ve you plant stuff in our back garden?
Then you could have all the garden you liked right there handy--we always
do hate to leave the ground idle."

"Perhaps we might plant something even yet," suggested Mrs. Merrill, much
delighted with the idea, "we'd love to try."

But there was no time for further planning just then--John Holden demanded
his lunch; Betty made a lively second and in a minute or two a clean
grassy place was picked out, the individual lunch boxes were passed out
and then, for a few minutes, everybody was quiet.

"I'm going to feed the black bear," announced Betty, as she paused to pick
out another sandwich, "I'm going to feed him peanuts--I saved up enough
money for two bagsful."

"But aren't you afraid of him?" asked Mary Jane breathlessly.

"Afraid? Pooh!" grunted Betty.

"Never you mind, Mary Jane," said Linn comfortingly, "she was afraid the
first time she saw him and I remember all about it. But now she's learned
that he can't get out the cage."

"Now, Linn, I never--" began Betty.

But John interrupted. "There!" he said, "I'm through. Come on, let's
gather up the boxes and papers and stick 'em in the trash box on the way
to get the peanuts." So the children all helped and in a jiffy the pretty,
grassy spot where they had eaten lunch was as clean and tidy as when they
came. And then away they scampered after the peanuts.

Such an afternoon as it was! Mary Jane tried to remember each thing they
did so she could tell her father when he met them after three o'clock. But
she couldn't remember half what they had done. She knew they saw the
little foxes--such pretty, dainty white and tan colored foxes that played
together like little pet kittens and made her want to hold them in her lap
and pet them. She knew they saw the bears--great big bears and middle
sized bears and little bit o' bears just like in the story book, and she
fed them peanuts which they caught very deftly in their soft cushioned
paws. But all the rest, she really couldn't remember in the right
order--there were kangaroos and buffaloes and a giraffe who stuck his long
neck over the top of a great high fence and made Mary Jane think of
nothing so much as a funny paper picture. And then of course the
monkeys--dozens of them and queer birds with curious colored feathers and
funny bills and feet. Really, she had seen in that one afternoon, more
animals than she had guessed lived in the whole world, oh, many more!

"But have you s