"Sharp eyes," nodded the Chief Gardener, "but Davy is right. There is not always a pith in the endogens. Pipe-stems and fish-poles are hollow, but the cane we make them of is an Endogen, too. And as for the bloom part of this grass, it is a sort of a tassel, like that of the corn. The real blooms are very tiny—too small for us to examine. And then, perhaps, some insect or bird has nipped some of it away. I think I must tell you a little more about leaves, so Davy won't have to know that grass is an Endogen because corn is, and so you won't be mistaken. Suppose, Davy, you try to tell me how many kinds of leaves there are."
Davy looked quite helpless.
"It would take a hundred years," he said.
"Why, no," said Prue. "There are just two kinds. Exogens and Endogens."
Davy laughed, and the Chief Gardener laughed with him.
SOME SIMPLE LEAVES
"But you are right, Prue, in one way," he said. "There are just two kinds of leaves—simple and compound. A simple leaf is a leaf of just one blade, like a grass leaf, or the leaf of a morning-glory. A compound leaf is a leaf made up of several blades, like a bean leaf, which you know is divided into three parts. Of course, there are hundreds of shapes and thousands of species of leaves, but there are just two great kinds, simple and compound. Suppose, Davy, you look about and bring me three compound leaves, and you, Prue, try to find three simple leaves, and let's see what they are."
The children jumped up quickly, and wandered out into the sunny garden, looking as they went. The Chief Gardener heard them chatting, as they looked this way and that. Presently they returned with what they had found. Little Prue climbed up in his lap.