“See the queer rings inside it,” Daddy Blake said to the children and, looking, they noticed that the hail stone was made up of different layers of ice, just as some kinds of candy are made in sections.

“What makes it that way—­like an onion,” asked Hal, for the hail stone did look a bit like an onion that has been sliced through the centre.

“It is because the hail is made up of different layers of ice,” answered Daddy Blake.  “It is supposed that a hail stone is a frozen rain drop.  In the tipper air it gets whirled about, first going into a cold part that freezes it.  Then the frozen rain drop is tossed down into some warm air, or a cloud where there is water.  This water clings to the frozen centre and then is whirled upward again.  There is another freeze, and so it goes on, first getting wet and then freezing until, after having been built up of many layers of ice and frozen rain, the hail stone falls to the ground.”

“My!” exclaimed Mab.  “I didn’t know hail stones were so wonderful.”

“Neither did I,” added Hal.

When Hal had changed his clothes he told how it was he happened to run out into the garden during the heavy hail storm.  He had seen the big frozen chunks of rain coming down, and he remembered what his father had said about it spoiling garden and farm crops.  So Hal, when no one was looking, got a big umbrella from the rack and went out to hold it over his corn.  Mr. Porter happened to see him and told Mr. Blake.

The shower did not last very long, and when it was over Daddy Blake took Hal and Mab into the garden to see what damage had been done.  The ground was so muddy they had to wear rubbers.

“Oh, a lot of my beans are beaten down!” cried Mab, as she looked at her bushes.

“They’ll straighten up again when the sun comes out,” said her father.  “If they don’t you can hold them up with your hand and hoe more dirt around their roots.  That’s what I shall have to do with my tomatoes, too.  The fruit is getting too heavy for the vines.  However no great harm will be done.”

“A lot of my corn is torn,” said Hal.  “It’s too bad!”

“Not enough is torn to spoil the ears,” said Daddy Blake.  “A gardener must expect to have a little damage done to his crops by the storms.  Of course it isn’t nice, but it is part of the garden game.  Sometimes whole orchards, big green houses and large fields of grain are ruined by hail storms.  We were lucky.”

“What does a farmer do when his whole crop is spoiled by a big storm?” asked Hal.

“Well, generally a farmer raises many crops, so that if one fails he can make money on the others.  That is what makes it hard to be a farmer, or, rather, one of the things that make it hard.  He never can tell whether or not he is going to have a good crop of anything.  Sometimes it may be storms that spoil his wheat or hay, and again it may be dry weather, with not enough rain, or bugs and worms may eat up many of his growing things.  So you see a farmer, or a man who has a larger garden, must grow many crops so that if he loses one he may have others to keep him through the Winter, either by selling the things he raises, or by eating them himself.”