Nicholas, as is typical of this badly-behaved young boy, likes getting up to mischief. He's ended up in his aunt's bad books for putting a frog in his bowl of milk, and as such will not be accompanying his cousins on their day out. For good measure, Nicholas's aunt has told him to stay out of the gooseberry garden. No good reason is given for this order except that Nicholas is in disgrace and should keep out of there.

Nicholas never had the slightest intention of going into the gooseberry garden anyway, but his aunt's strictures have encouraged him to have a bit of fun at her expense. Nicholas doesn't want to go into the gooseberry garden; he just wants his aunt to think that he does. That way she'll be forced to spend the whole afternoon on sentry duty, constantly watching out for this mischievous young scamp.

In order to give the impression that he's trying to get into the gooseberry garden, Nicholas makes one or two journeys to the front garden. From the front garden, it's possible to gain access to the gooseberry garden by a couple of doors. If his aunt sees him there, as Nicholas fully intends that she will, she'll think that he's trying to get into the gooseberry garden and will have to drop what she's doing to keep an eye out for him.

Among other things, this will leave Nicholas free to go into the house and enter the inner sanctum of the lumber room, free from his aunt's prying eye.