"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 Saturday. 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 Saturday 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 assurance that her garden would thrive just as well as any farmer's in the county.
At noon on Saturday 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.
