Natalie: A Garden Scout Part 17

"Yes, but the plants were given me by Farmer Ames. He threw some out of his own gardens because they were too crowded for the best results. I planted them, but I did not _raise_ them from seeds. My baby plants here are all my very own!"

Janet laughed. She understood just how Natalie felt. It was the result of all her own endeavor-these tiny seedlings.

"Well," said she, after admiring the garden beds to Natalie's utmost expectations, "I can't see what there is left for me to do, if you have succeeded in your farming so soon."

"I have been thinking of something for you to do, Janet. We've got all those barn buildings, but they are empty. If only you could keep chickens and a pig,-wouldn't that be great?" said Natalie eagerly.

Janet laughed aloud. "Turn me into a stock farmer? I never thought of it, but now that you present the idea, it surely sounds fascinating.

Can't you see me currying the horses, and milking cows, or chasing a pig around the farm?"

"I am in earnest, Jan! You can easily keep chickens and sell eggs. As for a pig-why, Mr. Ames's brother wants to sell a few of a litter he has at his farm. They are the cutest little things I ever saw. You'll want to own one when you see them."

Janet laughed again, as Natalie's suggestion was so foreign to anything she had thought of. Not that it was unacceptable, however. The more she thought of the plan, the more it appealed to her as being worth while trying out.

That evening Mrs. James sat with the two girls talking over the plan of keeping chickens and other farmyard stock.

"I can manage the initial investment all right, from my allowance that I have saved up, but how do I know that the poor creatures will not die or get sick under my management?" said Janet laughingly.

"We've got Mr. Ames near at hand, if a chicken gets the pip,-that is what they get more than anything else, I've learned," said Natalie.

Both her hearers laughed hilariously at her remark, and Janet finally said: "Well, I just think I'll experiment for fun! Where can I buy some chickens?"

"Oh, any farmer will sell you a hen," returned Natalie.

"But I want more than one hen," said Janet.

"You'll have to raise them yourself, just as I am raising vegetables from seeds. You get a hen, put some eggs in a nest and make her sit upon them. In three weeks you'll have all the young chicks you want to start with," explained Natalie.

"It's too bad to-morrow is Sunday, or I'd go over to Farmer Ames in the morning and see about hens and a pig," said Janet regretfully.

"We're all invited to go to the Scout camp to spend the day to-morrow.

But you and I will start for Ames's early Monday," replied Natalie eagerly.

So it was decided, after several hours' serious talk, that Janet should venture to raise chickens and keep a pig.

The next day was very pleasant, and being Sunday, Mrs. James permitted the two girls to sleep an hour longer than was the daily custom. When they were through with breakfast, and had visited the gardens to see if any fresh spears of green had made an appearance since the previous evening, they all started for the Scout camp.

"Yoh-all go on ahead, an' I'll be along affer-while. I'se goin' to tote along a pan of hot biskits fer the club," said Rachel.

"All right, then we'll warn the cook that she need not worry about Scout bread for dinner," laughed Mrs. James.

Janet was curious to visit the camp and see what a lot of Girl Scouts did with themselves. Natalie had told her about Miss Mason's proposal to interest some of the Greenville girls, that, with the five who would live on the farm that summer, they might organize a second Patrol, and the two Patrols could then apply for a Troop charter.

The Sunday visit proved to be very interesting and satisfactory, for both girls saw how much the Scouts could do that they had never dreamed of before. The Sunday dinner that was prepared and served by these girls was delicious, and everything in camp was conducted according to Scout rules. When Mrs. James and her two charges were ready to start for the house, both Natalie and Janet were enthused with the ambition to launch a campaign for a second Patrol without delay.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The dinner that was prepared and served by these girls was delicious.]

On the walk back home Natalie said: "We ought to write the girls to get a Scout book for themselves, and then come to Green Hill as soon as possible. We need them to go around and talk up the Scout idea with girls about here."

"I wish to goodness Helene was old enough to be a Girl Scout. That would give us six girls, instead of five," said Janet.

"Helene can be a Scoutlet-because she is under twelve-but I am not sure that that would count in our Patrol," said Mrs. James.

That night a letter was written to each of the three girls remaining in New York, telling them to go straightway to Headquarters and secure a copy of "Scouting for Girls," the handbook that is necessary for a Scout to read and apply. Also the three girls were urged to pack up and come to the farm without losing any more valuable time. But no mention was made of the reason why this request was urged.

Natalie was up an hour before breakfast on Monday and hurried to her garden to see what had grown since the day before. To her great surprise and joy, she found the corn had sprung up an inch above ground since she had visited her beloved gardens the day previous. So excited was she that she raced back to the house, shouting as soon as she came within call:

"Jimmy! Jimmy! My corn's all up! Way up, so'se you can see the blades!"

Rachel hurried out of the door to learn what had happened, and when she heard the corn had sprouted and caused all the commotion, she laughed and shook her fat form in amus.e.m.e.nt.

Mrs. James and Janet were most sympathetic, and hurried with Natalie to the bed. Sure enough! The green blades were bravely holding up their pointed green heads as if to bless their young planter.

"That's because yesterday was such a hot day, and the night was damp and dewy," remarked Mrs. James.

By this time Natalie had gone to her other vegetable beds, and now called out: "Oh, oh! The beets and beans are up, too!"

To the great delight of the farmerette, it was found that all the shoots had now broken through the soil and tiny green heads were showing in neat rows wherever Natalie had planted seeds. This was very encouraging, and the three returned to the house for breakfast in an exalted frame of mind.

"I don't s'pose there is anything more I can do to-day to hurry them along, is there?" Natalie wondered aloud, as they finished breakfast and were discussing the wonders of a vegetable garden.

Mrs. James laughed. "No, I should advise you to start out as Janet and you planned, to interest girls in a Scout Patrol to-day. By permitting the vegetables to grow unwatched, they will surprise you the more.

Perhaps the corn found courage to come out of the ground when it heard you were not around to annoy it. Had we been about the place yesterday, instead of at camp, the corn may never have dared come out of hiding."

Natalie glanced at the speaker to see if she was in earnest, but Janet laughed merrily at the words.

"Well," ventured Natalie, "as we ought really to find enough girls to fill our quota for a Patrol, I think we will visit some of the families to-day, and then attend to our farm work later."

"How shall we manage to get around to the different houses, Nat, if they are so far apart?" asked Janet.

"I'm going to sit on the steps and watch for Mr. Ames to go by. When he comes in sight I shall ask him to drive us to the Corners. He will stop at Tompkins' for an hour, most likely, and by that time we can be ready to come back. I want to call on Nancy Sherman and Hester Tompkins. They are both about our age. On our way back from the store, we will ask Mr.

Ames to tell us when he can drive us to his brother's farm to buy the pig. He may say we can go this afternoon, and if he does, we'll go!"

"We'll buy the pig, all right, but we'll also get the Ames girl to say whether she wants to be a Girl Scout with us," laughed Janet, admiring Natalie's clever plan.

"Janet," remarked Mrs. James, "don't you see a great improvement in Natalie's ambitions? In the city she never gave a thought to planning anything. Now she is all plans for the future."

"Yes, I see Nat blossoming out into a regular organizer," laughed Janet.

"If I don't watch out she will usurp my throne. I was always the leader in the crowd of girls at school, but Nat is fast getting ahead of me."

The very idea of Natalie advancing ahead of Janet made the girl laugh.

But it pleased her, too, to hear her friends praise her. She knew, as well as anyone, that she was lazy and procrastinating in the city. But now she was eager to do things and to do them at once!

While she sat on the side piazza waiting for Mr. Ames, she watched the robins alight on the trees beyond the fence that divided the lawn from the field. They called to others, and chirruped at a great rate, as they fluttered in and out among the green branches.

"What do you suppose makes them gather in _those_ trees? They have been there all day yesterday and to-day. Can they be building community nests?" wondered Natalie aloud to Mrs. James.