“But the parsley bed has shown only the tiniest little green leaves here and there! I wonder if it’s never going to come up!” exclaimed Mary Frances.
“It often takes six weeks for parsley to germinate,” explained Billy.
“Yes,” answered Billy, “for the seeds to grow—start up, you know—wake up from their sleep.”
“Oh,” said Mary Frances, “I understand.” Then suddenly, “Oh, Billy, I can scarcely wait until we can begin to sell things! I believe, I really believe I can cut some flowers to sell!”
“Certainly you can if they are beautiful enough!” said Billy. “Well, I must make a start or else I’ll never get over to the camp, and the fellows are down on me now for being away so much. So long—get all that hoeing done.”
“Good-bye, Billy; it will all be done when you reach home,” called Mary Frances.
SHE worked away very hard for half an hour.
“My,” she thought, “this is such warm work I guess I’ll take a little rest,” and she sat down under the tree nearby.
She was just going to sleep when she thought she heard someone speak. Yes, it was Feather Flop, and he seemed to be arguing with someone.
“He wouldn’t talk to a stranger,” thought Mary Frances, “I wonder who it is. I don’t dare peep, for fear they’ll stop talking if they see me.”
“I tell you,” Feather Flop was saying in a boastful tone, “I tell you I am of the greatest benefit to the garden.”
“If so, why so?” The question was asked in a funny, croaking voice.
“If so, why so?” mimicked Feather Flop. “Because it is so. So there!”
“Yes, certainly, if saying so makes it so,” replied the voice. “But it is not so in my opinion. For instance—pardon me till I catch that fly—how many snails do you imagine I have eaten to-day?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Feather Flop; “but I do know this. I know I am the biggest benefit to the garden.”
“I beg pardon, sir,” answered the other; “I think I can easily prove I am the biggest benefit to the garden.”
“Cluck! Caw!” exclaimed Feather Flop. “You mean you are the biggest toad in the puddle, Hoppy, you poor old toad!”
“Ho! Ho!” thought Mary Frances. “So it’s a hop toad! I just believe it’s that big fellow that lives under the stepping stone. I think I’d know him. I believe I’ll peep!”
She looked cautiously around the tree. “It is! It is that same fellow I really believe! My, I wish I could ask him some questions!”