design, a traditional Many Indonesian designers strongly appreciate the art of batik as the nation heri-
Japanese kimono.
tage and they feel responsible to preserve it. Beside the government support to the
industry’s growth, some designers work almost exclusively in batik. Iwan Tirta
and Josephine Komara (Obin) are two top designers who have dedicated
themselves by working almost exclusively in batik. They have made
tremendous contributions to a revolution in modernizing batik
by translating traditional motifs into contemporary designs and
experimenting with all kinds of different fabrics. They have cre-
ated a business that supports thousands of employees; among
them are dozens of artisans practicing their craft at home or
in small studios across the Isle of Java making their business
major source of livelihood for so many people.

These two top designers have attracted many custom-

ers, which include the Indonesian top socialites, politicians,
as well as local and foreign celebrities. Priceless samples of
Batik creations of Iwan Tirta and Obin are exhibited in the
world’s leading museums.

Iwan Tirta’s Batik fashions are designed for many occa-

sions such as formal wear, office wear, casual wear, as well as
for exclusive gifts. He believes that the value of an art depends
not only on the quality of the materials and the expertise of the
artist, but also on the well being of the individuals who turn the
design into reality. Based on this view, his business has benefited
thousands of skilled batik painters with highly competitive remunerations.

Beside Iwan Tirta and Obin, Indonesian top designers who have contributed to the

18 Batik The Cultural Beauty

Batik crafts and fashions are Edward Hutabarat and Ghea Panggabean. Their designs
are inspired by Indonesia’s culture and heritage with a touch of contemporary style to
cater to the latest trends in high fashion.

Contemporary Motifs and Patterns for Fashion

Along with the development of modernization and globalization, batik motifs and
patterns have also developed into a more contemporary art. As mentioned earlier tra-
ditional batik arts and motifs have given inspirations not only to local artists and de-
signers but also to those living outside Indonesia like Europe, USA, Japan, etc.

With this spirit, the Indonesian designers work together with the traditional, lo-
cal batik artists and craftsmen to produce different and exclusive motifs which are
modified from the existing old traditional batik patterns and motifs. Some of which
are the results of mixing two or more traditional motifs. Some of the designers admit
the difficulties in translating their modern ideas to the traditional artists to produce
contemporary motifs, as these batik artists have dedicated all their lives to the old
traditional motifs. However, over time these traditional batik artists, with good
collaboration with the designers, have managed to produce beautiful, innova-
tive batik motifs.

Some designers in collaboration with the batik artists have created totally
new batik patterns and motifs, which are mostly influenced by tribal designs
from remote areas such as Irian Jaya and Kalimantan,. These exotic inven-
tions have been received well by all levels of the society within Indonesia
and overseas. Foreign, world class designers such as Diane Furstenberg,
who has been long inspired by the beauty of Bali Island and its arts, recently
presented her new collection for Spring Summer 2008 with Batik motifs
blended into linear and minimalist designs.

Even though batik is considered as one of the Indonesian heritage,

in the eyes of the younger generation, batik fashion is more for the old
people. Surprisingly, the beginning of 2008 has witnessed the rise of
the popularity of Batik which has become a new trend for people of
different ages and economic levels. Batik producers claimed that the
sale has risen up to more than 30%. The people’s appreciation for batik
is increasing. Batik is becoming more and more popular and fashionable,
especially in big Indonesian cities like Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya where more

Batik The Cultural Beauty 19

 young people are enthusiastically wearing Batik on different occasions and even
important events. It is hoped that this new phenomena will continue through the
coming years.

Beside adult fashion Indonesia also produce Batik garments and fashion for babies,
which have been exported to some countries like US, Australia, Canada, Ireland, UK,
Japan, UAE, Singapore, Spain, Denmark, France, Belgium, Taiwan, Mexico and Italy.

Batik motifs can be found in many fash-

ion items, both machine made and man-
made. Especially for man-made items,
the aesthetics represents an interest in
cultural heritage.

Batik Designs on Ceramics and Pottery

Ceramics were brought and introduced to Indonesia over centuries of trade with
China dating back to 205 BC. Ceramic items range from everyday common plates to
fine ceramic pieces that became heirlooms passed down from generation to gen-
eration. Contemporary ceramic made locally can be found in a wide range of useful
household items mostly decorated with batik designs.

Indonesian artists have started to produce more ceramics and pottery decorated
with batik motifs and patterns. Iwan Tirta for instance has created a joint production
with foreign companies called Kedaton collection, a chic and graceful tea set, was pro-
duced by Royal Doulton, the world famous English tableware manufacturer. The Ke-

20 Batik The Cultural Beauty

daton collection features a formal, striking Modang pattern inspired by a motif that
was once popular and formerly used by the Royal Court of Central Java. The pattern
illustrates fire sparks in the sky, symbolizing the passion of love which gave life to the
universe. The motif was revamped using a deep red and a rich brown color on a dis-
tinctively modern textured border.

Another local producer of ceramic or stoneware with Batik

design is the Studio Keramik Hariadi in Jakarta. The Batik
process is different from that of Batik cloth, the pat-

tern is first drawn and crafted on the clay before

it is put into the oven. The capacity is pretty small,
sufficient enough for foreign buyers to buy 10
to 50 items to be displayed in their gallery back
home. Besides displaying the products in the
workshop, this Studio has been receiving orders
from overseas buyers.

Application of batik motifs on ceramics add to the

beauty and elegance of the design.

Batik The Cultural Beauty 21

 Batik Household Items
A variety of household utilities are made of hand-painted, cap or stamped Batik or
Batik textiles, such as table cloths, draperies, upholstery, pillow cases, bed sheets and
bed covers, water dispenser covers, telephone set covers, etc. Batik is widely used for
apparel, home furnishing, canvas, wall hangings, tablecloths, scarves and household
accessories. Batik paintings by artists are also often favored to decorate homes, hotels
and offices.

22 Batik The Cultural Beauty

Batik on Leather Handicrafts
In the past various kinds of leather handicrafts, such as
suitcases, handbags belts, wallets lamp shades, puppets,
hanging decorative items and gift items like bookmarks
and hand-fans found mostly in West, Central and East Java,
were decorated with batik motifs. Along with the develop-
ment of modern designs, many utility products like hand-
bags and wallets are no longer decorated in batik designs,
but puppets and most of the gift items are still decorated
or crafted with Batik motifs and patterns.

Batik The Cultural Beauty 23

 Batik Wooden Handicrafts
The Indonesian artists produce varieties of wooden statues and decorative articles
made of wood. In Central Java the artists are now producing wooden statues and orna-
ments with Batik designs hand drawn on the surface. This new innovation in batik art
is beginning to attract a lot of attention. The Yogyakarta batik wooden crafts are the
most popular.

The process of drawing the motifs on the surface of the white wood, which is used
as the base, is the same as the batik drawing process on the cloth using a canting. First
the white wood is cut and molded to a certain form, then the picture is drawn on it,
then comes the waxing and dewaxing by boiling the waxed wood in the boiling water
and coloring. The rest is final touch by coating the wood so that it is resistant to wa-
ter or other liquid. Most of the products are varieties of utility items for household
needs, office accessories, and other decorative items.

In Yogyakarta there is a tourist spot called Krebet Village, which is lo-

cated at Sendangsari Village, a few kilometers on the westward of Ban-
tul. The people of this village produce variety of wooden batik crafts,
such as batik masks, jewelry cases, wooden statue, etc. The visitors
can observe the process of making wooden batik while living togeth-
er with the local people (homestay) in the village.

Today, batik motifs and method are ap-

plied to other natural materials such as
bamboo, rattan, and teak wood, the ma-
terial usually used in furniture and house
building.

24 Batik The Cultural Beauty

 These silver jeweleries are inspired by batik motifs. They are clas-
siffiel as fashionable crafts in many Western countries.

Batik Design on Silver

Since almost all of Indonesian people really love batik, some of jewelry designers
have adopted batik designs on their art in crafting silver jewelry, such rings, earrings,
bracelets, pendants, etc. The process of the art is by crafting the design and certain
popular batik motifs on the silver jewelries.

The batik silver products are favored by tourist from foreign countries who come
to Indonesia for vacation, and besides selling the products to these tourists, most of
the silver jewelries have been exported. The production sites of batik silver are mostly
in Jakarta and Bali.

Batik The Cultural Beauty 25

 BATIK INDUSTRY
The Role of Government
The Indonesian government fully supports the cultural traditions and will continue
to preserve them and give opportunities to the society to learn the traditions. Batik
art particularly hand drawn batik is a noble artwork which needs to be preserved. The
government is aware that various artworks in Indonesia will be marginalized sooner or
later by the changing times.

In fact industrialization has already crushed many small enterprises of hand-drawn

Batik in the villages. This has resulted in most hand-drawn Batik workers leaving home
to join batik factories in the cities. Fortunately, some batik manufacturers continue to
defend the existence off hand-drawn Batik. In Taman, a village which is not far from the
Sultan of Yogyakarta’s palace, with nearly one third of the resident’s are batik makers, it
is a popular attraction for foreign tourists coming from various countries every year. In
the early 1970s hand-drawn Batik was still sought after by both foreign and domestic
tourists. However, these days many foreign tourists no longer look for traditional batik
motives but prefer souvenirs in the form of fans, wallets and paintings. The change in
market demand has downsized the hand-drawn batik industry and traditional batik is
slowly vanishing as a result of industrialization.

It is a dilemmatic to defend traditional culture if, on the other hand, one must earn
enough to make ends meet. The regional government should inject a new spirit to fos-
ter the culture of traditional batik especially in the production centers like Yogyakarta,
Surakarta, Cirebon and Pekalongan.

The Indonesian Government actively encourages and supports the art of batik and
with its increasing popularity and success in the western markets batik has become
the icon of the country. The supports have been given to both government and inde-
pendent cultural institutions that are concerned about Batik as the Cultural Heritage
of Indonesia, such as:

The Federation of Indonesian Batik Cooperatives ( GKBI )

The Center for Handicrafts and Batik
The Indonesian Batik Museum Institution
The Textile Museum

26 Batik The Cultural Beauty

Federation of Indonesian Batik Cooperatives (GKBI)
After World War II, Indonesian Batik production slowed down considerably due to
the lack of raw materials until in 1948 the government of the new Republic of Indone-
sia initiated the establishment of the Federation of Indonesian Batik Cooperatives in
Yogyakarta in order to support batik producers. When in 1955 the government made
special efforts to provide cheaper priced ‘stamped Batik’ for Indo-
nesian people with lower incomes, GKBI got a subsidized price for
plain cotton material (basic material for Batik). GKBI was also grant-
ed the batik distribution monopoly.

Apparently, this became the golden age of Indonesian ‘stamped

batik ‘era, where the artists, producers and batik companies alike
enjoyed huge profits. However, in 1956 textiles from Europe and
other countries began to enter the Indonesian market, resulting
in a decline of Indonesian stamped batik, as people began to buy
cheaper and modern designed imported textile. At the beginning
of the 1970’s the technology of stamped batik textile emerged and
developed, this was the time when hand-drawn Batik began to lose
its market, especially among the younger generations. But unfor-
tunately the Federation has been fading out and not functioning
because the cooperatives which should have been its members do
not exist anymore. Stamping is a way to produce high
quality batik in higher volume. The
stamps are made from thin copper

The Center for Handicrafts and Batik

sheets, arranged and constructed
accordingly to create the desired
designs.
The Center is a government institution located in Yogyakarta that provides and
conducts research, standardization, training and workshops, technical services and
consultancy for the enhancement of Batik arts and handicrafts industries. The Center
was initially established in 1922 by the Dutch colonial government under the name of
Inrichting en Batik Proefstation and in 1980 became the the Institute of Research and
Development of Handicrafts and Batik. In 2002 it was re-established under the Agency
for Research and Development, Ministry of Industry as The Center for Handicrafts and
Batik.

Batik The Cultural Beauty 27

 The Center has the most complete library on books related to handicrafts and ba-
tik with a 12.000 collection consisting of books, magazines and journals. It publishes
a scientific journal entitled ‘The Dynamic of Crafts and Batik ’. To help the Batik artists
design various motifs in a faster mode, the Center provides a computerized machine
to make patterns customized to requests.

For health safety, the Center has started to promote the use of natural Batik color-
ing with slogan ‘Back to Nature’. Later in 2007 it has been officially appointed to be the
authorized body to issue Batik standardization as stated in the ‘Indonesian Govern-
ment Ministry of Industry Legal Decree No. 74/M-IND/PER/9/2007 concerning the use
of Batik Indonesia Trade Mark’.

The Batik Trade Mark is as follow:

In order to be certified as Batik Indonesia Trade Mark, the quality should comply
with the standard of batik processing methods: Hand - Drawn Batik, Stamped Batik or
Combination of the two methods. It also should comply with certain standards (%) of
cloth shrinkage and standards of grayscale of discoloration.

Indonesian Batik Museum Institution

The Museum was officially opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, on
12th of July 2006 in Pekalongan Central Java. The purpose of the establishment of the
Museum is to expand Indonesian Batik industry to a world class level, by providing
comprehensive data and information about Indonesian Batik, including raw and basic
materials, additives, designs, motifs, production methods, distribution aspects, trade,
support and services for domestic as well as tourism and exports. It is a manifestation
of Indonesian Government serious efforts to preserve the Batik cultural heritage and
to develop local people’s economy.

28 Batik The Cultural Beauty

 The Museum facilities include a conven-
tion center for lectures, seminars and Batik
fashion parades, and also for education and
training. A gallery is provided for display and
exhibition of a collection of around 300 batiks
of various patterned batik cloths contributed
by people from all over Indonesia. These col-
lections are displayed in two exhibition rooms:
The Batik Museum in Pekalongan is
the first exhibition room displays a collection part of the efforts of the people of In-
donesia to take batik to world, both
of Pekalongan patterned batik cloths and in commercial aspects as well as in
preserving a national heritage.
northern coastal patterned batik cloths, and
the second exhibition room displays Nusan-
tara Batik cloths taken from other areas in Indonesia. The facilities of this gallery will
soon be developed to meet international standards.

The establishment of the Pekalongan Batik Museum involved the collaboration of

almost all related government institutions and Batik organizations in order to present
a valuable cultural and economic center which would bring a lot of benefits to the In-
donesian society. With the existence of the Batik Museum, the Indonesian people will
be able to effectively struggle to obtain UNESCO’s acknowledgement for Batik arts as
the Indonesian Cultural Heritage.

This museum is also furnished with storage and conservation rooms, a meeting
room and a Batik Art Shop where visitors can buy various kinds of souvenirs made of
batik such as old colonial Batik (which is not produced anymore by the batik manufac-
turers) postcards, posters, paintings etc. A Batik catalog is also available for the visitors.
In order to give complete information service, a library and information data room is
going to be built in the near future.

Textile Museum
The Textile Museum is located in Central Jakarta’s Tanah Abang area, closed to
the oldest and biggest South East Asia textile market, in a European-style building,
originally owned by a Frenchman in the 19th century. The building was then sold
out and owned by several rich merchants, and finally in 1945 during the struggle for
independence of Indonesia, this building was used as the base of the People’s Secu-
rity Force. In 1952 the Department of Social Affairs bought the building and in 1975

Batik The Cultural Beauty 29

 it became the property of the Jakarta Regional Government. After its restoration
the building was immediately inaugurated as the Textile Museum.

The museum displays traditional kain (fabric) collections from various regions in
Indonesia. The spacious room of the museum displays a wide variety of fabric from
different parts of Indonesia, each labeled with information on their origins, types of
material, production processes and purposes of use. A visitor will get to know, for ex-
ample, that South Sumatra’s capital city of Palembang also has its own batiks, while
men in the interior regions of Kalimantan wear clothes made of refined bark as smooth
as textiles.

Kain (used to refer to material for clothes) is not only functioning as daily clothing,
but in can also be used as an instrument for affirmation of family relations, position
and social level of someone in the community.

Batik cloth and ikat or tied dyed are the leading types of traditional cloths dec-
orated with certain patterns. The museum also displays the silk- screening (sablon),
hand-painting and tin-coating (Prada) coloring techniques. Most of the collection of
traditional cloths or fabrics aged of hundreds of years and have become the scarcity
antiques collection. Principally, the collections kept in this Museum are decorated fab-
ric associated to textile world, especially textile from within the national territory. The
collections are divided into several groups, namely:

a. Kain tenun (woven cloth) collection group

b. Kain batik (Batik cloths) collection group
c. Mixed collection group.

The other part of the Museum also displays traditional instruments closely related
to fabric products like weaving and batik instruments from various regions. Within the
museum there is a special garden of various plants used as natural coloring dyes, for
instance young teak leaves can be used to paint cloth resulting maroon color.

In order to introduce Batik, in 2005 the Museum started to open a batik making
course for public and tourists. The course is made as simple as possible as the students
are given the fabric with patterns already been drafted. The drafted cloths are available
with Batik designs of any choice.

30 Batik The Cultural Beauty

Intellectual Property Rights
According to Indonesian Batik Foundation, Batik could be categorized as an in-
tangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. And to obtain UNESCO’s acknowledgement,
the Indonesian government should first ratify the UNESCO convention on intangible
cultural heritage which was adopted in October 2003. In line with this, Indonesian
Government has issued a Presidential Decree No. 78 year 2007 on the ratification of
the UNESCO Convention.

The Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu said batik from Central Java, mainly Solo,
is very rich of design and kingdom’s cultural heritage pattern or combination of other
culture and art. Batik from Central Java has been exported to the U.S., Sweden, Ger-
many, Arab Emirates, and France. “At least there are 3,400 batik designs in Solo. The
Solo Regional Government until 2008 has patented about 900 batik designs.”

Assistance from the People of Indonesia

Assistance has not only come from the Government, but also from a group of peo-
ple who are concerned about Batik, the Indonesian cultural heritage. Firstly, the Batik
Foundation which was established in October 1994 in Jakarta. The objectives of the
foundation are firstly participating in preserving, protecting, developing and social-
izing Batik as the national cultural heritage having importance in arts, which are scat-
tered in the Indonesian regions. Secondly is to develop Batik and handicraft industries
in the efforts of supporting and increasing the economy of the traditional Batik artists
and producers, especially small-scale businesses.

The Foundation receives a lot of support from the Indonesian government es-
pecially in initiating the establishment of the Batik National Museum. Its activities
include: assistance in the production technology, marketing promotion, human re-
source development, business partnership, preservation and protection of Indone-
sian Batik through property rights, patents and labeling. The Foundation with the sup-
port from the Indonesian Government has actively organized a numerous seminars,
conferences, exhibitions, research and training in the effort of developing national
Batik art and industries.

Other efforts have been carried out by artists, collectors and companies by build-
ing private museums and, for example Danar Hadi Galery of Old Batik and Iwan Tirta’s
Museum in Surakarta, and some others.

Batik The Cultural Beauty 31

 Batik Production Centers
There have been several development projects done by the Indonesian government to promote Batik produc-
tion in many provinces throughout Indonesia since early 1950s; and as the result, a lot of new production areas
emerged. One of the projects was run in 1981, by the Directorate General of Small-Scale Industries, Ministry of
Industry and the Office of Minister for Development to provide training to village women in several provinces of
how to produce Batik as an alternative income to the villagers’ families. It has been long known that Java is the
oldest production area, however, the impacts resulted from the project is the transfer of Batik skills to people living
outside Java such as Papua, Kalimantan and Sulawesi which later become new area of Batik production. People
living in Sumatra Barat, Jambi, Palembang, Lampung and Bengkulu who had known Batik art long before were
also encouraged by the program to elevate their local traditional Batik.

JAMBI

PADANG

PONTIANAK

CIREBON
PEKALONGAN

BANGKALAN

UBUD

JAKARTA
YOGYAKARTA
SOLO
PASURUAN

32
32 Batik
Batik The
The Cultural
Cultural Beauty
Beauty
 Another Government project was carried out by Bank Indonesia, namely SIPUK or Information System for Small
Scale Enterprise Development. One of SIPUK programs is the Research of Batik in Central Java which aimed at de-
veloping the small scale Batik industries in the area. The information was distributed to the society through media
and to the local government in order to get clear picture of the condition of the Batik industry needed for develop-
ing a regional plan on Batik manufacturing. The development of SIPUK project is closely related to the policy and
strategy of Bank of Indonesia in promoting the development of small enterprises, which has been carried out since
1978 until the implementation of Act No. 23/999, which specifically intended for small enterprises development
through the provision of useful information.

Outside Java Island, some of the regions producing

Batik are Central and East Kalimantan (that produces Batik
with Dayak motifs); Riau, Jambi, Bengkulu, Nangroe Aceh
Darussalam, Padang, and West Kalimantan produce Batik
with dominant Malay and Islamic motifs. Papua, part of
Kalimantan areas and Sulawesi are new Batik producers
that produce Batik with local motifs.

Others traditionally Batik production

centers in Java Island are:

Bandung Jombang
Banten Klaten
Banyumas Lasem
Batang Semarang
Blitar Sidoarjo
Ciamis Sragen
Garut Surabaya
Gresik Tasikmalaya
Indramayu Tuban
JAYAPURA Jakarta Tulungagung,
Jember Wonogiri

Batik
Batik The
The Cultural
Cultural Beauty
Beauty 33
33
 Production Areas of Surakarta and Yogyakarta

Surakarta (Solo)
Surakarta is an important production center of Batik beside Yogyakarta and Pe-
kalongan. The production of Batik has become part of the traditional economy of the
population in the area. The typical traditional patterns from Solo are as follows:
1. Sido Milo (symbol of happiness and wealthy)
2. Sido Dadi (symbol of prosperity, happiness and wealthy)
3. Satrio Wibowo (symbol of a man/woman with dignity)
4. Tikel Asmorodono (symbol of love given by others)

Kampoeng Batik Laweyan (Laweyan Batik Village) is a well known place of Batik
manufacturers located in a traditional village full of Old Dutch architectural buildings
with narrow streets, typical of Indonesian village. Besides having showrooms and
shops, some of the manufacturers organize short batik courses for tourists.

Traditional markets play very important role for Batik transaction, especially for
small and medium scale enterprises; for instance in Solo there is Pasar Klewer or Klew-
er Market located off the west gate of Karaton’s North Square, this old market sells
all kinds of fabrics, predominantly batik. Other traditional fabrics are lurik (Javanese
hand-woven striped cotton cloth) and tenun ikat (tyed dyed). There are hundreds of
Batik shops jammed along narrow passageways.

34 Batik The Cultural Beauty

Special Region of Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta is known as a center of classical Javanese fine art and culture and Batik
is their major production. Other important products of the city are handicrafts includ-
ing Batik garment and household items, wooden product, leather, ceramics and pot-
tery and silver.

The typical Yogyakarta Batik patterns and motifs are mostly Parang, Ceplok, Sido-
Mukti, Truntum and Kawung. The Yogyakarta Batik color combination is similar with
Solo, dominated by rich brown color, indigo (blue), black, white and cream. The fa-
mous Batik Production areas in Yogyakarta, among others are Prawirotaman and Ku-
lonprogo.

Bringhardjo traditional market is one of the important places for Batik traders and
it becomes the meeting point for the small and medium scale enterprises to do busi-
ness. Beside wholesale, there are many Batik counters offering retail prices to local and
foreign tourists. This market has been functioning as one of the tourist’s attractions
in Yogyakarta, the best place because of its complete collections; ranging from batik
cloth to batik clothes made of both cotton and silk materials, with the prices ranging
from tens thousands to a million. There are some principle, big manufacturers of Batik
such as Winotosastro, Mirota Batik, Ardiyanto Batik and some others, that have been
exporting to foreign countries.

Batik The Cultural Beauty 35

 North Coast of Java Production Areas

Cirebon
Cirebon is an important area for Batik production in the northern coast of Java. One
of the important Batik production centers in Cirebon is ‘Batik Trusmi, a village popu-
lated by 520 small and medium scale industries. It is located 7 kilometers from Cirebon
City. In 2007 it showed that more than 70% of its population or 5,938 people work in
this business, consisting of 80% women and 20% men. The investment value in Trusmi
was about USD 1.5 million. And the production value was up to USD 5.2 million.

The same as Batik from places in the north coast of Java (Batik Pesisir), Cirebon Batik
has been influenced by European, Arabian, Chinese and Indian cultures, which have
colorful designs and motifs of animals and flowers. Concerning about motifs and pat-
terns, there are two categories of patterns:
1. Kesultanan Kasepuhan Motif (Kasepuhan Sultanate Motif ), which is influenced
by Islamic teaching, which prohibits drawing animal designs on the Batik.
2. Kesultanan Kanoman Motif (Kanoman Sultanate Motif ), which allows the art-
ists to draw and have animal design on the Batik. (It includes motifs of the Ke-
prabonan and Cirebonan Sultanates)

The materials used are of silk, cotton, cotton prima and primisima. Around 40 per-
cents of the production is absorbed by local market, 50 percents for inter-island trade
and 10 percents is exported to foreign countries such as Japan, Malaysia, Singapore,
Myanmar, Laos, United States, Brunei Darussalam and Germany.

36 Batik The Cultural Beauty

Pekalongan
Pekalongan is one of the major production areas of Batik with northern coastal
Java designs. Most of the Batik is produced in colorful motifs influenced by the Chi-
nese, Arabian and Dutch. There are more than 100 Batik designs that have been de-
veloped since 1802, and the some popular Pekalongan Batik patterns are Jlamprang,
Hokokai and Pagi-Sore.

The artists have thousands of ideas in designing Batik motifs without conforming
the traditional motifs, for instance during the Japanese occupation they created Java-
nese Kokokai Batik motif suitable for kimono coat. In the sixties they created Tritura Ba-
tik, named after one of President Soekarno’s famous political decrees. There are some
other new designs such as President SBY batik and Tsunami Batik which were created
just recently. Beside hand-drawn Batik, there are plenty of stamped Batik manufactur-
ers in Pekalongan and are usually used for casual dresses and household crafts.

The big and famous Batik market in Pekalongan is ‘Pusat Grosir Setono,’ a whole-
sale and retail market place built during the economic crisis in 1990s to help batik
manufacturers market their products. There are around 7,000 workers working in 12
central areas producing Batik, batik garment, handicrafts. They mostly work for small
and medium scale industries.

Batik The Cultural Beauty 37

Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
child. Everybody else cried, too; and good, deaf Grandpa Parlin, with
smiles and tears at the same time, declared,—
"I don't know what the matter is; so I can't tell whether to
laugh or cry."
Then his daughter Margaret went up and said in his best ear
that they were just crying for joy, and asked him if that wasn't a silly
thing to do.
Grace embraced everybody twice over; but Horace was a little
shy, and would only give what his aunties called "canary kisses."
"Margaret, I want you to give me that darling baby this minute,"
said Mrs. Parlin, wiping her eyes. "Now you can bring the butter out
of the cellar; it's all there is to be done, except to set the tea on the
table."
Then Grandma Parlin had another cry over little Katie: not such
a strange thing, for she could not help thinking of Harry, the baby
with sad eyes and pale face, who had been sick there all the
summer before, and was now an angel. As little Prudy had said,
"God took him up to heaven, but the tired part of him is in the
garden."
Yes, under a weeping-willow. Everybody was thinking just now
of tired little Harry, "the sweetest flower that ever was planted in
that garden."
"Why, Maria," said Mrs. Parlin, as soon as she could speak, "how
did you ever travel so far with this little, little baby?"
"I don't know, mother," replied Mrs. Clifford, "I think I could
never have got here without Grace: she has been my little waiter,
and Katie's little nurse."
Grace blushed with delight at this well-deserved praise.
 "And Horace is so large now, that he was some help, too, I've
no doubt," said his grandmother.
"I would have took the baby," cried Horace, speaking up very
quickly, before anyone else had time to answer,—"I would have took
the baby, but she wouldn't let me."
Mrs. Clifford might have said that Horace himself had been as
much trouble as the baby; but she was too kind to wound her little
boy's feelings.
It was certainly a very happy party who met around the tea-
table at Mr. Parlin's that evening. It was already dusk, and the large
globe lamp, with its white porcelain shade, gave a cheery glow to
the pleasant dining-room.
First, there was cream-toast, made of the whitest bread, and
the sweetest cream.
"This makes me think of Mrs. Gray," said Mrs. Clifford, smiling;
"I hope she is living yet."
"She is," said Margaret, "but twelve years old."
Grace looked up in surprise.
"Why, that's only a little girl, Aunt Madge!"
"My dear, it's only a cow!"
"O, now I remember; the little blue one, with brass knobs on
her horns!"
"Let's see; do you remember Dr. Quack and his wife?"
"O, yes'm! they were white ducks; and how they did swim! It
was a year ago. I suppose Horace doesn't remember."
"Poh! yes, I do; they were spin-footed!"
"Why, Horace," said Grace, laughing; "you mean web-footed!"
 Horace bent his eyes on his plate, and did not look up again for
some time.
There was chicken-salad on the table. Margaret made that—
putting in new butter, because she knew Mrs. Clifford did not like oil.
There was delicious looking cake, "some that had been touched
with frost, and some that hadn't," as grandpa said, when he passed
the basket.
But the crowning glory of the supper was a dish of scarlet
strawberries, which looked as if they had been drinking dew-drops
and sunshine till they had caught all the richness and sweetness of
summer.
"O, ma!" whispered Grace, "I'm beginning to feel so happy! I
only wish my father was here."
After tea, grandpa took Horace and Grace on each knee, large
as they were, and sang some delightful evening hymns with what
was left of his once fine voice. He looked so peaceful and happy that
his daughters were reminded of the Bible verse, "Children's children
are the crown of old men."
"I think now," said Mrs. Clifford, coming back from putting the
baby to sleep, "it's high time my boy and girl were saying, 'Good-
night, and pleasant dreams.'"
"Aunt Madge is going upstairs with us; aren't you, auntie?"
"Yes, Horace; your other auntie wouldn't do, I suppose," said
Louise. "That makes me think of the way this same Horace used to
treat me when he was two years old. 'Her can't put me to bed,' he
would say; 'her's too little.'"
"I remember," said Margaret, "how he dreaded cold water.
When his mother called him to be washed, and said, 'Ma doesn't
want a little dirty boy,' he would look up in her face, and say,
"'Does mamma want 'ittle cold boy?'"
The happy children kissed everybody good-night, and followed
their Aunt Madge upstairs. Now, there was a certain small room,
whose one window opened upon the piazza, and it was called "the
green chamber." It contained a cunning little bedstead, a wee
bureau, a dressing-table, and washing-stand, all pea-green. It was a
room which seemed to have been made and furnished on purpose
for a child, and it had been promised to Grace in every letter Aunt
Madge had written to her for a year.
Horace had thought but little about the room till to-night, when
his Aunt led Grace into it, and he followed. It seemed so fresh and
sweet in "the green chamber," and on the dressing-table there was a
vase of flowers.
Aunt Madge bade the children look out of the window at a bird's
nest, which was snuggled into one corner of the piazza-roof, so high
up that nobody could reach it without a very tall ladder.
"Now," said Aunt Madge, "the very first thing Grace hears in the
morning will probably be bird-music."
Grace clapped her hands.
"And where am I going to sleep?" said Horace, who had been
listening, and looking on in silence. His aunt had forgotten that he
was sometimes jealous; but she could not help knowing it now, for a
very disagreeable expression looked out at his eyes, and drew down
the corners of his mouth.
"Why, Horace dear, we have to put you in one of the back
chambers, just as we did when you were here before; but you know
it's a nice clean room, with white curtains, and you can look out of
the window at the garden."
"But it's over the kitchen!"
"There, Horace," said Grace, "I'd be ashamed! You don't act like
a little gentleman! What would pa say?"
"Why couldn't I have the big front chamber?" said the little boy,
shuffling his feet, and looking down at his shoes.
"Because," said Aunt Madge, smiling, "that is for your mother
and the baby."
"But if I could have this little cunning room, I'd go a-flyin'. Grace
ain't company any more than me."
Aunt Madge remembered Horace's hit-or-miss way of using
things, and thought of the elephant that once walked into a china
shop.
Grace laughed aloud.
"Why, Horace Clifford, you'd make the room look like
everything; you know you would! O, auntie, you ought to see how
he musses up my cabinet! I have to hide the key; I do so!"
Horace took the room which was given him, but he left his sister
without his usual good-night kiss, and when he repeated his prayer,
I am afraid he was thinking all the while about the green chamber.
The next morning the children had intended to go into the
garden bright and early. Grace loved flowers, and when she was a
mere baby, just able to toddle into the meadow, she would clip off
the heads of buttercups and primroses, hugging and kissing them
like friends.
Horace, too, had some fancy for flowers, especially flaring ones
like sunflowers and hollyhocks. Dandelions were nice when the
stems would curl without bothering, and poppies were worth while
for little girls, he thought, because, after they are gone to seed, you
can make them into pretty good teapots.
He wanted to go out in the garden now for humming-birds, and
to see if the dirt-colored toad was still living in his "nest," in one of
the flowerbeds.
But the first thing the children heard in the morning was the
pattering of rain on the roof. No going out to-day. Grace was too
tired to care much. Horace felt cross; but remembering how many
messages his grandmother had sent to her "good little grandson,"
and how often Aunt Madge had written about "dear little Horace, the
nephew she was so proud of," he felt ashamed to go downstairs
scowling. If his good-morning smile was so thin that you could see a
frown through it, still it was better than no smile at all.
The breakfast was very nice, and Horace would have enjoyed
the hot griddle-cakes and maple sirup, only his Aunt Louise, a
handsome young lady of sixteen, watched him more than he thought
was quite polite, saying every now and then,—
"Isn't he the image of his father? Just such a nose, just such a
mouth! He eats fast, too; that is characteristic!"
Horace did not know what "characteristic" meant, but thought it
must be something bad, for with a child's quick eye he could see
that his pretty aunt was inclined to laugh at him. In fact, he had
quite an odd way of talking, and his whole appearance was amusing
to Miss Louise, who was a very lively young lady.
"Horace, you were telling me last night about Mr. Lazelle: what
did you say was the color of his coat?"
 "I said it was blueberry color," replied Horace, who could see
almost without looking up that Aunt Louise was smiling at Aunt
Madge.
"He is a musicianer, too, I think you said, and his hair crimps.
Dear me, what a funny man!"
Horace was silent, and made up his mind that he should be
careful another time what he said before Aunt Louise.
Soon after breakfast he and Pincher went "up-attic" to see what
they could find, while Grace followed her grandmother and aunties
from parlor to kitchen, and from kitchen to pantry. She looked pale
and tired, but was so happy that she sang every now and then at
the top of her voice, forgetting that little Katie was having a nap.
Pretty soon Horace came downstairs with an old, rusty gun
much taller than himself. Mrs. Clifford was shocked at first, but
smiled the next moment, as she remembered what an innocent
thing it was, past its "prime" before she was of Horace's age.
The little boy playfully pointed the gun towards Grace, who
screamed with fright, and ran away as fast as she could.
"I don't care," cried she, coming back, a little ashamed at being
laughed at. "How did I know it wasn't loaded? Do you think 'twould
look well for a little girl not to be afraid of a gun?"
This speech amused everybody, particularly Horace, who was
glad to have Grace say a foolish thing once in a while. It raised his
self-esteem somehow; and, more than that, he liked to remember
her little slips of the tongue, and tease her about them.
It was not long before he had seen all there was to be seen in
the house, and wanted to "do something." As for reading, that was
usually too stupid for Horace. Grace kindly offered to play checkers
with him; but she understood the game so much better than he did
that she won at every trial.
This was more than he could bear with patience; and, whenever
he saw that she was gaining upon him, he wanted to "turn it into a
give-game."
"But that isn't fair, Horace."
"Well, ma, just you see how mean Grace is! There, she wants
me to jump that man yonder, so she'll take two of mine, and go right
in the king-row!"
"But, Horace," said Grace, gently, "what do I play for if I don't
try to beat?"
"There, now," cried he, "chase my men up to the king-row, so I
can't crown 'em, do!"
"Just what I'm doing," replied Grace, coolly.
"Well, I should think you'd better take 'em all, and be done with
it! Before I'd be so mean as to set traps!"
"Look, Horace," said Grace; "you didn't jump when you ought
to, and I'm going to huff your man. See, I blow it, just this way; old
Mr. Knight calls it huffing."
"Huff away then! but you stole one of those kings. I'll bet you
stole it off the board after I jumped it."
"Now, Horace Clifford," cried Grace, with tears in her eyes, "I
never did such a thing as to steal a king; and if you say so I won't
play!"
"Horace," said Mrs. Clifford, who had been trying for some time
to speak, "what do you play checkers for?"
"Ma'am? Why, to beat, of course."
"Well, do you consider it work or play?"
 "Work or play? Why, it's a game, ma; so it's play."
"But Grace was so obliging that she wished to amuse you, my
son. Does it amuse you? Doesn't it make you cross? Do you know
that you have spoken a great many sharp words to your kind sister?
"Shut the board right up, my child; and remember from this
time never to play checkers, or any other game, when you feel
yourself growing fretful! As you sometimes say, 'It doesn't pay.'"
Horace closed the board, looking ashamed.
"That's sound advice for everybody," said Aunt Madge, stroking
her little nephew's hair. "If children always remembered it, they
would get along more pleasantly together—I know they would."
Grace had been looking ill all the morning, and her mother now
saw symptoms of a chill. With all her tender anxiety she had not
known how tired her little daughter was. It was two or three weeks
before the child was rested; and whenever she had a chill, which
was every third day for a while, she was delirious and kept crying
out,—
"O, do see to Horace, mamma! Mr. Lazelle will forget! O,
Horace, now don't let go my hand! I've got the bundles, mamma,
and the milk for the baby."
And sometimes Mrs. Clifford would call Horace to come and take
his sister's hand, just to assure her that he was not lying cold and
dead in the waters of Lake Erie. It was really touching to see how
heavily the cares of the journey had weighed on the dear girl's
youthful spirits.

CHAPTER V
 CAPTAIN OF A COMPANY

At first Mrs. Clifford thought she did not care about having the
children go to school, as they had been kept at their studies for
nearly nine months without a vacation, except Christmas holidays.
But what was to be done with Horace? Aunt Louise, who was
not passionately fond of children, declared her trials were greater
than she could bear. Grace was a little lady, she thought; but as for
Horace, and his dog Pincher, and the "calico kitty," which he had
picked up for a pet!—Louise disliked dogs and despised kittens.
Sometimes, as she told Margaret, she felt as if she should certainly
fly; sometimes she was sure she was going crazy; and then again it
seemed as if her head would burst into a thousand pieces.
None of these dreadful accidents happened, it is true; but a
great many other things did. Hammers, nails, and augers were
carried off, and left to rust in the dew. A cup of green paint, which
for months had stood quietly on an old shelf in the storeroom, was
now taken down and stirred with a stick, and all the toys which
Horace whittled out were stained green, and set in the sun to dry. A
pair of cheese-tongs, which hung in the back room, a boot-jack, the
washing-bench, which was once red,—all became green in a very
short time: only the red of the bench had a curious effect, peeping
out from its light and ragged coat of green.
The blue sled which belonged to Susie and Prudy was brought
down from the shed-chamber, and looked at for some time. It would
present a lovely appearance, Horace thought, if he only dared cross
it off with green. But as the sled belonged to his little cousins, and
they were not there to see for themselves how beautiful he could
make it look, why, he must wait till they came; and then, very likely,
the paint would be gone.
Of course, Horace soiled his clothes sadly: "that was always just
like him," his Aunt Louise said.
This was not all: A little neighbor, Gilbert Brown, came to the
house at all hours, and between the two boys there was a noise of
driving nails, firing pop-guns, shouting and running from morning till
night.
They built a "shanty" of the boards which grandpa was saving
to mend the fence, and in this shanty they "kept store," trading in
crooked pins, home-made toys, twine and jack-knives.
"Master chaps, them children are," said Abner, the good-natured
hired man.
"Hard-working boys! They are as destructive as army worms,"
declared grandpa, frowning, with a twinkle in his eye.
Horace had a cannon about a foot long, which went on wheels,
with a box behind it, and a rammer lashed on at the side—not to
mention an American flag which floated over the whole.
With a stout string he drew his cannon up to the large oilnut
tree, and then with a real bayonet fixed to a wooden gun, he would
lie at full length under the shade, calling himself a sharpshooter
guarding the cannon. At these times woe to the "calico kitty," or
Grace, or anybody else who happened to go near him! for he gave
the order to "charge," and the charge was made most vigorously.
Upon the whole, it was decided that everybody would feel
easier and happier if Horace should go to school. This plan did not
please him at all, and he went with sulky looks and a very bad
grace.
 His mother sighed; for though her little boy kept the letter of
the law, which says, "Children, obey your parents," he did not do it
in the spirit of the commandment, "Honor thy father and thy
mother."
In a thousand ways Mrs. Clifford was made unhappy by Horace,
who should have been a comfort to her. It was sad, indeed; for
never did a kind mother try harder to "train up a child" in the right
way.
It did not take Horace a great while to renew his acquaintance
with the schoolboys, who all seemed to look upon him as a sort of
curiosity.
"I never knew before," laughed little Dan Hideout, "that my
name was Dan-yell!"
"He calls a pail a bucket, and a dipper a tinkup," said Gilbert
Brown.
"Yes," chimed in Willy Snow, "and he asks 'Is school took up?'
just as if it was knitting-work that was on needles."
"How he rolls his r's!" said Peter Grant. "You can't say hor-r-se
the way he does! I'll bet the ain't a boy can do it unless it's a Cahoo-
jack." Peter meant Hoosier.
"Well, I wouldn't be seen saying hoss," returned Horace, with
some spirit; "that's Yankee."
"I guess the Yankees are as good as the Cahoo-jacks: wasn't
your mother a Yankee?"
"Yes," faltered Horace; "she was born up north here in the
Frigid Zone; but she isn't so much relation to me as my father is, for
her name wasn't Clifford. She wouldn't have been any relation to me
if she hadn't married my father!"
 One or two of the larger boys laughed at this speech, and
Horace, who could never endure ridicule, stole quietly away.
"Now, boys, you behave," said Edward Snow, Willy's older
brother; "he's a smart little fellow, and it's mean to go to hurting his
feelings. Come back here, Spunky Clifford; let's have a game of hi
spy!"
Horace was "as silent as a stone."
"He don't like to be called Spunky Clifford," said Johnny Bell;
"do you, Horace?"
"The reason I don't like it," replied the boy, "is because it's not
my name."
"Well, then," said Edward Snow, winking—to the other boys,
"won't you play with us, Master Horace?"
"I'll not go back to be laughed at," replied he, stoutly: "when
I'm home I play with Hoosier boys, and they're politer than
Yankees."
"'Twas only those big boys," said Johnny Bell: "now they've
gone off. Come, let's play something."
"I should think you'd be willing for us to laugh," added honest
little Willy Snow; "we can't help it, you talk so funny. We don't mean
anything."
"Well," said Horace, quite restored to good humor, and speaking
with some dignity, "you may laugh at me one kind of a way, but if
you mean humph when you laugh, I won't stand it."
"Woon't stand it!" echoed Peter Grant; "ain't that Dutch?"
"Dutch?" replied Horace: "I'll show you what Dyche is! We have
a Dyche teacher come in our school every day, and he stamps his
foot and tears round! 'Sei ruhig,' he says: that means, 'hush your
mouth and keep still.'"
"Is he a Jew, and does he stay in a synagogue?"
"No, he is a German Luteran, or a Dutch Deformed, or
something that way."
"What do you learn in?" said Johnny Bell.
"Why, in little German readers: what else would they be?"
"Does it read like stories and verses?"
"I don't know. He keeps hitting the books with a little switch,
and screamin' out as if the house was afire."
"Come, say over some Dutch; woon't you, Horace?"
So the little boy repeated some German poetry, while his
schoolmates looked up at him in wonder and admiration. This was
just what Horace enjoyed; and he continued, with sparkling eyes,—
"I s'pose you can't any of you count in Dutch."
The boys confessed that they could not.
"It's just as easy," said Horace, telling over the numbers up to
twenty, as fast as he could speak.
"You can't any of you write Dutch; can you? You give me a slate
now, and I'll write it all over so you couldn't read a word of it."
"Ain't it very hard to make?" asked the boys in tones of
respectful astonishment.
"I reckon you'd think 'twas hard, it's so full of little quirls, but I
can write it as easy as English."
This was quite true, for Horace made very hard work of any
kind of writing.
It was not two days before he was at the head of that part of
the school known as "the small boys," both in study and play; yet
everybody liked him, for, as I have said before, the little fellow had
such a strong sense of justice, and such kindness of heart, that he
was always a favorite, in spite of his faults.
The boys all said there was nothing "mean" about Horace. He
would neither abuse a smaller child, nor see one abused. If he
thought a boy was doing wrong, he was not afraid to tell him so,
and you may be sure that he was all the more respected for his
moral courage.
Horace talked to his schoolmates a great deal about his father,
Captain Clifford, who was going to be a general some day.
"When I was home," said he, "I studied pa's book of tictacs, and
I used to drill the boys."
There was a loud cry of "Why can't you drill us? Come, let's us
have a company, and you be cap'n!"
Horace gladly consented, and the next Saturday afternoon a
meeting was appointed at the "Glen." When the time came, the boys
were all as joyful as so many squirrels suddenly let out of a cage.
"Now, look here, boys," said Horace, brushing back his "shingled
hair," and walking about the grove with the air of a lord. "First place,
if I'm going to be captain, you must mind; will you, say?"
Horace was not much of a public speaker; he threw words
together just as it happened; but there was so much meaning in the
twistings of his face, the jerkings of his head, and the twirlings of his
thumbs, that if you were looking at him you must know what he
meant.
"Ay, ay!" piped the little boys in chorus.
"Then I'll muster you in," said Horace grandly. "Has everybody
brought their guns?—I mean sticks, you know!"
 "Ay, ay!"
"I want to be corporal," said Peter Grant.
"I'll be major," cried Willy Snow.
"There, you've spoke," shouted the captain. "I wish there was a
tub or bar'l to stand you on when you talk."
After some time an empty flour barrel was brought, and placed
upright under a tree, to serve as a dunce-block.
"Now we'll begin new," said the captain. "Those that want to be
mustered, rise up their hands; but don't you snap your fingers."
The caution came too late for some of the boys; but Horace
forgave the seeming disrespect, knowing that no harm was
intended.
"Now, boys, what are you fighting about?—Say, For our
country!"
"For our country!" shouted the soldiers, some in chorus, and
some in solo.
"And our flag," added Horace, as an afterthought.
"And our flag," repeated the boys, looking at the little banner of
stars and stripes, which was fastened to the stump of a tree, and
faintly fluttered in the breeze.
"Long may it wave!" cried Horace, growing enthusiastic, and
pointing backward to the flag with a sweep of his thumb.
"There ain't a 'Secesh' in this company; there ain't a man but
wants our battle to beat! If there is, we'll muster him out double-
quick."
A few caps were flourished in the air, and every mouth was set
firmly together as if it would shout scorn of secession if it dared
speak. It was a loyal company; there was no doubt of that. Indeed,
the captain was so bitter against the South that he had asked his
Aunt Madge if it was right to let southern-wood grow in the garden.
"Now," said Horace, "Forward! March! 'Ploy column!—No, form a
line first. 'Ten*tion*!"
A curved, uncertain line, not unlike the letter S, gradually
straightened itself, and the boys looked down to their feet as if they
expected to see a chalk-mark on the grass.
"Now, when I say, 'Right!' you must look at the buttons on my
jacket—or on yours, I've forgot which; on yours; I reckon. Right!
Right at 'em! Right at the buttons!"
Obedient to orders, every boy's head drooped in a moment.
"Stop!" said Horace, knitting his brows; "that's enough!" For
there seemed to be something wrong, he could not tell what.
"Now you may ''bout face;' that means whirl round. Now march!
one, two, quick time, double-quick!"
"They're stepping on my toes," cried bare-footed Peter Grant.
"Hush right up, private, or I'll stand you on the bar'l."
"I wish't you would," groaned little Peter; "it hurts."
"Well, then, I shan't," said the captain, decidedly, "for 'twouldn't
be any punishin'.—Can't some of you whistle?"
Willy Snow struck up Yankee Doodle, which soon charmed the
wayward feet of the little volunteers, and set them to marching in
good time.
Afterward their captain gave instructions in "groundin' arms,"
"stackin' arms," "firin'," and "countin' a march," by which he meant
"countermarching." He had really read a good many pages in
Infantry Tactics, and had treasured up the military phrases with
some care, though he had but a confused idea of their meaning.
 "Holler-square!" said he, when he could think of nothing else to
say. Of course he meant a "hollow square."
"Shall we holler all together?" cried a voice from the midst of
the ranks.
The owner of the voice would have been "stood on the barrel,"
if Horace had been less busy thinking.
"I've forgot how they holler, as true as you live; but I reckon it's
all together, and open your mouths wide."
At this the young volunteers, nothing loath, gave a long,
deafening shout, which the woods caught up and echoed.
Horace scratched his head. He had seen his father drill his men,
but he could not remember that he had ever heard them scream.
A pitched battle came off next, which would have been a very
peaceful one if all the boys had not wanted to be Northerners. But
the feeling was greatly changed when Horace joined the Southern
ranks, saying "he didn't care how much he played Secesh when
everybody knew he was a good Union man, and his father was going
to be a general." After this there was no trouble about raising
volunteers on the rebel side.
The whole affair ended very pleasantly, only there was some
slashing right and left with a few bits of broken glass, which were
used as swords; and several mothers had wounds to dress that
night.
Mrs. Clifford heard no complaint from her little son, although his
fingers were quite ragged, and must have been painful. Horace was
really a brave boy, and always bore suffering like a hero. More than
that, he had the satisfaction of using the drops of blood for red
paint; and the first thing after supper he made a wooden sword and
gun, and dashed them with red streaks.

CHAPTER VI
SUSIE AND PRUDY

The Clifford children were very anxious to see Susie and Prudy, and
it seemed a long while to wait; but the Portland schools had a
vacation at last, and then it was time to expect the little cousins.
The whole family were impatient to see them and their excellent
mother. Grandma lost her spectacles very often that afternoon, and
every time she went to the window to look out, the ball of her
knitting-work followed her, as Grace said, "like a little kitten."
There was great joy when the stage really drove up to the door.
The cousins were rather shy of each other at first, and Prudy hid her
face, all glowing with smiles and blushes, in her plump little hands.
But the stiffness wore away, and they were all as well acquainted as
ever they had been, in about ten minutes.
"Ain't that a bumpin' stage, though?" cried Horace; "just like a
baby-jumper."
"We came in it, you know, Susie," said Grace; "didn't it shake
like a corn-popper?"
"I want to go and see the piggy and ducks," said Prudy.
"Well," whispered Susie, "wait till after supper."
The Cliffords were delighted with their little cousins. When they
had last seen Prudy, which was the summer before, they had loved
her dearly. Now she was past five, and "a good deal cunninger than
ever;" or so Horace thought. He liked her pretty face, her gentle
ways, and said very often if he had such a little sister he'd "go a-
dyin'."
To be sure Susie was just his age, and could run almost as fast
as he could; still Horace did not fancy her half as much as Prudy,
who could not run much without falling down, and who was always
sure to cry if she got hurt.
Grace and Susie were glad that Horace liked Prudy so well, for
when they were cutting out dolls' dresses, or playing with company,
it was pleasant to have him take her out of the way.
Prudy's mouth was not much larger than a button-hole, but she
opened it as wide as she could when she saw Horace whittle out
such wonderful toys.
He tried to be as much as possible like a man; so he worked
with his jacket off, whistling all the while; and when he pounded, he
drew in his breath with a whizzing noise, such as he had heard
carpenters make.
All this was very droll to little Prudy, who had no brothers, and
supposed her "captain cousin" must be a very remarkable boy,
especially as he told her that, if he hadn't left his tool-box out West,
he could have done "a heap better." It was quite funny to see her
standing over him with such a happy, wondering little face,
sometimes singing snatches of little songs, which were sure to be
wrong somewhere, such as,—

"Little kinds of deedness,

Little words of love,
 Make this earthen needn't,
Like the heaven above."

She thought, as Horace did, that her sled would look very well
"crossed off with green;" but Susie would not consent. So Horace
made a doll's sled out of shingles, with turned-up runners, and a
tongue of string. This toy pleased Prudy, and no one had a right to
say it should not be painted green.
But as Captain Horace was just preparing to add this finishing
touch, a lady arrived with little twin-boys, four years old. Aunt
Madge came into the shed to call Horace and Prudy. "O, auntie,"
said Horace, "I don't believe I care to play with those little persons!"
His aunt smiled at hearing children called "little persons," but
told Horace it would not be polite to neglect his young visitors; it
would be positively rude. Horace did not wish to be considered an ill-
mannered boy, and at last consented to have his hands and
garments cleansed with turpentine to erase the paint, and to go into
the nursery to see the "little persons."
It seemed to him and Prudy that the visit lasted a great while,
and that it was exceedingly hard work to be polite.
When it was well over, Prudy said, "The next lady that comes
here, I hope she won't bring any little double boys! What do I love
little boys for, 'thout they're my cousins?"
After the sled was carefully dried Horace printed on it the words
"Lady Jane," in large yellow letters. His friend Gilbert found the paint
for this, and it was thought by both the boys that the sled could not