Now this servant was not rich, nor wise, nor very good, but he wanted to help because the gardener had been very kind to him in many ways.

So he gladly took the little plots and fell to work.

They were all sorts of shapes and sizes, and some were very good soil, some rather stony, and all of them needed much care, for in the rich soil the weeds grew fast, and in the poor soil there were many stones." "What was growing in them besides the weeds, and stones ?" asked Nat; so interested, he forgot his shyness and spoke before them all.
"Flowers," said Mr.Bhaer, with a kind look.

"Even the roughest, most neglected little bed had a bit of heart's-ease or a sprig of mignonette in it.

One had roses, sweet peas, and daisies in it," here he pinched the plump cheek of the little girl leaning on his arm.