Cloth of Dreams — Ethel M. Comins

There was nothing that auburn-haired Lexey Adams wanted so much as to win first prize for the painting she had entered in the art contest in Oakdale. Lexey wanted so much to be there when the judging too place that she ran the risk of playing truant from school, was caught, and then given permission by the principal to go -- but not by Uncle Herbert, with whom she lived. Herbert Norcross, a bank president, had the nicest house in Perchville, but Uncle Herbert took no foolishness either from Lexey or his sister, Nettie Norcross Adams, Lexey's mother.

But there was a consolation. The judge of the contest was to give art classes in Perchville during the summer. And it was also nice to meet the shy young Italian boy--Vince Palmeri -- who had won the competition. Vince would also be a student in Perchville that summer…


It was to be a meaningful summer for Lexey. Not only was she to learn to appreciate different art forms, but her ambition to become an artist was to crystallize. Nobody would keep her from her goal. Not Brian Carlisle, as handsome a young man as any girl could hope to meet, not Uncle Herbert, who liked to throw his weight around, no one at all.