“YOU will tell me, won’t you, Mary Frances, how you started the garden, and how in the world you induced your brother to give you lessons?”
Eleanor looked up from the notes she had made.
“If it hadn’t been for Feather Flop,” began Mary Frances.
“Feather Flop!” exclaimed Eleanor. “Do you mean your pet rooster?”
“Yes,” declared Mary Frances, “he really had a great deal to do with it, although Billy ridicules the idea.”
“I can’t quite understand it myself,” Eleanor said. “I thought chickens were very injurious to a garden.”
“Not Feather Flop! He has been so interested from the very first that I myself have been amazed. Eleanor, you should hear about the cutworms and other insects he has eaten, and the weeds he has taken out of the garden.”
Mary Frances grew excited in being able to praise the rooster to someone.
“He made little piles of weeds at the end of each vegetable patch, and I had to pretend to Billy that I did the weeding, for he’d never, never have believed that Feather Flop did the work.”
“Isn’t it wonderful!” exclaimed Eleanor. “Do tell me more about him!”
“Hush!” exclaimed Mary Frances, “here comes Billy.”
“Hello, girls, want to see something fine?” Billy looked in the play house window.
“Of course!” cried the girls at once.
“Come on out then—follow me.”
Billy led them to the vegetable garden.
“What is it?” asked Mary Frances.
“Just brush a little of the earth away from that radish,” replied Billy, pointing to one of the largest plants.
“Oh, look!” cried Mary Frances, as she pulled the little red ball root, and held it up for admiration.
“Oh, Eleanor, it is ready to eat! The very first thing from my garden. Let’s give it to Eleanor, Billy!”
“Indeed, no!” declared Eleanor. “I think, Mary Frances, you should have the very first of the crop!”
“I know what!” exclaimed Mary Frances. “I’ll cut it up into three pieces!”
“Augh, count me out!” exclaimed Billy. “I don’t want any! Besides, I guess there are several others nearly that size.”
“But no other first ones!” declared Mary Frances. “My, if the garden weren’t to be a surprise, I’d want to divide this with Mother and Father, too.”
“So would I!” exclaimed Eleanor.
“Well, if girls aren’t silly!” Billy looked almost disgusted. “If you want the radish, eat it up. The garden can’t be a secret much longer anyhow, for in a day or two you can pull a couple of bunches of radishes and several small heads of lettuce.”
“Oh, it seems too good to be true!” exclaimed Mary Frances, dancing around in joy at the thought.
“But,” said Eleanor, “surely your parents know you are gardening. Anybody with eyes could see that.”
“Yes,” exclaimed Mary Frances, “they know we are doing some work near the play house, but I askedthem not to try to find out anything about what we were doing, and they haven’t come near! They want to be surprised! I know they do!”
“But how did you get the money to buy the seeds and plants?” asked Eleanor.
“Mother gave me permission to use some money from my bank, and Billy loaned me some from the money he won as a prize in school. I have to pay that back.”
“When we sell some of the vegetables,” said Billy.
“You don’t wonder that I’m excited, do you, Eleanor?” cried Mary Frances.
“Indeed I don’t,” said Eleanor. “I wish Bob and I had just such a garden.”
“You can have,” said Billy; “I hope Bob will be able to make me a visit as soon as he has finished being ‘coached’ in his Latin!”
“That won’t be for some time,” replied Eleanor. “Meanwhile, I’ll try to learn all I can about gardening, and we’ll be ready to start in earnest next Spring.”
“Oh, won’t that be lovely!” cried Mary Frances. “I’m so glad you’re here to see our experiment. Howsoon did you say, Billy, we could take the radishes and lettuce to Mother?”
“About day after to-morrow,” answered Billy, examining the vegetables closely again. “And a picking of peas in about ten days.”
“Oh, goody! I love the vegetable garden almost as well as the flower garden,” cried Mary Frances, “although the flowers are so interesting and are growing beautifully. Come, let us go look to see if any are ready to bloom,” leading the way to the front garden.
“Excuse me,” said Billy; “I’m going fishing.”
“Good luck!” cried both the girls. “Wish you’d take us!”
But Billy pretended he didn’t hear.