"It's a garden game, but we don't know how to play it yet," said Mab.
"That's what I'm going to teach you," spoke her father. "We are going to make a garden."
"Where?" Hal wanted to know.
"In our back yard and in the lot next door. I have hired that to use in planting our garden."
"How do you start to make a garden?" asked Hal.
"That's part of the game you and Mab must learn," said Mr. Blake. "Now I'll begin at the beginning and tell you. I think you will like this game as well as any you have ever played, for not only will it be fun, but it will give you work to do, and the best fun in the world is learning to make fun of your work. And don't forget the prize!"
"What's the prize for?" asked Hal.
"For the one who has the best little garden, whether it is Hal, Mab, Uncle Pennywait, Aunt Lolly, Mother or myself. We're all going to play the garden game!"
"What is the prize going to be?" asked Mab.
Daddy Blake thought for a moment. Then he said: