"He did!" Nance was wide awake now. "Wasn't he bad! How did he hurt it?"
"He just broke it down, so it could never stand up again."
"Oh!"
"Yes, Nance, that's what he did, and he had to leave his garden and go away."
"Go on," Nance demanded as Martin paused.
"Yes, he went away, for such a long time, and tried to forget all about his garden. Then in a strange place he saw one of his most beautiful flowers and heard her sing."
"What! can flowers sing?"
"This one could, so beautifully. But the gardener did not dare to speak to her. She knew what he had done, and he was afraid. So he ran away again, far off into a land of wilderness. His heart was very sad and lonely. No one loved him, and everybody thought that he was so bad."
"And wasn't he, daddy? He must have been bad or he wouldn't have hurt the beautiful flower."
"He was very, very sorry, Nance, and his heart was heavy all the time, but no one knew that. Then one day he found another little flower. She had fallen into the water, but some kind people saw her and saved her. The gardener took this lovely flower with him wherever he went. He built a little house among the trees, where they lived all by themselves, and were so happy."