Sometimes Roly-Poly went along with Hal and Mab when Daddy started off with the children.  Once Mab had a little cat that got lost up in a tree, and once her Dickey bird flew away and it was a long time before she found one she loved as much as her first singing pet.

“But I don’t see how you are going to take us anywhere, so we can have fun, just with beans,” said Hal, as he waited for his father to tell something about the new game.

“Oh, it isn’t just beans,” said Daddy Blake.  “See here are some radishes, lettuce, carrots, turnips, potatoes, beets and—­”

“Why it sounds just like a garden!” cried Aunt Lollypop, coming in from the hall at that moment.

“It’s a garden game, but we don’t know how to play it yet,” said Mab.

“That’s what I’m going to teach you,” spoke her father.  “We are going to make a garden.”

“Where?” Hal wanted to know.

“In our back yard and in the lot next door.  I have hired that to use in planting our garden.”

“How do you start to make a garden?” asked Hal.

“That’s part of the game you and Mab must learn,” said Mr. Blake.  “Now I’ll begin at the beginning and tell you.  I think you will like this game as well as any you have ever played, for not only will it be fun, but it will give you work to do, and the best fun in the world is learning to make fun of your work.  And don’t forget the prize!”

“What’s the prize for?” asked Hal.

“For the one who has the best little garden, whether it is Hal, Mab, Uncle Pennywait, Aunt Lolly, Mother or myself.  We’re all going to play the garden game!”

“What is the prize going to be?” asked Mab.

Daddy Blake thought for a moment.  Then he said: 

“Well, I suppose if you won the prize you would like it to be a nice doll.”

“Oh, I’d just love it!” cried Mab with sparkling eyes.

“And Hal would want a pair of skates or maybe a sled, for I think his old one is broken,” went on Daddy Blake.

“It is,” answered Hal.

“So, as only one of us can win the prize, and as we would all want something different,” spoke the children’s father, “I think I’ll make the prize a ten dollar gold piece, and whoever wins it can buy what they like with it.”

“Oh, that’s great!” exclaimed Hal.

“Ten dollars!” added Mab.  “Why I could buy a lot of dolls for that!”

“I hope you wouldn’t spend all that money for dolls,” said Aunt Lolly.

“No, save some for candy!” laughed Uncle Pennywait.  “I’ll give you a penny extra as my prize.”

“We’ll talk about spending the money when the prize is won,” said Daddy Blake.  “Here it is,” and he took from his pocket a bright, shining ten dollar gold piece.  Hal and Mab looked at it.

“But everyone must work hard in the garden to win it,” said Mr. Blake.  “And, mind you!  I may get my own prize, for I am going to work in the garden, too.  We will each choose some one vegetable, and whoever raises the finest and best crop will get the prize.”