"Yes,-not much bigger"n a kitten."
"Oh dear! Can"t I see them?" asked she anxiously.
Everyone laughed. "Of course you can," returned Mrs. Ames.
"We will all go and see them," added Mrs. James. "I like to see little creatures, too."
So they all walked down the box-edged path-way to the neat out-buildings where Mr. Ames was struggling with two squirming little pink pigs that were determined to run away.
Natalie stood and watched while the battle for supremacy continued, and finally she offered to help hold them. But this was not necessary, as the farmer managed to get them in the pen especially built for the larger pigs of the litter.
"They"ve got to be weaned and give the lean ones a chance to grow better," explained the farmer, mopping his brow after the struggle had ended.
Natalie was so interested in the barnyard cattle, that the host escorted her about and showed her many amusing and instructive things. Mrs. James enjoyed this visit, also. The modern chicken-houses and duck-yards were admired; the pig-pens, with their clean runs and concrete pools for the pigs to bathe in, were inspected by an astonished Natalie who believed pigs to be filthy animals; and all the other devices for the cleanliness and comfort of the stock were commended; and then they all went back to the house.
Mrs. Ames had hurriedly prepared refreshments, although it was not more than ten o"clock. Ice-cold b.u.t.ter-milk, home-made sponge cake, and fruit, was a tempting sight. Natalie was thirsty after the visit to the barns, and the cold drink proved most refreshing.
While Mrs. Ames played hostess and showed her visitors her flower gardens, the two farmers went to the seed-house and sorted the potato seed Natalie wanted for her own garden. Then several tiny plants were added to this bag,-slips that had been weeded out that morning, and thrown out as superfluous in the Ames"s gardens. These could be transplanted at once by Natalie, and would go on growing, thus giving time for the seeds to sprout.
Natalie enjoyed the flowers and the stock-yard, but she was interested in vegetables, and now she was anxious to get home and plant the potato seed and other slips that had been donated. Hence, the three visitors were soon on their way back to Green Hill.
"Mr. Ames," began Natalie, as they drove away, "your brother said I could save time in growing the corn if I would soak the kernels in lukewarm water for several hours. He says the soil is quite warm enough now for me to do this, so the swollen corn will not get a chill when it is dropped in the hill."
"Yeh, I know that, too. I was goin" to suggest it," returned Mr. Ames.
"He said the lukewarm water would start the corn swelling better, and by the time Natalie wanted to plant it the water would be cold and the kernel would be the same temperature. The soil would be about the same heat, so we would not be running any risk of failure in hastening the seed," added Mrs. James.
"Yeh-ye kin do that," agreed the farmer.
"Another thing your brother said-that I thought good, is this: when we plant slips, such as beets, cauliflower, and other vegetables in a garden bed, to keep the seeds of such kinds apart from the plant beds; then when the seeds sprout they won"t confuse us with the older plants,"
said Natalie.
"Mr. Ames," now said Mrs. James, "your brother says he always plants his corn in a rich sandy soil with a mixture of gravel in it, to act as a drain. The more sunshine it gets, the sweeter it tastes, he said."
Mr. Ames glanced at the speaker with a pitying look. "Diden yuh know that afore he tole you?" was all he said.
Natalie nudged Mrs. James and giggled. But the lady was not silenced by the farmer"s remark. She was enthusiastic about all she had learned and had to debate it with someone.
"He said that he seldom used a compost made of cow-manure, unless it was seasoned with other lighter fertilizer, as it was so heavy it kept all air from permeating to the roots. _But_ he added that it formed a splendid foundation for other mixtures to be added to it."
"Well, diden I say that same thing to yuh?" demanded Mr. Ames.
"Yes, but it is more satisfactory to hear your advice seconded. Now we _know_ you were right in your suggestions," said Mrs. James guilelessly.
"Right here, I wanta tell yuh-all that I brung my brother up in his farmin" knowledge. And what he knows he learned from me when I was votin" an" he was onny in knickers!" was Farmer Ames"s scornful reply.
The rest of that day was spent in planting potato seed, Rachel helping, so that the cut sections need not be dried out. At sundown Mr. Ames went for his horse and buckboard, saying,
"Wall, to-morrer yuh won"t need me, Mis" James. Everything is goin" on as fine as kin be, an" you"se know all about th" seeds."
"Oh dear, Mr. Ames!" cried Natalie, in distress, "we will feel as if we are at sea without a rudder."
The remark pleased the farmer, for he was proud of his experience and loved to have others admit it. So he said: "Well, ef I git time I might run in at noon when I drives to the store fer mail and house-goods."
"Please do! We will need you by that time, I am sure," replied Natalie.
But the seeds and corn and other vegetable products were planted without further mistakes or delay. Each day saw the work advance and by the time the city school closed the garden was well on its way to producing edibles for that season.
The tiny lettuce slips that Mr. Ames"s brother had given Natalie were growing up fresh and green; the radishes showed three to four st.u.r.dy little leaves, evidence that tiny red b.a.l.l.s were forming under the ground. The cabbages and cauliflowers began to present funny little b.u.t.ton-like heads above the soil; and the seeds were showing slender little spears of green where the soft earth was cleft by their protruding points. The tomato vines and other plants started from slips that had been weeded out from the Ames"s farms were doing well; so that Natalie felt a righteous pride in her garden.
[Ill.u.s.tration: The garden was well on its way to producing edibles for that season.]
A letter from Miss Mason came the last Friday of school:
Dear Natalie:
Almost before you will have time to digest the contents of this letter we will have descended upon Green Hill Farm. The Girl Scouts in my Patrol packed and shipped the tents and other camping outfit, by express, the first of the week. I wrote the man at the Corner Store to hold them until we called there for them. If Mrs. James, and Rachel and you, have nothing better to do on Sunday, we will be pleased to have you come to our camp and dine with us. We hope to have everything in order and be ready for guests by Sunday noon, as we will arrive at Greenville about noon on Sat.u.r.day. Until then, I will wish you all rest and peace, as you will need to draw heavily upon the reserve fund of it after we arrive. My Girl Scouts are an active, energetic patrol, and few of them ever stop to sit down or sleep while in camp.
Lovingly your teacher, Anna Mason.
"Jimmy, Miss Mason says her girls will be here Sat.u.r.day-that"s to-morrow. But I haven"t heard a word from the other girls about when they will arrive! If only they could come up and be with us all on Sunday. Don"t you suppose we could telephone Janet and let her arrange it?" asked Natalie anxiously, after reading the letter from Miss Mason.
"Perhaps the girls are planning to pack up and get away from the city for all summer when they do come here. In that case, I don"t see how they could manage to get away on Sat.u.r.day. But we can telephone and find out," returned Mrs. James.
So Janet was called over the "phone, and Natalie heard to her great delight that Janet was coming Sat.u.r.day evening even though other girls in the group would not leave the city until the middle of the following week.
That afternoon at sundown Natalie inspected her garden critically, trying to judge it from another"s point of view. When she returned to the house she sat down on the piazza beside Mrs. James and sighed.
"I suppose everyone will laugh at my garden. The seeds aren"t big yet,-only the lettuce and other things that I transplanted from the Ames"s farms. Do you think they really will grow up, Jimmy?"
"Of course they will. Does the sun shine or do we succeed in growing _anything_ from the ground?" laughed Mrs. James.
"But this is different. I am not an experienced farmer and maybe the vegetables won"t grow for me."
"The poor little seeds never stop to wonder whether you are a farmer or not. They have no partiality. It is their business to grow and bring forth results, so they get busy and attend to their business the moment they are planted. But all things take time to develop,-so with seeds.
They do not give you a full-grown head of lettuce or cauliflower in a night."
This encouraged Natalie so much that she went to sleep with the a.s.surance that her garden would thrive just as well as any farmer"s in the county.
At noon on Sat.u.r.day Natalie heard the laughter and confused talking of many girls. She ran to the side porch and saw Tompkins" large spring-wagon approaching the house. Seated in the back of the wagon was a bevy of happy girls, and Miss Mason sat beside the driver.
"Here comes the Patrol, Jimmy!" shouted Natalie, eagerly beckoning to Mrs. James, who was in the living-room.
The wagon drove in the side gate and Si Tompkins halted his horses while Miss Mason called to Natalie:
"Want to jump in and go with us down to the woodland?"
"Run along, Natalie, and I will come down later," said Mrs. James, smiling a welcome at the merry party in the wagon.