CHAPTER V
A PLAYGROUND
“Sudden in their ways,” just described Dick and Dolly. After gettingtheir aunt’s sanction, they flew back to the toolhouse, and tumbling inat the door, nearly upset Pat by their sudden dash for spades and hoes.
“She says we can!” cried Dolly; “how do you begin, Pat? What do we dofirst?”
“Dig, of course,” declared Dick, seizing the biggest spade he couldfind.
“All right; where shall we dig?”
Dolly grabbed another spade, and skipping out of the toolhouse, began todig frantically in the path that led from the doorstep.
“Whisht! now! Miss Dolly, don’t be fer sp’ilin’ me good path!”
Pat was amiable, but the vigorous enthusiasm of these children began toappal him. He was always deferential to his employers, and he lookedupon the twins as members of his employers’ family, and so he consideredhimself under their orders. But he also began to see that he must directmatters himself, if these impetuous youngsters were to have a realgarden.
“Well,” he said, “if so be’s yer aunts has give permission, we must makethe gardens fer ye. But we must do ’t dacint an’ proper. Don’t begin bydiggin’ up me tidy paths.”
“I won’t, Pat; I’m sorry!” and Dolly carefully smoothed away the cleftsshe had dug with her spade.
“Now, we’ll consider,” said Pat, greatly interested in the plan. “Firstof all, where will ye be selectin’ the place?”
The twins gazed around, at the various gardens, terrace, woodland, andwater, and then Dolly said, decidedly:
“In the woods; that’s the prettiest place.”
“Oh, ho!” laughed Pat. “Why, little miss, ye can’t grow things in thewoods! Leastwise, only ferns an’ moss! Don’t ye want flowers, now?”
“Oh, yes; of course we do! And I forgot they have to have sunshine.”
“Goosie!” cried Dick. “Now, I think a place near the pond would be nice,and then we can fetch water easily,—for I s’pose we have to water ourflowers every day, don’t we, Pat?”
“Yes; onless it rains fer ye, which it sometimes do. Now, s’pose ye letme s’lect yer place, an’ then do ye pick out yer own choice o’ flowers.”
“Do,” cried Dolly. “You know so much better than we do where a gardenought to be.”
Pat considered carefully for a few moments, casting his eye thoughtfullytoward various parts of the estate.
“Come on,” he said, at last, and the children followed him, as he strodeoff.
Just beyond the beautifully kept terrace was a stretch of lawn, entirelyopen to the sunlight, save for a big horse-chestnut tree in one corner.
Here Pat paused, and indicating by a sweep of his arm a section aboutseventy-five feet square, he said:
“I’m thinkin’, instead of only a garden, by itself, it’d be foine for yeto make yersilves a rale playground.”
Dolly’s quick mind jumped to the possibilities.
“Oh, Pat, a playground, all for ourselves, with our two gardens in it!”
“Yes, miss; and an arbour, and seats, an’ a table, an’——”
But he got no further, for Dick and Dolly seized him by either hand, andjumped up and down, fairly shouting with delight.
“Oh, Pat, Pat, I never heard of anything so lovely!”
“How could you think of it? Let’s begin at once!”
“But ye must behave!” cried Pat, shaking his hands loose from theirgrasp, and waiting for them to stop their antics.
“Yes, yes; we’ll behave!” said Dolly, suddenly standing stock-still, andlooking very; demure. “What do we do first, dig?”
“I’m thinkin’ yez better dig a whole acre,—an’ see if ye can’t work offsome of yer animile sperrits! Such rampageous bein’s I niver saw!”
“We’ll be quiet, Pat,” said Dick, earnestly; “now let’s begin.”
“Well, thin,—first, we must plan it, sure. Suppose we drive a shtakehere fer wan corner; and thin the big tree will be the opposite corner.Now ye see the size av it.”
“Yes,” agreed Dolly, “it’s a lovely size.”
“Thin, supposin’ we plan to set out a little low hedge all around thefour sides, wid an openin’ or two——”
“And an arched gateway!” cried Dolly, with sparkling eyes.
“Yes, miss, say an arched gateway or two. An’ then, inside ye can havethree or four garden-beds,—fer sep’rate plants, ye know,—an’ yerarbour, an’ whativer else ye like.”
“Oh!” said Dolly, sitting plump down on the ground from sheer inabilityto bear up under these wonderful anticipations.
“Now, what’s to do first?” said Dick, eager to get to work.
“Well, first we’ll lay out our flower beds. Now I don’t s’pose ye knowthe difference between seeds an’ plants, do ye?”
“Oh, yes! Plants grow from seeds.”
“Well, av coorse they do. But I don’t mean that. Ye see, some flowers yeset out as plants; an’ some ye raise from seeds.”
“Oh, I think seeds will be most fun,” said Dolly: “You just stuff ’em inthe ground and then they grow, don’t they, Pat?”
“Well, yes, miss; if yer seeds is right, an’ yer ground’s right, an’ ifye stuff ’em in right, an’ take care of ’em right, afterward.”
“Oh, we can do all that,” Dick assured him, grandly, and Pat’s eyestwinkled, as he replied:
“Av coorse ye can!”
Then Pat called Michael to help him, and they drove stakes and tiedtwine to them, until they had the playground distinctly marked out.
“Now, we’ll consider yer flower-beds, an’ lave the other considerationstill later,” announced Pat. “Ye see, yer seed-beds must be in themornin’ sun, an’ have the shade of an afthernoon. So, wid the big treeferninst, we can aisy manage that.”
“Seeds seem to be pretty particular,” observed Dolly.
“They be that, Miss; but so likewise is the plants. Some wants sun an’some wants shade, an’ if they don’t get what they wants, they jist liesdown an’ dies!”
Then Pat and Michael selected the best spots, and marked out two ovalflower-beds of goodly size, and two straight, narrow seed-beds somewhatsmaller.
“Miss Dolly’s, we’ll say, will be on this side, an’ Master Dick’s onthat. Now, if so be’s ye childhern wants to dig, fer mercy’s sake dig!Ye can’t hurt the ground.”
Pat well knew that his own strong arms would spade up the beds later,and he would fill them with the right sort of soil, and get them inperfect order for planting; but the twins were delighted at the idea ofdoing their own digging, and went to work with their usual enthusiasm.
It was hard work, but they enjoyed it, and though not veryscientifically done, they did manage to dislodge the soft turf, andriddle up the dirt beneath.
“I s’pose it won’t be such hard work after the digging is dug,” saidDolly, looking at her blistered little palms.
“Why, Dolly Dana!” exclaimed Aunt Abbie, who came out just then, to seehow the gardens progressed; “don’t you dig another bit! You poor, dearchild, your hands are in a dreadful state! Go in and ask Aunt Rachel forsome salve.”
“No, indeedy!” declared the valiant Dolly. “I’m going to plant my seedsnow!”
“Oh, no, miss,” said Pat. “Them beds isn’t ready yet. Nor ye haven’t gotyer seeds.”
“Don’t be too impetuous, Dolly,” said Aunt Abbie. “This afternoon, we’llplan out what is best to plant and then by to-morrow, if Patrick has thebeds ready, you can do your planting.”
Dick was still digging away, manfully, quite unwilling to admit therewere blisters on his own hands.
But Aunt Abbie made him stop, for though the digging was good fun, therewas no use in causing himself needless pain, and Patrick would do thebeds all over, anyway. So Aunt Abbie persuaded the children to turntheir attention to planning their playground.
She quite approved of Pat’s suggestions, and
sent for Miss Rachel tocome out and assist with the plans.
Both ladies were very fond of gardening, and entered enthusiasticallyinto the idea of the pretty playground. Miss Rachel instructed Pat tobuy and set out a low hedge of privet all round the inclosure; and theydecided on two entrances, front and back, each to be adorned by an archcovered with a flowering vine.
An arbour was planned for the centre, but Dolly chose to call it aplayhouse. For it was to be big enough to have seats and a table inside.
It was to be built tent-shape; that is, very long, slender poles wouldbe set up in pairs, meeting at the top, like the letter A. There wouldbe about a dozen pairs of these poles, each pair about two feet apart,and thus they would have a long arbour on which to train vines andflowers.
A ridge-pole along the top would keep it all firm and steady, andquickly growing vines should be chosen, which would soon cover the wholeframe.
Michael, who was clever at carpenter work, volunteered to make a tableand benches, and Dick, who was also fond of tools, felt sure he couldhelp.
Aunt Abbie said she would give a garden swing as her contribution to theplayground, and Aunt Rachel said she, too, would give something nice,but what it would be, was a secret as yet.
Then it was nearly dinner-time, so they went back to the house, and thefour sorry-looking little hands were carefully washed and anointed witha soothing lotion.
Heatherton people approved of midday dinners, and so the hungry childrensat down to an ample and satisfying meal, to which they were fullyprepared to do justice.
“You know,” said Aunt Rachel, as they chatted at table, “you are to takecare of these gardens yourselves. Pat and Michael have all they can do,already; and though they have helpers in the busy seasons, I expect youtwo to weed and water your own flower-beds.”
“Of course, Auntie,” said Dolly; “that’s what we want to do.”
“Else they wouldn’t be ours,” chimed in Dick. “There are lots offlower-beds around the place, but these are to be our very own. And howcan they be, if we don’t do all the work on ’em?”
“That’s right,” said Aunt Rachel, approvingly. “Patrick will superintendyour work, and he or Michael will keep the grass and the paths in order,but the rest is for you to do. Do you know anything about flowers?”
“Not a thing!” declared Dolly. “But I want to raise violets andcarnation pinks.”
“That proves you don’t know much,” said Aunt Abbie, laughing. “Why,those are the very things you couldn’t possibly raise!”
“Why?” said Dolly, looking surprised.
“Because they are too difficult. They require hothouses, or, at leastcold frames. You must content yourself with simpler blossoms;nasturtiums, phlox, asters, peonies——”
“Oh, those are just as good,” said Dolly. “I don’t care much whatflowers they are, if they’ll grow.”
“I like big plants,” said Dick. “Could I have sunflowers and hollyhocks,Aunt Rachel?”
“Yes, my boy; I’m sure you can manage those. Have a hedge at the back ofyour playground of those flowers, and also cosmos and goldenglow.”
After dinner they went to the library, and made lists of the flowersthey would have. Aunt Abbie drew diagrams of their gardens, and advisedthe right kinds of flowers to grow together.
“I want you to grow up to love gardening,” said Miss Rachel, “but as youare now quite young, and very ignorant on the subject, you must beginwith the simplest and easiest sorts of plants.”
Then the aunts explained how the children must plant seeds in theirseed-beds, and after the tiny shoots sprang up, how they must beseparated and thinned out.
“And throw away some of them!” exclaimed Dolly in dismay.
“Yes; that’s to make the others stronger and healthier plants.”
“What do we plant in our big gardens?” asked Dick.
“Well, there you can have such plants as you want. Roses, geraniums, andCanterbury Bells are good ones. And then, you transplant to those bedsyour seedlings that you have already started yourselves.”
“And can’t we plant any seeds in the flower beds?”
“Oh, yes; such as do not need transplanting. You can have borders ofportulacca, candytuft, sweet alyssum, and such things.”
“My! it sounds grand!” said Dolly, to whom nearly all these names werenew.
“Now suppose we go out there again,” said Aunt Rachel, “and see whatseeds Pat has on hand. Then we’ll know what to buy for you.”
So back went the quartette, and found the playground had assumed quite adefinite air.
A narrow strip of upturned earth showed the line of the hedge that wasto be set out. The flower-beds and seed-beds were neatly cut in shapeand properly spaded. Little stakes marked the places for the arborpoles, and white cords outlined paths that were yet to be cut.
“It doesn’t seem possible it’s ours!” said Dolly, drawing a blissfulsigh of contentment.
“Now here’s some seeds as I already have,” said Pat, offering a box ofpackets to the children.
“Oh, can we plant some now,—right away?” asked Dick.
“Yes; let us do so,” said Aunt Abbie, who was nearly as eager as thechildren to get the garden started.
So they selected nasturtiums, poppies, marigolds, and morning gloriesfrom Pat’s box, and all went to work at the planting.
The aunts showed Dick and Dolly how to poke a little hole in the ground,about three inches deep, and then drop in a nasturtium seed. Then theycovered it over with dirt, pressed it down lightly, and watered it.
This was an enthralling occupation, and the children worked carefullyand did just as they were told. Poppies came next, and these seeds wereplanted quite differently. The ground was made quite smooth, and thenslightly watered. Then Pat showed them how to sprinkle the fine seedscantily over the top of the ground, and not put any dirt over it atall. A thin layer of cut grass was scattered over them to keep the seedsfrom too much sunlight.
“How do you know that some seeds must be planted one way and someanother?” asked Dick, looking at Patrick with a new interest.
“That’s me business, Masther Dick. We all has to know our business avcoorse.”
The morning-glory seeds could not be planted just then, as they had tosoak in water for two hours, so next they set out some pansy plants.These Pat had expected to use elsewhere, but at Miss Rachel’s direction,he handed them over to the twins.
This was a new sort of work, and even more fascinating thanseed-planting. The tiny plants were fragile and had to be handled verycarefully. Then a hole must be dug with a trowel, the plant set in, andthe soil gently filled in about it.
The twins each had a half-dozen pansy plants, and Dick set his in agroup, but Dolly arranged hers in a border. Then Miss Rachel said theyhad done enough for one day, and she marched them off to the house toget rested.
But did Dick and Dolly rest? Not they! They didn’t seem to know what theword meant. They went up to their playroom, and sitting together at thetable, they drew diagrams and plans for their playground until theaunties called them downstairs again.