Natalie: A Garden Scout Part 3

"And what do you think, Miss Mason?" cried Natalie, as happy as the others. "Jimmy had Rachel pack us a lovely picnic lunch so we could spend some time at the farm this noon. Won't it be fun?"

"Indeed it will-especially if that famous cook of yours prepared the goodies, Natalie," laughed Miss Mason.

"Jimmy will be down with us in a minute, Miss Mason," added Natalie; "she just stopped to telephone Mr. Marvin that we were all going to motor out to the farm. Maybe he can come out, too, and join us there."

"That will be splendid, as he can explain matters we may not understand," returned Miss Mason.

"I'm sure there's nothing to understand about a farm," ventured Natalie, laughingly.

"You say that because you never lived on one. But once you do, you will find out that the soil on your garden will have a great deal to do with the success of your vegetables. Even flowers need certain grades of soil before they grow to perfection. If you have a pasture lot on the farm, the quality of the gra.s.s will control the grade and amount of milk from the cows; it will prove valuable, or otherwise, to your horses, to the sheep, or other stock. Even the chickens that scratch over the field will show results in the good or poor soil they feed in."

"Why! How very interesting!" exclaimed Janet, wonderingly.

"But that need not bother us, Miss Mason, as vegetables and stock will not come into our lives," laughed Natalie.

Mrs. James had come out of the house and now she heard what Natalie said. "My dear child, one of the main reasons for our going to live on the farm is to offset the high cost of living in the city. By raising our own vegetables and eggs and chickens, we can live for one-tenth of the cost in the city."

"But, Jimmy, not one of us knows a thing about farming!" chuckled Natalie, amused at the very idea.

"Perhaps you don't know anything, but I do, Natalie." Mrs. James spoke gently. "I spent a few years of my early married life on a lovely farm near Philadelphia, dear, and there is not very much that I did not learn while there. To make a success of the investment, I found I had to take hold, personally, and not only supervise the work, but know _how_ to do it, and to _do_ it if occasion demanded it of me."

"Now it will just come in fine for Nat, won't it?" declared Janet, enthusiastically. Mrs. James and the teacher laughed appreciatively at the remark.

"Do tell us, Jimmy,-did Mr. Marvin say he would try to meet us at Green Hill?" asked Natalie, as the car started.

"Yes, he said he would try to get an old friend to accompany him. He was not sure that she could get away, but he proposed trying to coax her to do so."

"Is it an old friend of his?" asked Natalie.

"Yes, a friend of many years' standing," replied Mrs. James, smiling down at her idle hands.

"Do you know her?" continued Natalie, seeing the smile.

"Oh yes,-very well indeed!"

"Do I know her, too?"

"Yes, you know her."

"Maybe we all know her,-do we?" asked Janet suddenly.

"Yes,-you all know her," laughed Mrs. James.

"Who can it be?" exclaimed several voices, but Janet tossed her head and smiled knowingly at Mrs. James. The latter placed a finger on her lips for secrecy, and Janet nodded.

Many guesses were given but no one thought of the right name, and Mrs.

James refused to divulge the secret. Then so many interesting sights were seen, as they drove swiftly along the Boulevard that runs through the Bronx Parkway and northwards through the pretty country section of Westchester, that the old friend who was to join them later at Green Hill Farm was eclipsed.

After a pleasant drive of less than an hour, Miss Mason turned off the Central Avenue road and followed a cross-country road that ran through the village where the farmers of that part of the country did their shopping and got their mail.

"If this is a village, where are the stores?" asked Natalie.

"I see it!" exclaimed Mrs. James.

"Oh, I see a little house with a few brooms standing on the front stoop.

A sign swinging over the door says 'Post Office,'-but you don't mean to say that is our only shop?" laughed Natalie, as she jeered at the general country store.

"That is the 'Emporium' for Green Hill," said Mrs. James.

"No wonder, then, that we'll have to raise our own food and other necessities," retorted Natalie humorously.

The girls laughed, for truly the small store had amused them. New York stores were so different!

A mile further on, Mrs. James called to Miss Mason: "We are almost there now. It is the first house on the right-hand side of the road. You can see the towering trees of the front lawn from here."

Instantly every pair of eyes looked eagerly down the road and saw the fine big trees mentioned by Mrs. James. In a few minutes more the car was near enough to permit everyone to glimpse the house.

"Jimmy was right! It is an old peach of a place!" declared Natalie delightedly, as she took in the picture at a glance.

"Oh!" exclaimed Miss Mason. "What a treasure, Natalie! Genuine old Colonial, Mrs. James. I shouldn't wonder if it stood when Washington led his army across this land to reach Dobb's Ferry. Even the old hand-made shingles are still siding the house."

"Yes, I heard it was a Revolutionary relic that was as well preserved as any house around here. You see the fine old front entrance? With its half-moon window over the door and the hood for protection from storms?

Even the old stoop and the two seats flanking the door, on each side, are the old ones."

"Dear me! To think this gem has been Natalie's right along, and no one knew of it!" cried Belle, who loved antiques and vowed she was going to be a collector some day.

"Not that alone, Belle, but think how Nat balked at coming here to spend this summer!" laughed Janet.

"Well, but-I hadn't an idea of what it was like," said Natalie apologetically.

"The Law that is the basis of all national laws, says 'Ignorance of the Law is no excuse for a criminal,'" quoted Miss Mason, smiling at Natalie.

"But, now, once I've seen it, I will confess I like it," Natalie admitted.

Miss Mason now drove the car through the gate which Norma had opened, and the automobile drew up to the side door where a long piazza ran the length of the wing. The moment the car stopped the girls sprang out in haste, to run about and see the place. But Natalie stood still on the lowest step of the piazza and gazed in at an open door.

"Someone's here!" whispered she to her friends.

Before anyone could reply, a buxom form filled the doorway and a wide grin almost cleft Rachel's face in half. She held out both hands to Natalie, and her expression signified a welcome to her "Honey-Chile."

"Why! Rachie! How did _you_ get here? I left you at home!" exclaimed Natalie, not certain whether it was flesh and blood she saw, or a phantom.

"Diden I come by a short cut, Honey, an' wa'n't it a good joke on you-all to beat you to dis fahm!" laughed Rachel, delighting in the mystery.

"Oh, now I know! It was Rachel who is our friend, eh?" shouted Natalie, clapping her hands.

"Sh.o.r.e! Mr. Marwin done brung me in his speeder by d' Hudson Riber Turnpike. We turned offen d' main road afore we come t' Dobb's Ferry.

Jus' d' udder side f'om Yonkers. Dat's how we come so quick," explained Rachel.