76 MARY'S GARDEN AND HOW IT GREW 



the fence. "Three inches deep," she said to herself 

 and the robin, who did not seem much interested, 

 "and three inches apart, and afterward I shall have 

 to thin them," she added judicially. 



"Hello, little girl ! " called a voice. Mary looked 

 up so suddenly that the sunbounet fell back from her 

 head and hung at the back of her neck. A flaxen head 

 had appeared over the top of the fence, and a pair of 

 round, interested eyes were staring straight at her. 



"Is it all buried? Was it a bird, and did the cat 

 get it? or was it kittens, and did the grown-ups get 

 them? " inquired the interested stranger. 



"There is n't anything dead," said Mary, with dig- 

 nity. "I am planting nasturtiums in my garden." 



"Oh," said the stranger, respectfully, and relapsed 

 into silence, though he did not descend from the 

 fence. 



The sunbonnet bent again over the brown earth, 

 and seed after seed dropped silently into the drills. 

 At last the under-gardener looked up. "Are you the 

 new family in Marion Burroughs's house ? " she asked. 



The boy nodded. "We 've only just come," he 

 said. "We used to live in New York. My name 's 

 Randolph Findlayson Hadley. Pm Donald Patter- 

 son's cousin." 



