"Then it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack," declared Aunt Sarah.
All the next day the boys and girls hunted for the string of pearls, and the older folks helped. But the string could not be found. Nan felt very bad over her loss, and her mother could do little to console her.
"I—I sup—suppose I'll never see them again," sobbed the girl.
"Oh, I guess they'll turn up some time," said Bert hopefully.
"They can't be lost so very, very bad," lisped Flossie. "'Cause they are somewhere on this farm, ain't they?"
"Yes, but the farm is so very big!" sighed poor Nan.
For a few days Freddie went up to the garden every morning to look for radishes. Then he gave up and declared he knew John had made a mistake and that he didn't plant radishes at all. Nan and Flossie were very faithful attending to their garden, and the beautiful light green lettuce grew splendidly, being grateful for the good care given it.
"When can we pick it?" Nan asked John, as the leaves were getting quite thick.
"In another week!" he told the girls, and so they continued to watch for weeds and kept the ground soft around the plants as John had told them.
Freddie's radishes were above ground now, and growing nicely, but they thought it best not to tell him, as he might pull them up too soon. Nan and Flossie weeded his garden as well as their own and showed they loved to see things grow, for they did not mind the work of attending to them.