"I hope they will, and we will try to coax them. But you see things may happen. Sometimes it comes a very cold night when the fires get low, and then plants are likely to chill, or perhaps freeze and die. We can only try to be very careful."
"How long will it take them to grow?" asked Davy.
"That is not easy to say. When everything is just right, some seeds start very soon. I have known radishes to pop up within three days, when the weather was warm and damp. Corn will sprout in about a week, in warm weather. Sweet-pease take a good deal longer, though we can hurry them a little by soaking them in warm water before we plant them. But we will talk about all that later. First, let's see about the pots and earth, and the seeds."
III
MANY SEEDS ARE GIVEN WINGS
The Chief Gardener took Davy and Prue down in the basement, where in one corner he kept his flower-pots and garden-tools.
"I'm going to use the hoe," said Davy, reaching for the long handle.
"I'll have the rake for my garden," said Prue.
The Chief Gardener smiled.
"I don't think we'll need either for this gardening. A small weeder or an old kitchen-knife will be about the largest tool you can use."