ower-beds. He had not penetrated into the middle of the
shrubbery for years; never since the laurels and hollies had grown into
a solid prickly barrier against the outer world. So he could not
possibly guess that somewhere out of sight a weakly bush had been
gradually choked to death by its more robust companions, and that the
children on one of their voyages of discovery had noticed this, and
decided that since the poor thing was nearly dead it would obviously be
more sensible to pull it up and make a garden in its place. Of course,
the ground was so full of the roots of trees that ordinary digging was
quite out of the question; a spade (even if Madge stepped on it with
both feet and all her weight) would not go in more than half an inch.
But in the end the children very satisfactorily scratched up the ground
for about a square yard with pointed sticks, and put in a row of
primroses upside down, because they had been told that if planted in
that position they would come up red. This experiment failed with the
greatest regularity year after year in whatever corner of the garden it
was tried. Yet both children and gardeners are such hopeful people,
that when the two are combined one may expect to see absolutely
impossible feats cheerfully embarked upon as often as the sun rises.

Betty and John did not go to this charming retreat empty-handed. The
former had some plants torn up by the roots, the latter a half-filled
watering-pot. The fact was that several small things had been left
over after finishing the naval display, and it seemed a pity to waste
them. Water, for instance, was always valuable, because there was a
certain amount of difficulty about getting it. The gardener objected
to their drawing off much from his pump, which was apt to run dry in
hot weather, while if they went indoors to get a drop from a tap they
were at once set upon by innumerable people ordering them not to make
messes and wet their frocks. So when some water was left over from
flooding the lake, it was proposed not to throw it away, but to carry
it to the shrubbery garden, where there were several languishing
plants. There was the inevitable little struggle for possession of the
watering-pot; but Betty was not unreasonable, so she gave it up when
John pointed out that she had the undivided enjoyment of it while he
was at lessons. And in its place she carried two or three very
drooping nasturtium plants, that had unfortunately come