In the Spring, at Cloverfield Farm, all the family made gardens and sowed seeds.

Mother sowed pansy seed in a round bed in the side yard. When the little plants came up, she watered them and weeded them and kept the ground soft and fine, so they could grow.

All the time she was tending them, she kept thinking, "How nice it will be to have all these lovely pansies to look at this Summer!"

Father sowed some radish seed in the garden. When the little plants came up, he weeded them and hoed them and kept the ground soft and fine, so the little radish plants could grow.

All the time he was doing it, he was thinking, "How fine it will be to have lots of good radishes for the table!"

Bobby had a little corner all his own in Father's big garden. He sowed some onion seed in his garden. When the little plants came up, he weeded them and hoed them and kept the ground soft and fine, so they could grow.

All the time he was doing it, he was thinking, "How nice it will be to have all these onions, so I can give them to Mother for the cooking!"

One day, while the family were all away, the Old Brown Hen, who had stolen her nest, came along with her thirteen chickens.

She was hunting for a good place to scratch and find something for them to eat.

First, she tried to scratch in the gravel driveway, but that was too hard.

Next, she tried to scratch by the wood-pile, but the ground was covered with little chips, so she could not scratch there.

Then she found Mother's pansy bed. The ground in it was so soft that it was beautiful for scratching.

So she called, "Cluck, cluck, cluck!" and her thirteen chicks came running, and she scratched all over the pansy bed, to find bugs and worms for them to eat.

And all the little pansy plants were scratched up.

Next, she went over to the big garden and found Father's radish bed. The ground in it was so soft that it was a fine place for scratching.

So she called, "Cluck, cluck, cluck!" and her thirteen chicks came running, and she scratched all over the radish bed, to find something for them to eat.

And all the little radish plants were scratched up.

One would think that the Old Brown Hen would not have needed to scratch any more. But it takes a great deal to feed thirteen hungry, growing chicks.

So she kept hunting for other places to scratch; and it was not long before she found Bobby's onion bed.

Now Bobby had hoed in it and dug in it so much just the day before, that it was very soft and just beau-ti-ful for scratching.

"What good luck!" thought the Old Brown Hen. "A finer place for scratching I never saw."

"Cluck, cluck, cluck!" she called; and her thirteen chicks came running, and she scratched all over the onion bed, to find something for them to eat.

And all the little onion plants were scratched up.

Then, because they had eaten all they wanted, she wallowed in the soft earth until she had made a nice, comfortable place to sit.

There she sat, in the middle of Bobby's onion bed, and the thirteen chicks went under her wings to have a mid-day nap.

The Old Brown Hen went to sleep, too.

Soon the family came home. As they drove into the yard, Mother spied her pansy bed and cried, "Somebody has been digging in my garden and has dug all my little pansy plants up."

Next, they came to the big garden, and when Father saw his radish bed, he said, "Somebody's been digging in my garden and has dug all my radish plants up."

Then Bobby ran to look at his garden. When he saw it, he cried, "Somebody's been digging in my garden and here she is fast asleep."

When the Old Brown Hen heard Bobby shout, she woke up and ran away.

And her little chicks ran in all directions and called, "Peep, peep, peep!"

"Let's catch her," said John.

Father and John and Bobby chased the Old Brown Hen and caught her and put her in a chicken coop.

Then she called, "Cluck, cluck, cluck!" and her thirteen chicks came running.

And there they lived until the chicks were grown up.

And they did not scratch up any more gardens that Summer.

And that is the end of the story of the Old Brown Hen.