228 MARY'S GARDEN AND HOW IT GREW 



"It is this way, Liebchen. The pretty flower, the 

 baby, is there in the bulb asleep. The roots, you 

 see, have not grown. They stretch down while the 

 baby is sleeping, when the ground on top is tight 

 over him, before the spring and the sunshine wake 

 him up. Then, when he wakes and comes up to 

 reach the sunshine, the roots are ready to take care 

 of the pretty little one and give him food ; but if we 

 bring him in the house and wake him up too soon, 

 he has no' one to take care of him." 



"I understand," said Mary ; "and we can^t put it 

 to sleep in the house, because the baby would wake 

 up and then the roots can't do anything." 



"Yes, that is it. You might put the pot in. the 

 cellar, or I tell you. Dig a little trench in the 

 corner by the fence, where the cold wind is kept off. 

 Then you put the pot in and cover over well and 

 mark it. In seven or eight weeks you dig it up. " 



"But you know, Mr. Trommel, that Captain Kidd 

 lost his things that way," objected Mary. 



"Captain Kidd did not mislay his things ; he was 

 unable to return. That is all. Besides, he did not 

 plant tulips and narcissi. You should mark the place ; 

 and you must make the trench a foot deep and put 

 in a layer of coal ashes." 



