Mab were anxious to see what had happened to their garden, and so,
as soon as they were dressed, they went out along the paths that were made
among the different plots where the potatoes, beans, peas, lettuce and
various vegetables were growing.

"Oh, look at my corn!" cried Hal "It's all spoiled!"

"No, not all, though you will lose several hills," said his father.

"And my beans are all trampled down," wailed Mab.

"Never mind," consoled Uncle Pennywait. "They'll still grow, even if the
vines are not as nice as before. A wind storm would have made them look
the same way."

"And as long as both your crops are damaged, and each about the same
amount," said Daddy Blake to Hal and Mab, "you will still be even for
winning the prize of ten dollars in gold. That is if Uncle Pennywait
doesn't get ahead of you," he added with a sly wink at Aunt Lolly's
husband.

Hal and Mab hurried to look mere closely at their garden plots. Hal found,
just as he had after the hail storm, that, fey hoeing dirt higher around
his hills of corn he could make some of the stalks that had been trampled
down, stand up straight. And Mab's beans could also be improved.

"But the cows certainly ate a lot of green peas," said Daddy Blake with a
sigh as he looked at the place where they had been growing. "Still I'd
rather have them spoiled than the potatoes, as peas are easier to get in
Winter than are potatoes--at least for us."

The cows wandered up and down the village street until their owner and
some of his men came for them. Then, when the milkman heard how his
animals had damaged Mr. Blake's garden, an offer of payment was made.

Some of Daddy Blake's neighbors told what they thought the milkman should
pay, and he did. He said he was very sorry his cows had made so much
trouble, and hereafter, he said, he would see that they did not break out
of their pasture.

"I saw them in your garden, Mr. Blake, as soon as I got up," said Mr.
Porter. "I arose earlier than I usually do as I wanted to hoe my lima
beans before I went to work. I thought I'd call you before the cows ate
everything."

"I'm glad you did," spoke Hal's father. "We saved most of the garden,
anyhow."

It took two or three days of hard work in the Blake garden until it looked
as nicely as it had done before the cows broke in. Even then the pea vines
were only about half as many in number as at first, and they had been
delicious, sweet peas, that Mother Blake had counted on se