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+Project Gutenberg's Natalie: A Garden Scout, by Lillian Elizabeth Roy
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Natalie: A Garden Scout
+
+Author: Lillian Elizabeth Roy
+
+Release Date: September 17, 2011 [EBook #37458]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NATALIE: A GARDEN SCOUT ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from images made available by the HathiTrust
+Digital Library.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Natalie begins her planting. (_Page 110_)]
+
+
+
+
+                                NATALIE:
+
+                            _A Garden Scout_
+
+                        By LILLIAN ELIZABETH ROY
+
+                               Author of
+             "Janet: A Stock-Farm Scout," "Norma: A Flower
+               Scout," "The Blue Birds Series," "The Five
+                         Little Starrs Series."
+
+             Endorsed by and Published with the Approval of
+                          NATIONAL GIRL SCOUTS
+
+                           A. L. BURT COMPANY
+                       Publishers        New York
+
+                          Printed in U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+                            Copyright, 1921,
+                                   by
+                           THE NOURSE COMPANY
+
+                           Printed in U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+                     An Open Letter From the Author
+
+Dear Girls Everywhere:
+
+Perhaps you will like these country life books better for knowing that
+the incidents told in them actually happened to me in my girlhood days.
+I did not live on a farm such as Natalie's, however, nor was my father a
+farmer. He liked to "putter" around the acre of ground after business
+hours, simply because he enjoyed such recreation. I was generally at his
+heels, and whenever a fruit-tree was being grafted, or a swarm of bees
+hived, you could always find me there, too, getting in Daddy's way. If I
+was not in the garden, or at the barnyard, I would be shadowing my
+brothers who were my seniors. Scouts were unheard of in those days, but
+we hiked, camped, fished and did all the enjoyable stunts which you
+Scouts now do.
+
+I have not the space here to tell you of some of the hair-raising
+"dares" my brothers tempted me to accomplish, but I will have to write
+them for you to read, some time. However, the stunts and the following
+results would never be termed ladylike, nor were they graceful.
+Freckles, tan, and tattered dresses were the bane of my mother's life,
+and the inglorious title of "tomboy" failed to curb my delight in the
+freedom of country life. But, dear girls, I stored away a fund of health
+and experiences that I can now draw upon without bankrupting myself.
+
+A keen desire, which I hope to realize soon, is to have a place like
+Green Hill, where you girls can come and camp for as long a time as you
+like. Then we can sit about the campfire and talk about the fun and
+frolics the out-of-door life gives us. Many a laughable experience will
+I then tell you. Until that time, dear girls, believe me to be an ardent
+admirer of and staunch worker for the Girl Scouts.
+
+                                                              Sincerely,
+                                                  Lillian Elizabeth Roy.
+
+
+
+
+                                CONTENTS
+
+         CHAPTER                                            PAGE
+              I. Natalie Solves a Problem                      7
+             II. A Secret Conclave                            23
+            III. Green Hill Farm                              38
+             IV. Girl Scout Farmerettes                       59
+              V. Investigating Green Hill Farm                91
+             VI. Natalie Begins Her Planting                 110
+            VII. Natalie Learns Several Secrets              131
+           VIII. Miss Mason's Patrol Arrives                 153
+             IX. Janet Forms a Second Patrol                 175
+              X. Trials of a Farmer's Life                   213
+             XI. Norma and Frances Launch Themselves         235
+            XII. Grit Invites Himself To Green Hill          259
+           XIII. Belle's Choice of a Profession              283
+            XIV. Visitors and Welcome Orders                 301
+
+
+
+
+NATALIE: A GARDEN SCOUT
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I--NATALIE SOLVES A PROBLEM
+
+
+"Here comes Natalie Averill, girls!" exclaimed Janet Wardell, as a
+slender, pale-faced girl of fifteen came slowly down the walk from the
+schoolhouse door.
+
+"My! Doesn't she look awful?" said Frances Lowden.
+
+"Poor Nat! I should say she did!" agreed Norma Evaston sympathetically.
+
+"She looks as if the end of the world had come for her," remarked Belle
+Barlow, the fourth girl in this group of chums.
+
+"Not only the end of the world, but 'the end of her rope,' too," added
+Janet, in a low tone so that no one else might hear.
+
+"If it's true--what mother heard yesterday--the end of Nat's rope has
+come," hinted Norma knowingly.
+
+"What is it?" asked the girls anxiously.
+
+"Nothing new for poor Natalie to suffer from, I hope," said Helene
+Wardell, Janet's younger sister and not a member of the clique of five
+girls, although she often walked to and from school with her sister.
+
+"Well," replied Norma, aware of her important news, "it is about the
+worst thing that can happen to a girl after she has lost mother and
+father. Mrs. James confided to mother last night that there isn't a cent
+for poor Nat. The lawyer said that Mr. Averill kept up appearances but
+he had no capital. He must have spent all the money he made since
+Natalie's mother died four years ago."
+
+"How perfectly dreadful for Nat!" cried Janet.
+
+"After the luxurious manner of life she has had, too," added Belle.
+
+"S-sh! Not so loud, girls; she will hear us," warned Helene, the
+tender-hearted.
+
+"Did Mrs. James tell your mother what they would do?" whispered Frances
+anxiously.
+
+"She said she would stay on with Natalie for a time, without salary, as
+she has learned to love her so. You know she has been her companion for
+four years! And Rachel declares _she_ won't go even if the world turns
+upside down," returned Norma.
+
+"Just like good old Rachel," declared Belle.
+
+"But they can't live in New York without a cent of money, you know,"
+said Janet, with deep concern. "Folks have to pay rent and have
+something to eat, wherever they are."
+
+But there was no opportunity to discuss more of Natalie's problems then,
+as the girl came up and joined her friends. Her whole carriage denoted
+utter discouragement, and her face was drawn into lines of anguish.
+
+"Hello, Nat dear! What made you stay in after school?" asked Janet
+cheerily, placing an arm about the girl's shoulders.
+
+"I had to tell Miss Mason that I would not finish the term at school,"
+returned Natalie in a quivering voice.
+
+"No! Why not?" asked several voices.
+
+"Why, I expect to leave the city very soon."
+
+"Where to?" chorused her companions anxiously.
+
+"Oh, girls! I hate to think of it, it is so awful after all I had hoped
+to do and be, for Daddy's sake!" cried the girl, hiding her face in her
+hands.
+
+Instantly four girls closed in about her and each one had a loving and
+sympathetic word of encouragement to say to her. In a few moments,
+Natalie dried her eyes and tried to smile.
+
+"Janet will think it is wonderful, because she always _did_ like a
+farm," said she. "But the only choice in life now given me, is to move
+away to an outlandish farm up State, and leave all my friends and
+favorite pastimes behind. When I think of having to live all my days on
+a barren bit of land, I wish I were dead!"
+
+Janet tried to change the subject. "What did Miss Mason say when you
+told her you would not complete the year here?"
+
+"Oh, you know what a faddist she is over that Girl Scout organization!
+Well, she talked to me of nothing but my splendid opportunities of
+opening a Country Camp on the farm and renting out the woodland to girls
+who would be glad to use it."
+
+"But, Natalie, is it your own farm?" asked Janet and Norma.
+
+"Why, of course! Didn't I tell you about it?" cried the girl
+impatiently.
+
+"No, we thought it was someone else's farm--Mrs. James', or Mr.
+Marvin's, perhaps," explained Belle, gently.
+
+"It used to be my great-grandmother's place. Mother was born there, but
+raised in the city. When grandmother died, Aunt stayed on there until
+she, too, died. Then it descended to mother, who leased it to a man for
+ten years. I have never even seen the horrid place, but I know it is a
+mile from anywhere on the map. Mr. Marvin says it is fine, and _he_
+wants me to go and live there."
+
+"It sounds all right, Nat, if the house is habitable," remarked Janet,
+the practical girl of the group.
+
+"I told Mr. Marvin to sell it for me, but he says I would be foolish to
+do that. He says I can live on it for some years and then sell it when I
+grow up and get more for it than if I sold it in its present condition.
+He says I could spend my summers there and try to grow strong and happy
+again, and in a few years he could ask a far better price for the
+property than would be advisable now. I reminded him of all the families
+who wanted homes, but he said the cost of building was so high that few
+sensible investors would consider buying an old house that needed
+remodelling. So there I am!"
+
+"How big a house is it, Nat?" asked Janet, as a thought flashed through
+her mind.
+
+"Mr. Marvin motored over there a few weeks ago, but I refused to go with
+him. Jimmy went, however, and has been raving over the place, ever
+since. I just had to tell her to keep quiet about it, or I'd run away
+from her."
+
+Helene laughed softly: "But that isn't telling us how large a house you
+have on the farm!"
+
+"What difference would it make?" retorted Natalie plaintively. "The very
+size of the barracks is a thorn in my side. It is a two-story affair,
+with long rambling wings. Jimmy says it is pure Colonial--whatever that
+means--and declares it is an ideal home."
+
+"Then, for goodness' sake, Nat, why are you so glum? Any other girl
+would jump out of her skin for joy if she were left such a wonderful
+inheritance," rebuked Norma gently.
+
+"Can't you girls understand? It isn't the house or farm I abhor so much
+as the isolation I shall have to live in. That splendid auto-tour I
+planned for the five of us is now out of the question. Even the
+apartment Daddy and I were so happy in, is too expensive for my income.
+If I can manage to keep any of my parents' lovely furnishings, I shall
+be more than lucky."
+
+Her hearers were silenced by her pathetic complaint, but their teacher,
+Miss Mason, now came from the front door of the school and smiled
+invitingly at them. She was a great favorite with all the girls of her
+class, and these five in particular. She came straight over and stood
+with a hand affectionately resting on Natalie's shoulder as she spoke.
+
+"Have you heard of Natalie's good fortune, girls?" asked she cheerfully.
+
+"I thought it was fine, but Nat says I don't understand," said Janet
+eagerly.
+
+"I don't believe Natalie can comprehend the fullness of the cup of
+opportunity that is handed her, until she sees the place with her own
+eyes. It is often difficult to visualize the possibilities in an idea
+from another's description. If you girls want to have a little outing on
+Saturday, I shall be delighted to drive you to Green Hill Farm in my
+brother's car. He has a seven passenger machine, you know, and will not
+be home to use it, this week-end," said Miss Mason graciously.
+
+"Oh, Nat! Won't that be fine?" exclaimed several girlish voices eagerly.
+
+"It will be a lovely trip, Miss Mason, and I'm sure we will all enjoy
+it," grudged Natalie.
+
+"Maybe we can tuck Mrs. James in, somewhere, so she can play major-domo
+for us when we arrive at the farm," added Miss Mason.
+
+"Maybe," admitted Natalie. "That is, if she cares to go again."
+
+"This is Thursday, so we have to-morrow to make our final plans. If all
+is well, we can start out Saturday morning about ten," ventured Miss
+Mason, leaving no room for argument.
+
+"I'll ask Jimmy when I go home, and let you know what she says," said
+Natalie.
+
+"Where are you girls going now?" asked Miss Mason, with seeming
+guilelessness, but with intent aforethought.
+
+"Why, Helene and I are going home, and Nat was invited to stay for
+dinner and spend the evening," replied Janet. "Norma and Francie are
+coming over after dinner, and bring Ned Foster and his cousin. They have
+a motion-picture camera, you know, Miss Mason, and it is such fun taking
+moving pictures of each other."
+
+"That will be fine! Natalie will enjoy seeing herself as a screen star,
+won't you, Nat dear?" laughingly replied the teacher.
+
+"Oh, I don't know, Miss Mason! Nothing is worth while any more. I just
+wish I were dead!" sighed the girl.
+
+"No you don't, Honey! It is just morbid sorrow that's fastened itself in
+your heart. The moment you change your entire present state of mind for
+a more harmonious one, you will feel like a new being. Now run along
+with your chums and have a real--r-e-e-l--happy time." Miss Mason's
+joyous nature was contagious, and smiles appeared where intense feelings
+had drawn faces awry. So it was with Natalie: as Miss Mason turned to go
+down the street, she stood smiling after her, with a lighter heart than
+she had carried for many days.
+
+The five girls walked arm-in-arm along the city street regardless of
+inconvenienced pedestrians who had to give way for them. But four of the
+girls vied with each other in cheering Natalie into a happy mood, for
+they felt so sorry for her.
+
+The five schoolmates had known each other for more than five years, and
+being very near an age and in the same class in school, naturally became
+intimates. Janet Wardell lived a few blocks from Belle Barlow and Norma
+Evaston; and Frances Lowden and her brothers boarded at a Family
+Apartment Hotel, two blocks west of Norma's home. Natalie Averill,
+supposedly the wealthiest girl in school, lived on Riverside Drive, in
+one of the modern apartment houses.
+
+A few years previous to the opening of this story, Natalie's mother
+passed away, and Mr. Averill devoted all his love and spare time to his
+motherless daughter. She was past the age when so much attention could
+spoil her disposition, but since her father's death it was all the
+harder for her to live without such love and pampering. Even the funds
+that used to provide everything she asked for had vanished, and
+henceforth she must go without the things that had made her life so
+pleasant for a few years.
+
+Mrs. James, lovingly called "Jimmy" by Natalie, had accepted the
+position of companion and mother to the little girl, when Mr. Marvin
+explained the situation. As Mr. Marvin was one of Mr. Averill's closest
+friends, as well as being his attorney, his recommendation of Mrs. James
+was sufficient.
+
+As for Mrs. James, a lady in birth and training, she knew Mr. Marvin
+would never offer her the home and charge of anyone that was not her
+equal in life. Being penniless was no disgrace, but she had found it
+most unpleasant when she met her old-time friends and could not feel
+free to accept invitations because of her limited circumstances.
+
+This lovely home with every luxury, and her freedom in time and ways,
+made the position an attractive one for her. So she had held the reins
+of government very successfully since Mrs. Averill's passing, and Mr.
+Averill's appreciation of it was shown in his last words.
+
+From perfect health and happy hours with his little daughter, Mr.
+Averill had suddenly been taken with acute indigestion and in an hour
+was gone. It was all so unexpected and helpless, that Natalie had not
+grasped the meaning of it until the day of the funeral. Then she gave
+way to hysterics and daily became more morbid and despondent.
+
+Mr. Marvin had confided to Mrs. Mason that, in spite of there being so
+much ready money on hand whenever it was asked for in Mr. Averill's
+lifetime, there was nothing left for Natalie's future. When the funeral
+expenses were paid not a dollar would be on hand for rent, or food, or
+clothing. There were some rare and expensive paintings, antiques, and
+rugs, but they would be the only things that could be turned into ready
+money.
+
+The lawyer had not given a thought to the farm in the Westchester Hills
+that had belonged to Mrs. Averill's mother, as it had always been
+mentioned in an apologetic manner. So, naturally, Mr. Marvin believed it
+to be a tiny patch of poor land with a cottage of some kind on it.
+
+Consequently he was all the more surprised when he opened the deed of
+the place, and found it was located a few miles west of White Plains,
+and a mile east of the Hudson Division of the New York Central Railroad.
+As he read down the printed page of the legal paper and found there were
+thirty acres of good land,--ten tillable, ten woodland, and ten
+pasturage,--with a substantial dwelling and some out-houses on it, he
+heaved a deep sigh of relief.
+
+He telephoned Mrs. James at once, and explained the finding of the deed
+and what it meant for Natalie's future. He also invited the chaperone
+and Natalie to go out with him and inspect the property that he might
+get an idea of the rent he should ask for it--or what price to value it
+in case he could find a purchaser.
+
+Natalie would not go when the time came, so she knew not what the place
+looked like. It was enough for her that her dear mother had never wanted
+to live there and Daddy hardly ever mentioned it. Mr. Marvin could rent
+or sell it as he liked--but she would not take an interest in it.
+
+To her utter disgust, Natalie found both Mrs. James and Mr. Marvin so
+delighted with the old farm that neither spoke of a sale, or of renting
+it. It seemed to be a settled fact that Natalie and her chaperone would
+move out and live there for the summer.
+
+When the girl heard the verdict, she stormed away from the room and fled
+to the refuge she had always sought when she had been thwarted in
+anything in the past. That was Rachel's big brown arms. Rachel had been
+housekeeper, cook, and nurse, alternately, in the Averill family. And
+the kind-hearted old colored mammy never failed "her li'l' chile."
+
+But this time, when Natalie wept tears of misery over the idea of going
+to live on a farm, Rachel explained how much better that would be than
+to be adopted by a stranger, or have to live in a cheap boarding-school
+somewhere in the country.
+
+Natalie had not dreamed of such an alternative, and as her old
+confidante described the hardships of being a poor scholar in a cheap
+boarding-school, or a handy-help in form of an adopted child in a
+working family, her tears vanished and a feeling of dread of such
+experiences caused her to consider the farm with a better grace. But it
+was not with enthusiasm or cheerfulness that she told her school friends
+her plans for the future.
+
+So Miss Mason left the girls to enjoy the evening, while she hurried
+across town until she reached the address on Riverside Drive, where she
+hoped to find Mrs. James at home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II--A SECRET CONCLAVE
+
+
+"Good-afternoon, Mrs. James," said Miss Mason cheerily, as she entered
+the hall of the apartment belonging to the Averills.
+
+"To what happy circumstance do I owe this unexpected call?" asked Mrs.
+James, taking the teacher's hand in warm welcome.
+
+"It was quite unpremeditated, and consequently I am unprepared with an
+answer," laughed Miss Mason. "But I can confess to being one of those
+objectionable persons that always want to run other people's affairs for
+them. I just left the five girls at the corner of Broadway, and hearing
+that Natalie would not be home this afternoon, I took advantage of that
+knowledge to run in and have a talk with you."
+
+"I am very glad you did, as I have thought of asking your advice about a
+step Mr. Marvin advises me to take for the child."
+
+"Perhaps that is the very business I came on. I want to help you run
+your affairs, you see, so I am here to offer my experiences in certain
+lines, and then I will try to encourage Natalie to look at a country
+life with different eyes than she has stubbornly used, recently,"
+explained Miss Mason.
+
+"Is it about the farm proposition?" asked Mrs. James.
+
+"Yes, I left the girls talking it over, but Natalie seems to think she
+is giving up all that is worth living for, by going to live at Green
+Hill Farm."
+
+"Yes, that is her attitude, exactly! Whereas Mr. Marvin says she ought
+to be the most grateful girl alive to find she has a lovely home
+ready-made to go into, instead of moving to a shabby school life where
+she will have to earn part of her expenses by waiting on table or doing
+chores," explained Mrs. James.
+
+"Just so. And because I heard of the poor child's destitution, I am here
+to suggest several pleasant and wholesome plans by which she can not
+only live without cost to herself this summer on the farm, but also make
+enough money to pay your and her own way in the city next winter.
+Perhaps you are not interested in such suggestions?" ventured Miss
+Mason.
+
+"Interested? My dear friend, you come like a blessing from heaven with
+this news. The only great obstacle to our going to the farm at once was
+the lack of money to stay there, with Rachel, all summer. No matter
+where one lives, one has to eat and abide. And eating costs money, and
+an abode needs furniture. The old house is empty and has to be
+completely furnished before we can move out there," explained Mrs.
+James.
+
+"Well, then, listen to my idea. It has been tried out so successfully
+before, that I am not afraid to advise you to experiment for this
+season, anyway. It is this:
+
+"You know what an enthusiastic member of the Girl Scouts' organization I
+am? Last year I offered my services free to a camp of girls who wanted
+to spend the summer away in the woods but had no place to go to without
+its costing a great deal, and no one would attend them in a camp which
+would be within their means. Then I happened in and saw how hungry these
+seven girls were for an outdoor life, so I offered them a corner of the
+woods on my brother's old farm down in Jersey. Some day I will tell you
+the story of our summer down there. It is worth hearing."
+
+Miss Mason laughed to herself as she stopped for a moment to review
+mentally that experience. Then she proceeded.
+
+"Now this is my idea: Natalie and the other four girls have been talking
+of joining the Girl Scouts ever since last fall, when I returned from
+camp. But they are like so many other well-meaning girls--they never
+quite reach the point where they act!
+
+"My seven girls who spent the summer in camp with me last year are
+begging me to take them this year again. I have agreed to do so if we
+can find a good camp-site not so far from home as the Jersey farm was. I
+wish to be nearer a railroad than last year, too. We were more than nine
+miles from any store, or trolley, so it was most inconvenient to get any
+supplies.
+
+"If Green Hill Farm is anything like what Natalie described it to me,
+after school this afternoon, I would rent some of that woodland in a
+minute. She said the stream ran through the farm at one corner where the
+woodland watered ten acres. If Mr. Marvin will rent me enough of that
+land for a camp for my Girl Scouts it will bring in instant returns, and
+you will not have cause to regret it.
+
+"By having my girls on the ground, I can rouse the interest of Natalie
+and her friends (if they visit her this summer), and in that way they
+will want to join my girls. We now have a Troop in process of
+organization, with the required eight members--a new Scout has joined
+since last year. These girls are about the same age as our five
+schoolmates, so there would be no disparity in years. I have been
+elected as Captain of the Patrol, but we have not yet chosen a Corporal
+for this year, as our meetings have been very irregular since school
+examinations began.
+
+"These Girl Scouts became interested last spring, but not one of them
+attends my school, so I see little of them excepting when they call on
+me, or I attend one of their gatherings. Now that we are started on
+founding a Troop, we shall have weekly meetings and all the rest of the
+programme."
+
+Miss Mason waited to hear if Mrs. James had anything to say about her
+suggestion, and the latter asked: "Do you think these seven--or
+eight--Scouts are on the same social plane as Natalie and her friends?"
+
+"Yes, I do, or I would never have suggested their coming into contact
+with our five girls. They are not wealthy girls, and each one will have
+to support herself in a short time, but they are fine,--morally,
+mentally, and spiritually. A few of them are not perfect physically, and
+that is why I wish to give them another long summer out in the open. It
+is the best thing a young girl can do to build up her strength and
+health."
+
+"That is a great relief--to hear they are good girls. I have been very
+careful of my girl's associations, you know, and now that her father is
+not present to protect her, I will have to use more precaution and
+better judgment than ever. This is one of the main reasons I have for
+urging her to live out of the city for a time."
+
+"My Girl Scouts can be of great assistance to Natalie, if she will show
+a genuine interest in us. For instance, one of the members of my
+newly-fledged Patrol lived on a farm all her life before she moved to
+New York two years ago. She knows everything necessary for light
+gardening and barnyard stock. If you had any idea of planting the
+vegetable garden, or keeping chickens, Alice Hastings can show you how
+to do it."
+
+"I had not thought so far as that--gardening and poultry--but there is a
+splendid lucrative business for a girl, I should say!" declared Mrs.
+James.
+
+"Of course!" agreed Miss Mason. "And with a little care and good
+selection, a garden can be made to keep a houseful of people. Rachel is
+a good cook, and you are a thorough housekeeper, so what is there to
+interfere with Natalie having a few good boarders stay at the house
+during the summer?"
+
+"That was my idea, when I first saw the farm. I told Mr. Marvin that we
+could ask very good prices and fill the spare-rooms, if Natalie would
+consent to it. We will need some money for repairs and necessary
+furniture for the extra chambers, but that is all. We have our
+housekeeping things, and quantities of linen for all purposes, besides
+bedroom furniture for five good rooms. I figure that the amount realized
+on the sale of the Oriental rugs and draperies, the pictures and
+antiques, would pay for all extras we may need, and give us capital with
+which to launch a boarding-house for the summer," explained Mrs. James.
+
+"If you could find a number of girls of Natalie's own age to spend the
+summer with you, would you not feel more at ease about the
+responsibility of the undertaking?"
+
+"Oh, of course! I am perfectly at home with girls, you know. And they
+would not demand such attention as adult guests, either," said Mrs.
+James.
+
+"True! Then why not offer to chaperone a number of paying girls of
+Natalie's age for the season? There are so many parents who would like
+their girls to benefit by a summer in the country, but neither mother
+nor father can leave home, so the girl has to remain also, because of no
+suitable guardian to chaperone her!" declared Miss Mason.
+
+"I'm sure your idea is practical. And I will speak to Mr. Marvin about
+it. If only Natalie would think favorably of the farm plan." Mrs. James
+sighed as she thought of the protests and tears she had to contend with
+whenever the subject was broached to Natalie.
+
+"I'll tell you what I proposed to the girls just before I left them,
+then I must run along. I invited them to go out and see Green Hill Farm
+on Saturday. I said I would get my brother's car and motor out, so they
+could judge of the place,--whether it would make a pleasant home for the
+season or not."
+
+"How very kind of you, Miss Mason!" exclaimed Mrs. James. "Mr. Marvin's
+automobile is too small to carry more than three of us, and then we are
+squeezed close together. He said he wanted an extra seat added, but
+everything is so backward this year, the company would not promise to
+deliver the car at all, if a seat had to be attached. Now this
+invitation of taking Natalie with her friends is far better than driving
+her over there alone. It will seem much more desirable to her if her
+chums praise the farm and house."
+
+"That was my idea! And while they are roaming about the place, you and I
+might look over the chambers and other rooms indoors, and average up
+what might be the income from a number of paying girls," added Miss
+Mason.
+
+"What a fairy-godmother you are, Miss Mason!" declared the elder woman.
+"Natalie always said you were a dear, but I find you a most valuable
+adviser, too."
+
+"Mrs. James, who would not move heaven and earth to help a poor little
+child like Natalie, in her loss and forlorn state? Were it not for you
+being with her, I think she would have followed her father from sheer
+lack of interest in life. That is often the case, you know."
+
+"Yes, I know; but I am sure we have passed the worst phase in her sad
+experience, and will now turn our backs on the morbid sorrow and face
+the gladsome light," said Mrs. James.
+
+"That is one reason she ought to be in the country--where she is free
+from all memories and can find a new interest in life. But young
+companions are necessary, too, to suggest daily fun and work to each
+other."
+
+"Did the girls seem pleased with your proposal to take them to the farm
+on Saturday?" asked Mrs. James, anxiously.
+
+"Oh yes, indeed! They were all delighted, so I left them with a date for
+ten o'clock in the morning. The girls can assemble here and I will call
+promptly with the car. Now I must really be going." Miss Mason rose as
+she spoke, and held out her hand to her hostess.
+
+"All I can say is, you'll be laying up treasures in heaven for yourself
+if you give your summer vacation to girls who need the outing. Their
+gratitude and love will be a crown in the future, that you may well be
+proud of."
+
+"I will enjoy myself, too, never fear!" laughed the teacher.
+
+"I wish there were more like you, then!"
+
+"Perhaps we had best not speak to Natalie of our talk this afternoon,"
+ventured Miss Mason.
+
+"No, I won't mention your call. And we will let all other things work
+out naturally,--even the plan of taking girls to board this summer. We
+will wait and see if Natalie has any plans of her own," returned Mrs.
+James.
+
+So the teacher said good-by and left. Both women felt happy and
+confident that Natalie's problems were being solved after this
+confidential chat. And when Natalie came home late that evening she was
+gayer than she had been for many weeks.
+
+"What do you think, Jimmy!" cried she, as she ran in to kiss Mrs. James.
+
+"I'm thinking it is something good, Honey," returned the lady.
+
+"Why, Helene's and Janet's mother said to-night that if I went to Green
+Hill Farm to stay this summer she would like to send them with me to
+_board_! Isn't that interesting--to get an income out of my friends that
+way, while they feel that it will be a great favor on your part if the
+girls can come!"
+
+"I should be very glad to take care of them, Natalie, if you think you
+would like to have them live with us this season," replied Mrs. James,
+wisely refraining from mentioning a word about her talk with Miss Mason.
+
+"And the moment Frances heard of the idea, she said she would coax and
+_coax_ until her mother said she could come, too! That started Norma,
+naturally! And Belle declared that she would never stay home alone in
+New York if we all were having fun on the farm. In the end, Jimmy, all
+five girls were ready to leave home to-night, and start for the farm!"
+Natalie laughed merrily at remembrance of the eagerness of her friends
+to go and live on the farm. And Mrs. James was made happy at hearing
+that care-free laugh,--the first one the girl had given since her father
+was taken away.
+
+"When Mrs. Wardell heard that I didn't want to go to the farm, she said
+I was 'cutting off my nose to spite my face.' And she said I wouldn't
+act so set against it if I would use a little wisdom and common sense in
+my thinking over the whole affair. Then Mr. Wardell told me what
+wonderful times every one has in the summer on a good farm. He said that
+any Westchester farm in that locality was most desirable. So I need not
+feel that I was going to live on a poverty-stricken patch of land,
+because I would be, most likely, within arm's reach (metaphorically
+speaking, he said) of plenty of millionaires who loved quiet country
+life, and found it in the Westchester Hills. So now I am as curious to
+see my only home as you could want me to be."
+
+"I'm thankful for it," sighed Mrs. James. "And I'm thankful to the
+Wardells for changing your opinions about Green Hill."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III--GREEN HILL FARM
+
+
+Saturday morning Miss Mason drove her brother's car up to the curb
+before the elegant apartment house where Natalie lived, and motioned the
+door-man to come out.
+
+"Please telephone to the Averills' apartment and say Miss Mason is
+waiting in the car. Let me know if they are ready."
+
+The uniformed attendant bowed politely and hurried in to obey the order.
+In a few moments Miss Mason heard a happy voice calling from the window
+in one of the upper apartments. She leaned out and tried to look up, but
+all she could see was a fluttering of several handkerchiefs waved from
+several hands.
+
+Then the porter came out and smilingly said: "Mrs. James says they will
+be right down, Miss."
+
+"Thank you," was Miss Mason's reply, and she sat back to wait. But she
+had not very long for that, as a bevy of merry girls hurried out of the
+front door and ran across the walk.
+
+"Oh, Miss Mason! Isn't it a glorious day?" called Janet.
+
+"Couldn't be finer if we had ordered it for our trip!" added Belle
+joyously.
+
+"And what do you think, Miss Mason?" cried Natalie, as happy as the
+others. "Jimmy had Rachel pack us a lovely picnic lunch so we could
+spend some time at the farm this noon. Won't it be fun?"
+
+"Indeed it will--especially if that famous cook of yours prepared the
+goodies, Natalie," laughed Miss Mason.
+
+"Jimmy will be down with us in a minute, Miss Mason," added Natalie;
+"she just stopped to telephone Mr. Marvin that we were all going to
+motor out to the farm. Maybe he can come out, too, and join us there."
+
+"That will be splendid, as he can explain matters we may not
+understand," returned Miss Mason.
+
+"I'm sure there's nothing to understand about a farm," ventured Natalie,
+laughingly.
+
+"You say that because you never lived on one. But once you do, you will
+find out that the soil on your garden will have a great deal to do with
+the success of your vegetables. Even flowers need certain grades of soil
+before they grow to perfection. If you have a pasture lot on the farm,
+the quality of the grass will control the grade and amount of milk from
+the cows; it will prove valuable, or otherwise, to your horses, to the
+sheep, or other stock. Even the chickens that scratch over the field
+will show results in the good or poor soil they feed in."
+
+"Why! How very interesting!" exclaimed Janet, wonderingly.
+
+"But that need not bother us, Miss Mason, as vegetables and stock will
+not come into our lives," laughed Natalie.
+
+Mrs. James had come out of the house and now she heard what Natalie
+said. "My dear child, one of the main reasons for our going to live on
+the farm is to offset the high cost of living in the city. By raising
+our own vegetables and eggs and chickens, we can live for one-tenth of
+the cost in the city."
+
+"But, Jimmy, not one of us knows a thing about farming!" chuckled
+Natalie, amused at the very idea.
+
+"Perhaps you don't know anything, but I do, Natalie." Mrs. James spoke
+gently. "I spent a few years of my early married life on a lovely farm
+near Philadelphia, dear, and there is not very much that I did not learn
+while there. To make a success of the investment, I found I had to take
+hold, personally, and not only supervise the work, but know _how_ to do
+it, and to _do_ it if occasion demanded it of me."
+
+"Now it will just come in fine for Nat, won't it?" declared Janet,
+enthusiastically. Mrs. James and the teacher laughed appreciatively at
+the remark.
+
+"Do tell us, Jimmy,--did Mr. Marvin say he would try to meet us at Green
+Hill?" asked Natalie, as the car started.
+
+"Yes, he said he would try to get an old friend to accompany him. He was
+not sure that she could get away, but he proposed trying to coax her to
+do so."
+
+"Is it an old friend of his?" asked Natalie.
+
+"Yes, a friend of many years' standing," replied Mrs. James, smiling
+down at her idle hands.
+
+"Do you know her?" continued Natalie, seeing the smile.
+
+"Oh yes,--very well indeed!"
+
+"Do I know her, too?"
+
+"Yes, you know her."
+
+"Maybe we all know her,--do we?" asked Janet suddenly.
+
+"Yes,--you all know her," laughed Mrs. James.
+
+"Who can it be?" exclaimed several voices, but Janet tossed her head and
+smiled knowingly at Mrs. James. The latter placed a finger on her lips
+for secrecy, and Janet nodded.
+
+Many guesses were given but no one thought of the right name, and Mrs.
+James refused to divulge the secret. Then so many interesting sights
+were seen, as they drove swiftly along the Boulevard that runs through
+the Bronx Parkway and northwards through the pretty country section of
+Westchester, that the old friend who was to join them later at Green
+Hill Farm was eclipsed.
+
+After a pleasant drive of less than an hour, Miss Mason turned off the
+Central Avenue road and followed a cross-country road that ran through
+the village where the farmers of that part of the country did their
+shopping and got their mail.
+
+"If this is a village, where are the stores?" asked Natalie.
+
+"I see it!" exclaimed Mrs. James.
+
+"Oh, I see a little house with a few brooms standing on the front stoop.
+A sign swinging over the door says 'Post Office,'--but you don't mean to
+say that is our only shop?" laughed Natalie, as she jeered at the
+general country store.
+
+"That is the 'Emporium' for Green Hill," said Mrs. James.
+
+"No wonder, then, that we'll have to raise our own food and other
+necessities," retorted Natalie humorously.
+
+The girls laughed, for truly the small store had amused them. New York
+stores were so different!
+
+A mile further on, Mrs. James called to Miss Mason: "We are almost there
+now. It is the first house on the right-hand side of the road. You can
+see the towering trees of the front lawn from here."
+
+Instantly every pair of eyes looked eagerly down the road and saw the
+fine big trees mentioned by Mrs. James. In a few minutes more the car
+was near enough to permit everyone to glimpse the house.
+
+"Jimmy was right! It is an old peach of a place!" declared Natalie
+delightedly, as she took in the picture at a glance.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Miss Mason. "What a treasure, Natalie! Genuine old
+Colonial, Mrs. James. I shouldn't wonder if it stood when Washington led
+his army across this land to reach Dobb's Ferry. Even the old hand-made
+shingles are still siding the house."
+
+"Yes, I heard it was a Revolutionary relic that was as well preserved as
+any house around here. You see the fine old front entrance? With its
+half-moon window over the door and the hood for protection from storms?
+Even the old stoop and the two seats flanking the door, on each side,
+are the old ones."
+
+"Dear me! To think this gem has been Natalie's right along, and no one
+knew of it!" cried Belle, who loved antiques and vowed she was going to
+be a collector some day.
+
+"Not that alone, Belle, but think how Nat balked at coming here to spend
+this summer!" laughed Janet.
+
+"Well, but--I hadn't an idea of what it was like," said Natalie
+apologetically.
+
+"The Law that is the basis of all national laws, says 'Ignorance of the
+Law is no excuse for a criminal,'" quoted Miss Mason, smiling at
+Natalie.
+
+"But, now, once I've seen it, I will confess I like it," Natalie
+admitted.
+
+Miss Mason now drove the car through the gate which Norma had opened,
+and the automobile drew up to the side door where a long piazza ran the
+length of the wing. The moment the car stopped the girls sprang out in
+haste, to run about and see the place. But Natalie stood still on the
+lowest step of the piazza and gazed in at an open door.
+
+"Someone's here!" whispered she to her friends.
+
+Before anyone could reply, a buxom form filled the doorway and a wide
+grin almost cleft Rachel's face in half. She held out both hands to
+Natalie, and her expression signified a welcome to her "Honey-Chile."
+
+"Why! Rachie! How did _you_ get here? I left you at home!" exclaimed
+Natalie, not certain whether it was flesh and blood she saw, or a
+phantom.
+
+"Diden I come by a short cut, Honey, an' wa'n't it a good joke on
+you-all to beat you to dis fahm!" laughed Rachel, delighting in the
+mystery.
+
+"Oh, now I know! It was Rachel who is our friend, eh?" shouted Natalie,
+clapping her hands.
+
+"Shore! Mr. Marwin done brung me in his speeder by d' Hudson Riber
+Turnpike. We turned offen d' main road afore we come t' Dobb's Ferry.
+Jus' d' udder side f'om Yonkers. Dat's how we come so quick," explained
+Rachel.
+
+"Where is he? I want to thank him, Rachel!" cried Natalie, gratitude
+uppermost in her thought just then.
+
+"You won't have far to go to find me," laughed a genial voice, and
+everyone turned to see Mr. Marvin standing behind them.
+
+Then followed a visit indoors, with Mr. Marvin acting as guide from
+attic to cellar, and his party stringing out behind. Some loitered in a
+room, and then ran to catch up with the main guard. Or some lingered to
+admire a view or interesting object in the house, and hurried after the
+others later, for fear of missing something worth while.
+
+The main hall ran from front to rear of the house, cutting it in half.
+On one side of the wide hallway was a "front parlor," and back of it the
+back-parlor, or "settin'-room," as the farmers called it. Across the
+hall was the dining-room and pantry, and leading from the pantry was the
+kitchen. These rooms were so spacious that Janet laughingly remarked:
+"Our entire apartment would go in one room."
+
+"Look at the wonderful fireplaces!" exclaimed Belle.
+
+"My! One can throw a log three feet long on the fire and not strike
+either side of the chimney," added Frances.
+
+"Girls! Just see the funny little cupboards built in on each side of the
+chimney-facing," called Norma, opening one of the panels that fitted
+snugly to the bricks.
+
+Everyone called attention to a different discovery. Janet laughed at the
+small wavy-glass window panes, that twisted the scene outdoors into
+grotesque views. Natalie marvelled at the great dark beams overhead that
+were not only hand-hewn from the timber, but also hand-planed. Mr.
+Marvin drew attention to the wooden pegs used in the corners of these
+beams, and the crude nails that a Colonial blacksmith had beaten into a
+form that could be used by the home-builder of the house.
+
+"It is all so wonderful, Natalie, it seems like a dream!" exclaimed Miss
+Mason, delighted beyond words.
+
+"Look at the heavy planks in the floors!" said Belle.
+
+"Yes, even the wood in the floors is hand-sawn and smoothed down by hand
+and sandpaper. These floors will _never_ wear out," said Mr. Marvin.
+
+"Such a room ought to have sand on the floor instead of carpet. Picture
+this old house furnished, attic to parlor, in strictly old-time style,
+low wooden beds, high-boys, clothes-presses, and patchwork quilts
+adorning the foot of the beds; in the front hall, a small stand to hold
+the hand-dipped candles and sticks; a few braided mats in the 'company
+room' and in the hall, but not in the other rooms; and sand,--glistening
+white sand,--sprinkled over these floors every few days, and then washed
+out when the dust demands it."
+
+As Miss Mason pictured the scene of the interior after the old
+Revolutionary period, everyone saw how lovely such a plan would be. When
+they followed Mr. Marvin up-stairs and saw the extensive view from the
+landing of the stairs, Mrs. James said: "Here we must have a seat, so
+one can sit and study the lovely, peaceful scene that stretches away
+over the hills."
+
+The second floor had been divided into six rooms, with ample closet
+space in each. A modern bathroom had been installed a few years before
+by the tenant who had agreed to make all improvements and repairs at his
+own expense.
+
+"Why! These bedrooms have electric lights in them!" exclaimed Natalie,
+thus drawing attention to the drop-lights.
+
+"I didn't see any down-stairs," said Mrs. James.
+
+"Did anyone think to look for them?" asked Miss Mason.
+
+"No, we were all trying to see your old homestead with hand-dipped
+candles. The light they gave us was so dim we had no way of seeing the
+electric lights," laughed Natalie.
+
+"I'm going down-stairs this minute, and assure myself if there are any,"
+declared Miss Mason.
+
+"No one would have them up-stairs and not have them on the first floor,"
+said Mr. Marvin.
+
+While the others went to the attic to revel in a real old-time spot,
+Miss Mason went down to the first-floor rooms to hunt for electricity.
+To her astonishment she found how cleverly the late tenant had arranged
+it. That he had a keen appreciation of the house was evident in many
+ways, but in none so plainly as in the lighting.
+
+On top of each old-fashioned wooden mantel that crowned the fireplaces,
+at the end of each mantel-board shelf, Miss Mason found the plug for an
+electric fixture sunken on a level with the wood of the shelf. And on
+each side of the door opposite the fireplace, she found that the
+old-fashioned candlestick fixtures that had been admired as genuine
+Colonial bits, had been wired and were ready for a bulb. Also she
+discovered that a wall-plug was cleverly set in the high base-boards on
+either side of the room. From these one could run the wire for a table
+lamp, or a floor lamp, as preferred.
+
+She hastened up-stairs to tell the others about it, but when she reached
+the second floor, such shouts of delight came from the attic, she could
+not resist the curiosity to go up.
+
+"Miss Mason! Miss Mason!" shouted Natalie, the moment she saw the
+teacher's head appear above the stairway. "Just see what we found!"
+
+"The very old pieces that Natalie's grandmother used!" added Belle,
+pulling Miss Mason across the floor.
+
+"Isn't it all like a fairy tale, Miss Mason?" laughed Janet, eagerly
+clasping her hands in her excitement.
+
+Mrs. James and Mr. Marvin were dragging great heavy pieces of mahogany
+from under the eaves, and the several objects already brought to view
+were being dusted, duly examined and admired by the young girls.
+
+Miss Mason saw one fine old high-boy and another old low-boy. The
+foot-boards of three mahogany beds were already out on the floor, and
+the two discoverers were working hard to pull out the other sections of
+the beds. Miss Mason immediately went to work to bring to light some old
+rush-bottomed chairs which were so covered with cobwebs and dust that
+one could scarcely see them under the dark eaves.
+
+When lack of breath caused the three eager workers to desist and rest
+for a short time, an inventory was made. Natalie joyously called out the
+items while Mr. Marvin wrote them down.
+
+"Two low-boys; three high-boys; one side-board; five dining-room chairs
+with haircloth covered seats; one round extension table; nine odd chairs
+with rush-bottoms; four wash-stands of mahogany, with basin-holes and
+under-shelf for ewer of water; four complete mahogany fourposter beds,
+with rope webbing for springs; one damaged four-poster bed; box of old
+candle-sticks, and snuffers, etc."
+
+"To think that this wonderful old collection of Colonial furniture was
+here all these years and the tenants never took them, or used them!"
+exclaimed Janet.
+
+"That goes to show how honest they were," added Norma.
+
+"The finding of this old family furniture certainly is opportune,"
+remarked Mr. Marvin. "With these pieces as a start, you can add to the
+collection from time to time. I should advise you to keep only such
+pieces from the city home, Natalie, as will harmonize with old Colonial
+things. Also retain any intimate objects, but sell all the rest that is
+only suitable for New York apartments."
+
+As they all went down-stairs again, Miss Mason remembered the electric
+fixtures in the rooms on the first floor.
+
+When she told of the admirable manner in which the wires had been run to
+bring out the best results, in keeping with the type of room, Mrs. James
+was surprised.
+
+"I would never have thought a farmer had enough educated judgment to do
+it. It only proves how we _mis_-judge them by considering a farmer an
+ignorant individual who does nothing but grub on his farm."
+
+"Mos' time you-all come down f'om dat garret. I done call an' _call_,
+'til my lungs bust open. My goodness! dat fine lunch mos' spiled, now!"
+Rachel stood at the foot of the old stairs, glowering up at the
+delinquents who had never heard a sound from her while they were in the
+attic.
+
+"Oh, Rachel! We found the loveliest things up in the attic! Just think,
+Rachie, my very own great-grandmother's mahogany furniture was tucked
+away under the dark eaves, and Jimmy found it!" cried Natalie, catching
+hold of Rachel's fat hands and shaking them excitedly.
+
+"Is dat so, Honey?" gasped Rachel, forgetting all about the luncheon and
+the tardy guests.
+
+"Uh-huh! And we are going to keep everything in the old house strictly
+Colonial, so it will look like a picture," said Natalie, leading the way
+to the side verandah where the luncheon had been spread upon newspaper.
+
+Everyone was hungry and Rachel's viands were always tempting, so full
+justice was done the sandwiches and other good things provided. Rachel
+bustled about with importance, as she waited on her "chillun" and
+insisted upon Mr. Marvin having a third cup of tea. Had she but known
+the truth--he never took tea in the city, but dearly liked strong black
+coffee after a meal.
+
+"Now you-all kin clar out and see th' fahm whiles I do up the leavin's
+f'om lunch. Run down an' see d' riber an' what fine woods we got acrost
+d' paster-lot. You'll fin' plenty to see an' keep you busy 'til I
+finishes cleanin' up," said Rachel.
+
+Miss Mason was intensely interested in the woods that formed a boundary
+of the property along the riverside for a long stretch. Mrs. James
+understood her interest, but no one else had been taken into the
+teacher's confidence. She wished to see possibilities before she spoke
+of the Patrol of Girl Scouts who were looking for a camp-site.
+
+However, she found everything so desirable that she soon engaged Mr.
+Marvin in a talk that ended with her having rented a section of woodland
+for the summer, at a nominal price. She was to give Natalie and her
+friends certain lessons in scouting and take them on the hikes with the
+Scouts when they all studied birds, beasts, and other Nature-lore, as
+part of the consideration.
+
+It was past three o'clock before the inspectors were ready to start back
+home. Rachel had been sitting on the door-step of the spacious kitchen
+for a long time before she spied them coming across the fields from the
+stream.
+
+"Ef you-all 'specks to get back home in time fer dinner, we's got to get
+a hustle on, 's all I say!" grumbled she.
+
+"Hoh! Rachel wants to attend Meetin' to-night, and she hates being
+late!" laughed Natalie teasingly.
+
+"Mr. Marvin will get her home all right, long before we are half-way
+there," said Mrs. James soothingly.
+
+"Seein's this comin' Sunday'll be my las' at chu'ch fer a hull summer,
+yuh can't wonder I wants to be on time at choir practice t'-night,"
+remarked Rachel apologetically to Mr. Marvin.
+
+"Of course not! I'll agree to have you back in the city in a jiffy! And
+now that I think of it, Rachel,--why should you bother to prepare dinner
+for us to-day? Let me take the girls out somewhere for one night, and
+you will have time to get to church early in order to say good-by to all
+your friends!"
+
+As that was all Rachel wished,--to show the importance of herself and
+her family who owned such a fine country-place, and brag about it to her
+bosom friends,--she smiled serenely and sat down in the roadster driven
+by the lawyer.
+
+The others stood and smiled, too, as they watched Mr. Marvin drive away,
+and then turned to get into Miss Mason's car to start back to the city.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV--GIRL SCOUT FARMERETTES
+
+
+Mrs. James sent word to the storekeeper at the Corners, directing him to
+hire help and send them to Green Hill Farm to clean up the house
+thoroughly. Also to see that a man mowed the lawns and cleaned up the
+barns and yards.
+
+Then came the work of selecting the things Natalie wished to keep, and
+packing them ready to ship to Green Hill. The other furnishings in the
+apartment would not be sold until after the girl was out. Mr. Marvin
+said there was no need to cause her any unnecessary heartache.
+
+The second week in June, Mr. Marvin sent word to Mrs. James that the
+house was ready for occupancy whenever she wished to move out there. Not
+only was the old furniture placed in the respective rooms, but the
+pieces that had been shipped from the apartment in New York were also
+arranged for the time being. The only things to be moved were the trunks
+and the cases containing the dishes and bric-a-brac which Natalie would
+keep.
+
+Mrs. James read the letter to Natalie at the breakfast table and said:
+"The sooner we can get away from here, dear, the better for all. Mr.
+Marvin can then save a whole month's rent for you, as the owner agreed
+to cancel the lease when Mr. Marvin explained the circumstances. If we
+remain to the end of this month, it will take an extra week to dispose
+of what remains here, and that will necessitate another month's rent if
+it goes over the first of July."
+
+"Oh, I'll be only too glad to get away from the home where every room
+and object speaks of dear Daddy!" cried Natalie. "Green Hill is so
+lovely at this time of the year that I feel as if I could look forward
+there to meeting Daddy and mother again without feeling any grief at the
+parting now."
+
+"Then let us say we will start in a day or two!" exclaimed Mrs. James
+eagerly.
+
+"But what about school, Jimmy? Exams will not come off until the third
+week, and I don't want to miss any."
+
+"Natalie, maybe we can arrange some way with Miss Mason by which you can
+take yours without being in school," said Mrs. James.
+
+"I'll see her to-morrow, Jimmy, and if she says I may do it that way,
+I'll go with you at once."
+
+"If she can't make such an exception in your case, Natalie, we may be
+able to arrange so you can commute to the city for the few last weeks of
+school."
+
+The next noon Natalie hurried home with the good news that the Principal
+had been interviewed and had granted Natalie permission to take her
+examinations all at one time during the next few days of school, as her
+average for the year had been so splendid. The fact that she maintained
+a high standard all year through in her classes showed that she would
+not fail now in her yearly examinations.
+
+"Oh, but this is good news, dear!" exclaimed Mrs. James joyously.
+
+"Yes, isn't it? If it wasn't for Miss Mason taking the time and interest
+in me that she does, the Principal would never have listened to my
+request. It seems rather wonderful to have a teacher who is a real
+friend, too!"
+
+"We're grateful, no matter through what channel the good came; but I,
+too, think Miss Mason a good friend to have," remarked Mrs. James.
+
+"She said something to me, as I left this noon, about your telling me of
+her Scout camp. She laughed and said I would be surprised
+and--perhaps--annoyed. If it was the latter feeling, I was to consider
+she owed me a debt that she would try to pay as soon as possible. It
+sounded so amusing, coming from her to me, who owes her all obligations
+for what she has done for me, that I am keen to hear what you have to
+explain."
+
+Mrs. James smiled. "I am sure you will be pleased, Natalie. Miss Mason
+rented a section of the woodland that runs along the river bank at Green
+Hill for a camp for her Girl Scout Patrol she told us of. They all
+expect to go there on the first of July."
+
+"Oh, goody! Isn't that just scrumptious!" cried Natalie delightedly.
+
+"I thought you would like it, but Miss Mason was not so sure that you
+would welcome her Scouts. The girls are all good girls, but they have
+not had the money or social advantages that you and your friends have. I
+told Miss Mason that the sooner all such fol-de-rol was dispelled in a
+girl's mind the better. And these eight sensible young girls will help
+dispel the nonsense."
+
+"That's right, Jimmy! Since I find myself thrown on the mercy of the
+world, I begin to see how unfounded is one's faith in money or position.
+One day it is yours and the next it is gone!"
+
+"Rather precocious views for so young a maid, Natalie," said Mrs. James,
+smiling indulgently at her protegee.
+
+Natalie sighed. "Is it not true?"
+
+"True, of course, but you have not proven it to be so yet. You speak
+from hearsay and from book knowledge. You have not had to make the sorry
+experience your own yet."
+
+"Why, Jimmy! Don't you call my losses the test?" said Natalie, offended
+that Mrs. James should consider her limited condition anything less than
+a calamity.
+
+The lady laughed. "Child, you have a lovely home and land free and clear
+of debt. It is worth at _least_ ten thousand dollars right now. With
+judicious handling it will be worth four times that sum in a few years.
+You have Rachel and me to live with you and love and cherish you--as
+well as protect you. You have Mr. Marvin to take all charge of your
+business interests, and last, but not least--you have four loyal young
+friends who stick to you whether you have money or not. This is far from
+being thrown on the cold mercy of the world!"
+
+Natalie thought deeply over this but she said nothing.
+
+"Well, let's get busy packing, Jimmy! I want to get away this week, if
+we can."
+
+"Are you not going back for the afternoon session of school?" asked Mrs.
+James, surprised.
+
+"Didn't I tell you I was free now? I do not have to return except for
+exams. The classes are only reviewing the last term's work now, so I do
+not have to report for that."
+
+"Oh, how nice! Then we will get to work at once."
+
+By afternoon of Wednesday, all baggage was out of the apartment, and the
+three occupants were prepared to leave early in the morning. Mr. Marvin
+had been notified and he said the key for Green Hill house was at the
+general store. Mrs. Tompkins would give it to them. Mr. Tompkins had
+followed his wife's advice and stocked up the kitchen and pantry with
+whatever groceries Rachel would need to begin with.
+
+"Isn't that thoughtful of the Tompkins, Natalie?" said Mrs. James
+gratefully.
+
+"Yes, I feel that we will be good friends--the Tompkins and us."
+
+Natalie had informed her schoolmates that she was to go on the nine
+o'clock local in the morning, and so wished them all good-by that night.
+
+"It isn't really 'good-by,' Nat, because we will all see you again so
+soon," giggled Norma.
+
+Belle sent Norma a warning glance and explained hastily: "Yes, it is
+only a few weeks before we will be up on the farm with you."
+
+"Try to fix it, girls, so you can all join me on the farm as soon as
+school closes," said Natalie.
+
+"That will be fine!" declared a chorus of voices.
+
+So repeated good-bys were said and Natalie wondered why the girls
+thought it all so funny! The next morning as Mrs. James and Natalie
+stood in line at Grand Central Station to buy their tickets, four
+laughing girls pounced upon Natalie, and as many girlish voices said:
+"Didn't you suspect? How could you believe we would let you go away
+without sending you off in a royal manner?"
+
+Natalie laughed joyously. "But it isn't to the North Pole, girls! And it
+is only a few weeks before you will be there."
+
+"Never mind! If it is only for a few days, we would see that the
+railroad company was duly impressed with your importance because of your
+friends who escort you to the train," laughed Janet.
+
+Mrs. James had purchased the tickets by this time, and they all started
+to find Rachel, who was waiting with the baggage. Then they hunted up
+the particular gate that gave way to the platform of the train they
+wanted, and passed through in a grand procession.
+
+Rachel was last to pass, and as she tried to force the unwieldy bags
+through without allowing for the narrow brass rails, she got them stuck.
+A porter sprang forward to assist her, but she scorned him.
+
+"Whad foh yoh try t' show off _now_? Ef yoh had any sence in yoh haid,
+yoh'd seen I cud have used help befoh dis! Clar out, now, and don' show
+yoh kinky monkey-face heah ag'in!"
+
+As she puffed out the angry words, Rachel struggled with the baggage,
+and finally shot through with the release of the knobby portmanteau that
+held her precious property. The gate-keeper laughed quietly at the
+discomfiture of the porter who was inordinately proud of his new uniform
+and brass-corded cap. To be termed a "monkey-face" by an old mammy was
+past endurance!
+
+The incident caused a merry laugh with the group of girls, and Natalie
+said: "There, Rachel! I told you to let us carry one or two of your
+bags,--you were too laden for anything!"
+
+"Da's all right, Honey! I ain't lettin' yoh lug yohse'f to pieces fer
+me; but dat pickaninny what's dressed up like a hand organ monkey makes
+his livin' by fetchin' an' carryin'; so he oughta know his bis'nis, er
+someone's got to teach him it."
+
+As Natalie reached the platform of the train, she stood still to bid her
+chums good-by again. Suddenly she remembered what had occurred the night
+before.
+
+"Oh, is that why you laughed when I said it need not be a long good-by?"
+
+"Surely! we had it all planned to come and see you off, and give you
+consolation in some tangible form because you would be deprived of our
+gracious company for two weeks," giggled Belle, holding out a
+ribbon-bowed box.
+
+"What's that for?" demanded Natalie, trying to act impatient because the
+girls spent their money on her. But her acting was very poorly done.
+
+"And I thought you would need some farming implements at Green Hill, so
+I managed to secure these for you," added Janet laughingly.
+
+She held out a long package that defied guessing as to its contents, so
+Natalie took it and laughed merrily with the others.
+
+"And I brought your favorite nourishment, Nat. One of mother's
+'chocklate' layercakes," said Norma.
+
+"Oh, my goodness! How shall I carry it without mashing the icing?"
+exclaimed Natalie, managing, however, to place the square box upon her
+arm where it was carefully balanced.
+
+"And I, Nat," said Frances, "feared you would lack fruit on the farm,
+and so I tried to start you with a supply from the New York orchards."
+
+It takes little to make a merry heart laugh, and at each silly
+schoolgirl speech made with the gift Natalie laughed so heartily that it
+was contagious.
+
+"All aboard!" called the conductor, consulting his timepiece and waving
+Mrs. James into the coach.
+
+"Good-by! Good-by!" shouted five girls, and Natalie was bundled into the
+train and found herself watching the girls as the train receded from the
+station.
+
+After she was seated and had tested the box of candies Belle had given
+her, Natalie saw Mrs. James deeply interested in a paper-covered book.
+
+"What's the name of it?" asked she, handing the candy-box across the
+aisle to Rachel.
+
+"Looks like candy," replied Rachel, thinking the girl was speaking to
+her.
+
+Natalie laughed. "I meant the book, Rachie," explained she.
+
+Mrs. James looked up with a half absentminded manner. "What did you say
+about the book, dear?"
+
+"I asked you what it was. Who wrote it?"
+
+"Oh, it is the new book 'Scouting for Girls,' that Miss Mason gave me
+last night. It is certainly very interesting, Natalie."
+
+"Is that the Scout Girls' Manual?" said Natalie, surprised at the
+thickness of it.
+
+"Yes, and ever so good! It is filled, from cover to cover, with
+wonderful information. I never dreamed so much could be found in Nature
+that is so absorbing to read about or study."
+
+"I wonder why Miss Mason did not give me a copy?" was Natalie's
+rejoinder.
+
+"She spoke of it. She said she would send it by one of the girls this
+morning. Didn't you get it?" asked Mrs. James.
+
+"I wonder if it is in that box?"
+
+As she spoke, Natalie began undoing the cord that wrapped the long box,
+and having removed the paper and then the box-cover, she found not only
+the Manual inside, but a hand-trowel and a weeder.
+
+"Of all things!" laughed she, as she held out the box to show Mrs.
+James. "A shovel and a rake for my garden."
+
+Then it was Mrs. James' turn to laugh. "That is not a shovel, nor is the
+other a rake, Natalie."
+
+"Oh, isn't it? What is it, then?"
+
+"The trowel is used when you wish to dig shallow holes, or loose-earth
+trenches. The so-called rake is a weeder that you can use about delicate
+roots, or in forcing deep roots to let go and come up. Both are very
+necessary for a farmer to use about his house-garden."
+
+"Well, if I ever have occasion to use them, I shall remember Janet."
+
+"Then you will be remembering her every day this summer, I think,"
+laughed Mrs. James. "Weeds are the pest of a farmer's existence."
+
+Natalie was soon absorbed in her Scout book also, and Rachel was the
+only one of the trio who could tell about the scenery they passed as the
+train sped on to the nearest station to the secluded little village near
+the farm.
+
+As the three travellers left the train and stood on the old platform of
+the country station, Natalie gazed about.
+
+"My goodness! What a desert for isolation. Not a human being in sight,
+and no sign of a house or barn. Nothing but glaring sign-boards telling
+us where to stop in New York for a dollar per night--private bath
+extra!" exclaimed she.
+
+Mrs. James laughed. It was true, but it sounded funny the way Natalie
+spoke.
+
+"We ain't got to walk, has we, Mis' James?" asked Rachel plaintively.
+
+"I don't see anything else to do, Rachel. Do you?"
+
+"Not yet, but mebbe someone'll come along. I'd jes' as soon ride behin'
+a mule es not. Th' misery in my spine is _that_ bad sence I've be'n
+packin' and movin' so hard all week."
+
+"A mule would be welcomed, but there is none," laughed Natalie.
+
+"Isn't the landscape beautiful?" said Mrs. James, gazing about with
+admiring eyes.
+
+"As long as it is all that is beautiful to look at at this station, I
+must agree with you, Jimmy," teased Natalie.
+
+But both of them now saw Rachel staring down at the dusty road that ran
+past the platform, and when she dropped her bags and started along the
+road, acting in a strange manner, Mrs. James whispered nervously to
+Natalie.
+
+"What can be the matter, Natalie? Can anything have made her brain
+turn?"
+
+Rachel kept on going, however, bending over and staring at the dust in
+the middle of the road. Natalie was dumbfounded at such queer behavior,
+and was about to call to the colored mammy, when Rachel suddenly
+stopped, straightened up and shouted at something hidden from the eyes
+of the two who were waiting with the bags.
+
+"Heigh dere! Come back foh us, yoh hackman!" was the echo that was
+wafted back to the station and the patient waiters.
+
+Both of them laughed heartily. And Natalie said: "That was what she was
+doing! Obeying Scout instructions the first thing, and 'tracking a
+horse' in the wilds of this land."
+
+[Illustration: "Maybe that is the cab Mr. Marvin ordered to meet us."]
+
+"Maybe that is the cab Mr. Marvin ordered to meet us. He said we must
+not be discouraged if it turned out to be a 'one-horse chaise' instead
+of a taxi," remarked Mrs. James, highly amused at the experience.
+
+Natalie made a vicious slap at a green bottle-fly that had annoyed her
+ever since she alighted from the train. Now she laughed and said: "Not a
+one-horse chaise, Jimmy, but 'one horse-fly' is here to meet us."
+
+It was such an opportune play on words that they both laughed merrily.
+Rachel was now found to be arguing with a man seated in an antique
+vehicle. He seemed to enjoy the conversation immensely, for he was
+comfortably stretched out with his feet up over the dashboard and his
+arms resting along the top of the back of his seat.
+
+"Let's go over and add our persuasions to Rachel's," said Natalie,
+picking up her luggage and starting away.
+
+When they drew near enough to hear the conversation between Rachel and
+the man, the former was saying: "Yuh don't know what I kin do to yoh! Do
+yuh want to see my pow'ful arm?"
+
+The driver sat up at that and looked at the doubled up thickness of that
+member of Rachel's anatomy. Then he said: "But I always gits that much a
+head fer such a long trip."
+
+"What's the matter here?" demanded Natalie, coming up to join in the
+argument.
+
+"Chile, dis highway robber wants to take fifty cents a haid fer takin'
+us acrost to Green Hill Fahm. Why, it ain't no furder'n f'om heah t'
+dere, an' I tells him it is stealin'. In Noo York sech profiteers gits
+what's comin' t' 'em."
+
+Mrs. James interpolated at this. "Fifty cents each is not too much,
+Rachel. But he must take the luggage as well."
+
+The colored woman retreated at that, and cabby chuckled. "How much
+baggage?"
+
+"Three suit-cases and these bags and hat-boxes."
+
+"I don't see no suit-cases," mumbled he.
+
+"You would, if you had been at the station where you belong. The
+station-man took the checks and turned the bags over to us before going
+away to enjoy himself until the next train comes in," retorted Natalie,
+impatiently.
+
+"All right; I'll wait fer yuh 'til yuh git back," agreed the driver,
+preparing to take things easy again.
+
+"See here," said Mrs. James, sternly. "Are you Amity Ketchum?"
+
+"Yes'um,--at your service."
+
+"Then you're the man our lawyer engaged to meet the train and drive us
+to Green Hill. Now stop your arguing and get those suit-cases, then take
+us to our home."
+
+Mrs. James' erstwhile good-nature turned like the proverbial worm and
+she became very imperious. So much so, that lazy Amity chirruped to his
+horse and went back for the baggage. When he returned and stopped beside
+the ladies, Mrs. James got in and sat on the back seat that was
+adjustable to meet demands. Natalie got in and sat beside her, and
+Rachel laboriously climbed up and dropped into the vacant seat beside
+the driver. The entire vehicle cracked when her ponderous weight fell
+upon the old bench, and Amity scowled threateningly at her black, shiny
+face.
+
+"I gotta stop at Tompkins' fer some groceries," grumbled Amity, with
+scant ceremony in his tones.
+
+There was silence for the time it took to reach the "Emporium" at the
+Corners, but when the proprietor hurried out to welcome the city people,
+the latter smiled and felt better for his friendliness. Amity had gone
+inside to get his order filled, and then came out with arms laden with
+packages.
+
+Mrs. Tompkins followed her customer out to the steps, and was introduced
+by her husband to the three strangers. She was very pleasant and told
+Mrs. James to call upon her for anything she needed or wanted done.
+After thanking the gracious woman, Mrs. James was about to ask her
+advice on an important matter, but the hackman gave his horse a cut with
+the hickory stick, and almost dislocated his passengers' necks with the
+lurch given the vehicle.
+
+The two storekeepers were left standing on the steps watching the
+buckboard pass out of sight. Mrs. James was angry, but said nothing
+more. She knew how Rachel's temper was instantly kindled when anyone
+dared to offend a member of her revered family, and she understood just
+what Amity would get if he was not more considerate towards them.
+
+Having driven little less than a mile along the good highway, Amity
+suddenly turned off into a rough, badly-kept country road. Mrs. James
+looked anxiously back, and on each side, then said: "Mr. Ketchum, this
+is not the road to Green Hill Farm. You should have kept right on that
+other road."
+
+"I know it!" retorted Amity. "I'm going this way so's to leave these
+vittles at my house fer dinner."
+
+"Is your house far out on this road?" queried Mrs. James, after an
+unusually hard bump of the vehicle over a deep rut.
+
+"Not so fer. I'll turn down th' next lane, and then to the right, and
+there's my place. There's a back road what runs from my farm to your
+woodland. I kin go that way and drive you up to your barn by a
+wood-cutter's road," explained Amity.
+
+"Well, I hope you won't find any worse roads than this is, when we turn
+into that lane," was Mrs. James' reply. But the words were disconnected
+because of the incessant bouncing of the buckboard along the dried mud
+and over large stones imbedded in it.
+
+Rachel had to cling with both hands to the small iron handle at the side
+of the board seat, but she fared better than the two in the back seat,
+as she was too heavy to be easily moved; and the driver's seat was
+stationary, whereas the second seat slid dangerously up and down the
+shallow grooves into which its side-feet fitted loosely. The side on
+which Rachel sat sagged at least ten inches lower than on Mrs. James'
+side, and the latter found it necessary to balance herself on her left
+hip to retain any sort of seat whatever.
+
+They had travelled a mile of this sort of roadway when Cherub, the
+horse, of his own accord, turned in at a gap in the old rail fence and
+approached a carelessly-kept farm and dilapidated house. This private
+road was far worse than the one they just left, but Mrs. James and her
+companions expressed no impatience over it.
+
+Then they came to what might have been a very picturesque stream, had
+the banks on both sides been kept in order. The only visible bridge over
+this water was composed of enough loose planks to give passageway for
+wagons or cattle. These old planks were not secured in any way, and
+moved threateningly when anything came in contact with them.
+
+On both sides of this crude bridge the rains had washed out the dirt
+from under the planks, so that deep ruts formed. And just before
+reaching this rut, on the side of approach by the vehicle, was a huge
+boulder that thrust up its jagged head from the very middle of the rough
+roadway.
+
+Amity had known of this obstruction in the road for a long time, but he
+was too lazy to remove this menace. He had always managed to guide the
+horse so that the wheels just managed to clear the rock. Sometimes, with
+a heavy load on the buckboard, the flooring would scrape along the top
+of the stone, but a little nerve-racking thing like that never phased
+Amity.
+
+This time, however, Cherub was in a great hurry to get his feed, which
+he was sure would be awaiting him in the barn, so he failed to respond
+to the usual hard yank on the reins. The consequence was, one fore-wheel
+struck sharply in the middle of the boulder, and brought the buckboard
+to an unexpected stop. The awful strain on the old rotten harness when
+Cherub pulled and the vehicle was held up, caused the frayed rope
+mendings to part and the eager horse hurried forward, leaving his
+unwelcome drag behind.
+
+Of course, the violent halt sent the occupants of the buckboard suddenly
+forward, so that Mrs. James unceremoniously struck Amity in the back and
+caused him to lose his breath. Had he not had his feet braced against
+the foot-rail in front, he would have fallen forward. Rachel, not having
+used the foot-rail and not expecting any catapulting, went headlong over
+the old dashboard. As the board was meant for a screen from water and
+mud and not as a support for such a heavy body as Rachel's, it
+splintered and let her sag down between the empty shafts, her head
+resting on the whiffle-tree and her heels wildly kicking close to
+Natalie's head.
+
+The two other passengers were too frightened to notice that Rachel had
+on her hand-knitted, gayly striped stockings, brought years ago from
+"Norf Car'liny" and only worn on rare occasions; and Amity was too
+anxious to coax Cherub back and save himself any effort by going for
+him, to think of assisting Rachel to extricate herself from the
+broken-in dashboard.
+
+Natalie and Mrs. James jumped out and, after heroically lifting and
+pulling, managed to bring Rachel right-side-up once more. The moment she
+learned what had happened, and saw the driver waiting for Cherub to
+return, she shook a doughty fist at him and scolded well.
+
+So impressive were her speech and actions that Amity considered
+"discretion to be the better part of valor" this time, and jumped out to
+catch Cherub and bring him back to his job. While the hackman was away,
+Rachel turned to Mrs. James and spoke.
+
+"Ef yoh-all pays dat good-fer-nuttin' one cent affer my mishap, den I
+goes straight back t' Noo York an' gits d' law on him to mek him pay me
+fer playin' such tricks on defenseless women."
+
+"He didn't do it on purpose, Rachel. It was an accident," explained Mrs.
+James, hoping to placate Rachel before Amity came back with the horse.
+
+"Ah don' care--akserdent er no akserdent, I ain't goin' foh to have no
+fool-man like him dumpin' me down between dem shaffs what is fit onny
+fer a mule! Now yoh heah me? Don' yoh go foh to pay him nuttin' fer dis
+trip!" retorted Rachel with ire.
+
+Natalie laughed unrestrainedly at the funny scene, but the driver was
+again crossing the bridge, leading the balky Cherub, so she managed to
+cover her face to hide her amusement. While Amity tried to tie up the
+damaged portions of the harness so that the trip might be completed,
+Rachel came over and glared down at him.
+
+"Say, yoh pore mis'able chunk of cotton-haid! Don' yoh know I kin
+kerleck damages f'om yoh foh whad happened t' me on dis premises of
+yourn?"
+
+Amity looked up and returned her glare. "Say, you old black mammy, don't
+you know I kin make you pay handsome fer smashin' my buckboard? Even the
+harness would have held if you hadn't been so heavy as to make Cherub
+break away from the load."
+
+That was too much for Rachel. She straightened up with family pride and
+planted her hands on her ample hips as she declared: "See heah, ig'nant
+clod-hoppeh! Don' yoh go an' fool yohse'f wid t'inkin' I'se as
+easy-goin' as dat harness ob yourn--'cus I ain't! I'm an out-an'-out Noo
+Yorker, I am, an' yoh kin ast Mis' James! I made one on dem fresh
+condoctors in Noo York pay me fohty dollahs onct, when he started his
+trolley an' dumped me down flat in th' road an' druv away a-laffin at
+me. An' I wasn't damaged half as much dat time, as you done."
+
+Amity had finished tying up the harness and was backing Cherub into the
+shafts as he listened to this warning. He now half-closed his squinty
+eyes and switched the quid of chewing tobacco from one cheek to the
+other before he replied to Rachel. Then he drawled out tantalizingly:
+"You big blackberry, you! Puttin' on such airs about what you did to
+car-conductors! But I ain't no easy mark like 'em,--see?"
+
+Rachel gasped at his insolence and turned to Mrs. James for succor.
+Words failed her.
+
+"Amity Ketchum," commanded Mrs. James sternly, "drive us to our
+destination without further delay, or any more words!"
+
+This gave Rachel courage to add: "Da's whad I say, too! Whad'he wanta
+bring us all outen our way, anyway, when we hired him to drive us t'
+Green Hill Fahm, an' da's all!"
+
+"Ef someone here don't make her shet up sassin' me so I'll dump all your
+baggidge out an' you kin all walk to Green Hill, es far es I care!"
+threatened Amity, standing up defiantly and refusing to get into the
+buckboard and start on the way.
+
+Natalie turned to see how far the main road might be, and Mrs. James
+glanced fearfully at the number of heavy suit-cases and bags to be
+delivered at the farmhouse, but Rachel was the one to call his dare.
+
+"Ef yoh hain't in dat seat an' drivin' dat bony nag along in jus' two
+secunts,--den yoh go haid-fust down in dat water--unnerstan' me?" She
+rolled up her loose sleeves and showed a pair of powerful arms that
+looked like business.
+
+Amity was a thin little man, and this Amazon apparently meant what she
+said, for she came for him with dire purpose expressed in her face. So
+he jumped into the buckboard and started the horse across the bridge
+without waiting for Rachel to get in.
+
+Mrs. James rapped him on the shoulder to stop, and Natalie called to
+Rachel to hurry and get in, but Amity seemed unable to make Cherub halt
+and Rachel tossed her head and scorned to ask the man to let her ride.
+To Natalie's coaxings, she shouted back: "Don' worry, Honey! Rachel
+ain't goin' t' contamerate herse'f by sittin' nex' to sech white trash."
+
+But the road was bad and walking was irksome for Rachel who was
+accustomed to stone walks and trolleys in the city when she felt tired.
+She had to jump mud-puddles that reached across the road, or plough
+through the sandy deep when the way ran alongside a sand-pit and sand
+lay heavy on the road.
+
+Finally Amity drove up the hill that ascended from the river, and
+stopped beside the piazza steps. The driver felt that he had finished a
+hard day's work, and now sat back resting, allowing the ladies to get
+down as best they could.
+
+Mrs. James took her purse from the hand-bag to pay for the trip, when
+Rachel puffed up beside them. She saw the luggage still in the vehicle,
+and turned to order Amity.
+
+"Carry dat baggidge t' th' doah, yoh lazy-bones!"
+
+"I was hired to drive three passengers to Green Hill. I done it, an'
+that's all I have to do!" retorted he.
+
+"Mis' James, don' yoh dare pay him a cent till he min's what I tell
+him," commanded Rachel, stern because she was on her own soil at last.
+
+Amity remembered he had not been paid, so he grumblingly transferred the
+bags from the buckboard to the steps, then held out his hand for his
+payment. "Dollar an' a half," said he.
+
+"Mis' James, don't you go an' pay him no moh den one dollah, I tells
+yoh! He cain't make me pay nottin' cuz he made me walk half th' way. Dat
+don't stan' in any United States Co'ht, no-how!" shrilled Rachel,
+furiously.
+
+Mrs. James had opened her purse and hesitated between two fires--"to
+pay, or not to pay" the full price asked.
+
+"Don't fergit my dashboard is smashed, an' I ain't sayin' a word 'bout
+payin' fer dat!" snapped Amity. "An' don' yoh fergit my se'f respeck an'
+modesty what was smashed when yoh made me stan' on m' haid in dose
+shaffs! I shore will git Mr. Marwin to sue yoh, ef yoh don't go 'long
+'bout yoh bis'nis!" exclaimed Rachel.
+
+Mrs. James placed a dollar bill on the front seat, and turned to Natalie
+and said: "Open the side-door, dear, so we can go in."
+
+Amity got up in the buckboard, took the dollar and drove away without
+saying another word. Rachel waited and watched him drive to the front
+gate, where he turned to call back to her: "When you want a job in a
+circus as a giant huckleberry, come to me fer references. 'I'll tell th'
+worl'' what a fighter you are!"
+
+And Rachel shouted back at him: "Yoh got th' fust an' last cent outen
+dis fam'ly foh joy-ridin'! I'm goin' to start a hack-line an' put yoh
+outen bis'nis, ef I has t' take all m' life-insuhance money to do it, I
+am. I got a nephew what'll be glad t' he'p me do a good turn to th'
+country, as puttin' yoh back whar yoh b'long!" Then she turned to her
+companions for their approval.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V--INVESTIGATING GREEN HILL FARM
+
+
+As Rachel labored breathlessly with the baggage, she failed to notice
+any changes in the appearance of the house or grounds, but Natalie saw
+an improvement.
+
+"What has been done, Jimmy, to make everything look so trim and nice?"
+
+"I hadn't really noticed, Natalie, but now that you draw attention to
+the fact, I see they have trimmed the box-hedges along all the paths,
+and the grass has been mowed. Even the shade-trees have been pruned and
+cleaned out. How well it looks."
+
+"Laws'ee, Mis' James! Ef dey hain't gone an' nailed a brass knock on dis
+doah!" exclaimed Rachel, dropping her burdens on the mat and staring up
+at the quaint old knocker that had been fastened to the Colonial door
+since their last visit.
+
+When the door was thrown open, Natalie had a glimpse of the inside--now
+furnished and most attractive. She followed Mrs. James and Rachel
+indoors and clapped her hands in pleasure.
+
+"How perfectly lovely, Jimmy! Who would have dreamed that the dusty old
+place would look like this with a few pieces of furniture and a good
+clean-up of the rooms."
+
+"I swan!" breathed Rachel, in admiration, as she noted the braided rag
+rugs on the hall floor, the Colonial mirror on the wall, and the
+hall-table with drop-leaves flanked on either side by two straight
+backed rush-bottom chairs.
+
+"It's almos' as fine as dem ole manor houses in Norf Car'liny. I ust to
+be nuss-maid in one on 'em befoh I come Norf," was her final appraisal
+of the inside of the house.
+
+Every nook and corner had been scoured until the entire house smelled of
+cleanliness. Then the antique furniture that had been discovered in the
+attic had been cleaned and polished until no one would have said they
+were the same old objects.
+
+Mr. Marvin had selected enough braided and carpet-rag rugs for the
+floors as would look artistic without covering up much of the fine old
+oak-flooring of great wide boards. Simple cottage draperies hung at the
+old-fashioned windows, and the personal effects belonging to Natalie
+were so arranged as to give the entire interior a homey look. It was a
+cheerful home for a forlorn little orphan, and she felt the atmosphere
+of the place instantly.
+
+Rachel had gone directly to the kitchen after she left the others in the
+hall, and now she was heard exclaiming delightedly: "Oh, Mis' James--an'
+Honey darlin'! Come right out to my place an' see how fine I am!"
+
+They hurried out through the pantry and were surprised to find what a
+great improvement had been made in the large kitchen, with plenty of
+white enamel paint, new porcelain sink and table, and a fine modern
+range. Even the chairs and cupboards were glistening white, and white
+dotted swiss sash curtains hung at the four large windows.
+
+"Ain't it jus' too gran' fer anythin'!" giggled Rachel, as pleased as a
+child with a new toy.
+
+"It certainly is! We will all want to live in the kitchen, I fear,
+Rachel," said Mrs. James.
+
+"Who ever straightened up dis house fer us, suttinly knew her bis'nis!"
+declared Rachel. "Jus' look at my closets--not one thing outen place.
+Pans, pots, an' dishes--jus' whar I'd 'a' put them myse'f."
+
+Natalie was too curious to inspect the up-stairs, now, to remain longer
+in the kitchen, so she ran away, followed by Mrs. James. Rachel was too
+engrossed with the idea of preparing a luncheon on the nice kitchen
+range to bother about up-stairs.
+
+On the wide landing of the main stairs Mr. Marvin had had made a
+cushioned window-seat, so that one could sit and look out over the
+kitchen gardens and beyond the fields, to the woodland that bordered the
+stream at the extreme end of the farm. Past the woodland on the farther
+side of the river rose a pretty green hill, similar to the one the house
+stood upon.
+
+"Isn't this view just glorious?" cried Natalie, as she dropped upon the
+seat and gazed enrapt at the scene.
+
+After resting for some time in the window-seat, the young owner sighed
+and started up the rest of the stairs to the chamber floor. Here she
+inspected the various rooms with the old four-posted beds and high-boys,
+then came to a large, low-ceiled corner-room that had a similar view as
+had from the landing, of the side and back sections of the farm, with
+the woodland and stream beyond.
+
+"Oh, how darling!" cried Natalie, seeing that all her favorite
+furnishings were arranged here. "This must be mine."
+
+"It is, dear. Mr. Marvin said he wanted you to have the best room with
+all your beloved objects around you. Here you can read, or sew, or plan
+for your estate," said Mrs. James smiling gently at the pleased girl.
+
+While Natalie rocked in the comfortable sewing-chair that she remembered
+her mother had preferred to all others, Rachel was heard coming to the
+foot of the stairs. She called authoritatively, "You-all hurry right
+down to dis fine lunch what I got ready! Dat range bakes like Ole
+Ned--an' I got jus' de fines' pop-overs you eveh saw'd!"
+
+"Um! That sounds tempting, Jimmy! Let's run," laughed Natalie.
+
+While the two sat down at the round mahogany table that would easily
+seat ten, Rachel stood in the pantry door with her hands folded over her
+expansive figure. She smiled indulgently when Mrs. James praised the
+brown disks of hot bread just from the oven, and then went back to the
+kitchen.
+
+The afternoon was spent in walking about the farm and planning various
+wonderful things: the vegetable gardens; the place where Miss Mason
+proposed having her camp for the Girl Scouts; selecting the best pasture
+if Mr. Marvin would consent to their having a cow. Then the
+out-buildings had to be examined in order to ascertain if they were in
+good enough order to house a cow, and a pig, and chickens.
+
+It was evening before Natalie dreamed it, and they turned toward the
+house with appetites that made them as ravenous as any half-starved
+tramp. But Rachel was ready for them, and Natalie ate a supper such as
+she had not enjoyed in years. Mrs. James watched with pleasure, for the
+air and change had already worked a great good in the girl.
+
+The sun was setting over the woodland when Natalie came from the
+dining-room. She sat down on the step of the side piazza to admire the
+scene, when Mrs. James joined her, carrying two books.
+
+"Oh, I wondered where those Scout books were," remarked Natalie, taking
+one from her friend. "Are you going to read yours now?"
+
+"Yes, and I thought you would like to, too. We can sit and enjoy the
+cool of the evening, and discuss anything in the book that you do not
+understand."
+
+After reading eagerly for some time, Natalie said: "I see here in the
+section of the book that is devoted to forming a Patrol or Troop, that
+each Patrol has a Leader, and also a Corporal to assist her. These
+offices are held through votes cast by the Scouts, and each one of these
+officers holds her position until another election.
+
+"But there can be no Patrol until there are eight girls banded together
+to form one. How could we five girls expect to start a unit when we
+haven't enough girls to begin with?"
+
+"Miss Mason suggested that, after she opens the camp on the river land,
+you girls might attend one of the meetings of her Scouts and, if you
+like the work, join her Patrol until you have enough members with you to
+branch out and organize one of your own. This will not only give you
+girls a good beginning in the work, but also help her girls to charter a
+Troop."
+
+"When will this be, Jimmy, if Miss Mason's girls can't get away before
+July 1st?"
+
+Mrs. James laughed. "I'm sure I don't know, dear. Miss Mason will be
+better able to tell us that important point."
+
+"Well, at least I have the book that I can read and find out what Girl
+Scouts are supposed to do. Then I will be able to go right along when we
+do join Miss Mason's girls."
+
+"That's a good ambition, Natalie, and let the future take care of
+itself. You only have to take one step at a time, you know, and no human
+being ever lives more than one moment at a time. But how many of us plan
+for the future and worry about to-morrow or next week! People would stop
+worrying and hoarding if they understood the only right way to think and
+live."
+
+Natalie smiled, for she knew Mrs. James desired to help humanity stop
+its worries. So she said nothing but continued her reading of the
+Manual. When she reached page 60, Section VII, and began reading about
+the tests for Girl Scouts, she exclaimed: "Oh, now I see what I can do!"
+
+Mrs. James looked up from her copy and waited to hear.
+
+"I can learn and recite to you the Scout Promise and the Scout Laws, as
+is requested in this section. I can acquaint myself with the Scout
+Salute, and when to use it. I can memorize the Scout Slogan and the
+Motto, and learn how respect to our Flag is expressed. All these other
+things I can study and know, so that I can stand up before Miss Mason's
+girls and answer any questions on this section that are asked me."
+
+"Yes, Natalie, and you can also practice making knots, as mentioned
+here; learn the Scout exercises in every way; become proficient in
+making a fire, cook decent food, make a bed properly, demonstrate your
+sewing, and all the other things requested of a Scout for the tests,"
+added Mrs. James.
+
+The two readers became so interested in the books that they failed to
+notice how dim the light was growing, until Rachel came to the side door
+and exclaimed at seeing them with noses buried in "Scouting for Girls."
+
+"Laws'ee! Ef dem books tell you-all to spile yoh eyes like-a-dis, den I
+ain't got no use foh 'em. Come right along in, now, and set by a lamp
+an' read--ef yoh gotta finish de hull book in one night!"
+
+Mrs. James looked up, laughed, and placed a hand over Natalie's page.
+"Rachel is quite right! Here we are trying to read by twilight that
+would forbid anyone with common sense to attempt such a thing."
+
+"I've reached a thrilling place in the book, Jimmy! Can't I just finish
+this chapter?" begged Natalie.
+
+"Certainly, but not out here. Let us go indoors and use the
+table-light."
+
+Rachel had gone in and the lights were switched on, so Natalie ran in to
+enjoy the engrossing page.
+
+"What is the chapter you are so interested in, dear?" asked Mrs. James,
+as they settled down in cozy comfort to continue their reading.
+
+"Oh, this chapter called 'Woodcraft.' It is so wonderful to one who
+never dreamed of such things being in the woods!"
+
+"My! But you must have read very quickly to have reached the thirteenth
+section already. I have only read up to the ninth," returned Mrs. James.
+
+Natalie laughed. "To tell the truth, Jimmy, I skipped some of the
+chapters that looked dry and educational. I saw the pictures of these
+mushrooms, and the little creatures of the wood, and I glanced at the
+opening words of the chapter. After that, I kept right on, and couldn't
+stop."
+
+Mrs. James smiled and shook her head. "That is a bad habit to
+form--skipping things that _seem_ dry and hard to do."
+
+Natalie heard the gentle rebuke but smiled as she read the woodcraft
+chapter to its end. Then, instead of repenting of the habit of
+"skipping," she turned the pages of the book and read where she found
+another interesting chapter. This happened to be Section XVI on a Girl
+Scout's Garden. She read this part way through and then had a brilliant
+idea.
+
+"Jimmy! Janet Wardell says I ought to start a vegetable garden at once,
+and not only raise enough for us all to live on this summer, but have
+some to send to the city to sell to my friends."
+
+"I spoke to Rachel about that plan, Natalie, and she is of the same
+opinion: we really ought to garden and thus save cost of living."
+
+"You know, Jimmy, that Janet is crazy over the war-garden she had for
+two years, and she told me it was the most fun! Digging and seeding down
+the soil, and weeding or harvesting was as much fun as playing croquet
+or tennis,--and a lot more remunerative. But then Janet always was
+ambitious. We all say she should have been a boy instead of a girl--with
+her go-a-headness."
+
+"I don't see why a boy should be accredited with all the ambitions, and
+energy, or activity of young folks!" protested Mrs. James. "Girls are
+just as able to carry on a successful career as a boy,--and that is one
+thing the Girl Scouts will teach the world in general,--there is no
+difference in the Mind, and the ambitions and work that that Mind
+produces, whether it be in boy or girl. So I'm glad Janet is so positive
+a force with you four girls: she will urge you to accomplish more than
+you would, if left to your own indolent devices."
+
+"I'll grant you that, Jimmy, but let's talk about the possibilities of a
+garden, without losing any more time. Do you think we might start in at
+once? To-morrow, say?"
+
+"Of course we can! In fact, I wrote our next-door neighbor, Mr. Ames, to
+bring his plough and horse in the morning and turn over the soil so we
+could see what its condition is."
+
+"Goody! Then I will start right in and raise vegetables and by the time
+the girls come down, I ought to have some greens growing up to show
+them!" cried Natalie.
+
+Mrs. James laughed. "I'm not so sure that seeds will grow so quickly as
+to show green tops in two weeks. You must remember that ploughing,
+cleaning out stones and old weeds, then raking and fertilizing the soil,
+will take several days. By the time the seeds are planted it will have
+taken a week. In ten days more, we shall have the girls with us. So our
+vegetables will be wonders if they pop up in ten days' time."
+
+"Well--anyway--I can point out all that has been done in that time, and
+explain why the greens do not show themselves," argued Natalie.
+
+Mrs. James nodded, smilingly, to keep Natalie's ambition alive. It was
+the first time in all the time she had known the girl that she had found
+her eagerly planning anything that was really constructive and
+beneficial to everyone. And especially would it prove beneficial to
+herself, for working in the open air, and digging in the ground, would
+be the best tonics she could have. And the slender, undersized, morbid
+girl needed just such tonic.
+
+So Mrs. James laid aside her book and devoted the rest of the evening to
+the plans for a fine truck garden.
+
+In half an hour the two had sketched a rough diagram for the garden,
+following the picture given in the Scout book. "All around the outside
+of the rows of vegetables, I want to plant flowers, so it will be
+artistic as well as useful," said Natalie.
+
+"If I were you, dear, I'd stick to the vegetables in the large garden,
+and plant flowers in the roundel and small beds about the house, where
+the color and perfume will reach us as we sit indoors or on the
+piazzas," suggested Mrs. James.
+
+"But the vegetable garden will look so plain and ugly with nothing but
+bean poles and brush for peas," complained Natalie.
+
+"Not so, Natalie. When the blossoms on the bean-vines wave in the
+breeze, and the gorgeous orange flowers bloom on the pumpkin and melon
+vines, or the peas send you their sweet scent, you will be glad you did
+as I suggest. Besides, we will need so many flowers about the house that
+it will take all the time and money we have to spare to take care of
+those beds."
+
+So Natalie was persuaded to try out Mrs. James' ideas.
+
+"How long will it take us to get the seeds to plant in our vegetable
+garden, Jimmy?" asked she later.
+
+"I can telephone my order in to the seed store in the morning, and they
+can mail the package at once. We ought to have it in two days, at
+least," answered Mrs. James.
+
+"That will be time enough, won't it? Because we have to plough and rake
+the beds first. Oh, I do hope that farmer won't forget to come in the
+morning," sighed Natalie, running to the door to look out at the night
+sky and see if there was any indication of rain for the morrow.
+
+"The sky is clear and the stars are shining like beacons," exclaimed
+she, turning to Mrs. James.
+
+That lady smiled for she understood why Natalie had gone to investigate
+the weather signals.
+
+"Perhaps we ought to go to bed early, Natalie, so we can be up when
+Farmer Ames arrives," hinted she.
+
+"Why, what time do you think he will be here?"
+
+"Farmers generally begin work at five, but he may not arrive until after
+his chores are attended to. I suppose we may look for him about seven
+o'clock."
+
+"Seven o'clock! Mercy, Jimmy, we won't be awake then," cried Natalie,
+surprised at such hours.
+
+"Oh yes, we will, because everyone in the country goes to bed at nine
+and rises at five. We must begin the same habit."
+
+"Oh, oh! How outlandish! Why, we never _think_ of bed in the city until
+eleven,--and later if we go to the theatre, you know."
+
+"That's why everyone has pasty complexions and has to resort to rouge.
+If folks would keep decent hours they'd be healthier and deprive the
+doctors and druggists of an income. We will begin to live in the country
+as country people do, and then we will show city folks what we gain by
+such living," replied Mrs. James, mildly but firmly.
+
+So they prepared to retire that first night on Green Hill Farm, when the
+hands on the old grandfather's clock pointed to eight-forty-five. Even
+Rachel laughed as she started up-stairs back of her young mistress, and
+after saying good-night, added: "Ef I onny could grow roses in m' cheeks
+like-as-how you-all kin! But dey woulden show, nohow, on my black face!"
+
+She laughed heartily at her joke and went to the small room over the
+kitchen, still shaking with laughter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI--NATALIE BEGINS HER PLANTING
+
+
+The singing of the birds, nested in the old red maple tree that
+overshadowed the house on the side where Natalie's room was, roused her
+from the most restful sleep she had had in months. No vibration of
+electricity such as one constantly hears and feels in the city, no
+shouting of folks in the streets, no milkman with his reckless banging
+of cans, no steamboat's shrieks and wails such as one hears when living
+on the Drive, disturbed the peace and quietude of the night in the
+country.
+
+"Oh my! I hope I haven't overslept," thought Natalie, as she sat up,
+wide awake. She looked at the clock on the table and could scarcely
+believe it was but five minutes of five.
+
+"Why, it feels like eight to me!" she said to herself, as she sprang
+from bed and ran to sniff the delightful fresh air that gently waved the
+curtains in and out of the opened windows.
+
+"I'm going to surprise Jimmy! I'll be dressed and out in the garden
+before she wakes up," giggled the girl, hastily catching up her
+bath-towel and soap, and running stealthily along the hall to the
+bathroom.
+
+But her plans were not realized, because Mrs. James was up and
+down-stairs before Natalie ever heard the birds sing. She sat on the
+piazza sorting some bulbs and roots she had brought from the city in her
+trunk.
+
+After Natalie was dressed, she tiptoed to Mrs. James' door and turned
+the knob very quietly so the sleeper should not awake. But she found the
+bed empty and the room vacated.
+
+Down-stairs she flew, and saw the side door open. She also got a whiff
+of muffins, and knew Rachel was up and preparing an early breakfast. Out
+of the door she went, and stood still when she found Mrs. James working
+on queer-looking roots.
+
+"When did you get up?" asked she, taken aback.
+
+"Oh, about quarter to five. When did you?" laughed Mrs. James.
+
+"I woke ten minutes later, but I wanted to s'prise you in bed. I went in
+and found the room empty," explained Natalie. "What sort of vegetables
+are those roots?"
+
+"These are dahlia roots, and they will look fine at the fence-line, over
+there, that divides the field from our driveway. Do you see these dried
+sticks that come from each root? Those are last year's plant-stalks. We
+leave them on during the winter months, so the roots won't sprout until
+you plant them. Now I will cut them down quite close to the root before
+I put them in the ground."
+
+As she spoke, Mrs. James trimmed down the old stalks to within an inch
+of the root, then gathered up her apronful of bulbs and roots and stood
+ready to go down the steps.
+
+"Do you wish to help, Natty? You can bring the spade and digging fork
+that Rachel placed outside the cellar door for me."
+
+Natalie ran for the tools and hurried after Mrs. James to the narrow
+flower bed that ran alongside the picket fence. A ten-inch grass-border
+separated this flower bed from the side door driveway, making the place
+for flowers quite secure from wheeltracks or unwary horses' hoofs.
+
+The dahlia roots were planted so that the tip edge of the old stalks
+barely showed above the soil. Then the bulbs were planted: lily bulbs,
+Egyptian iris, Nile Grass, and other plants which will come up every
+year after once being planted.
+
+"There now! That is done and they are on the road to beautifying our
+grounds," sighed Mrs. James, standing up and stretching her arm muscles.
+
+"After all I've said, you were the first one to plant, anyway,"
+complained Natalie.
+
+"Not in the vegetable garden! And flowers are not much account when one
+has to eat and live," laughed Mrs. James.
+
+A voice calling from the kitchen door, now diverted attention from the
+roots and bulbs. "I got dem muffins on de table an' nice cereal ready to
+dish up," announced Rachel.
+
+"And we're ready for it, too!" declared Natalie.
+
+During the morning meal, Mrs. James and her protegee talked of nothing
+but gardening, and the prospects of an early crop. To anyone experienced
+in farming, their confidence in harvesting vegetables within a fortnight
+would have been highly amusing. But no one was present to reflect as
+much as a smile on their ardor, so the planning went on.
+
+It was not quite seven when Farmer Ames drove in at the side gate and
+passed the house. Natalie ran out to greet him and to make sure he had
+brought the plough in the farm wagon.
+
+"Good-morning, Mr. Ames. How long will it be before you start the
+ploughing?" called Natalie, as the horse was stopped opposite the side
+door.
+
+"Good-mornin', miss. Is Mis' James to home this mornin'?" asked the
+be-whiskered farmer, nodding an acknowledgment of Natalie's greeting.
+
+"Here I am, Mr. Ames. Both of us are ready to help in the gardening in
+whatever way you suggest," said Mrs. James, appearing on the porch.
+
+"Thar ain't much to be helped, yit, but soon's I git Bob ploughin',
+you'se kin go over the sile and pick out any big stones that might turn
+up. Ef they ain't taken out they will spile the growin' of the plants by
+keepin' out light and heat."
+
+Natalie exchanged looks with her companion. Neither one had ever thought
+of such a possibility.
+
+"What shall I use for them--a rake?" asked Natalie.
+
+"Rake--Nuthin'! all its teeth would crack off ef you tried to drag a big
+rock with it. Nop--one has to use plain old hands to pick up rocks and
+carry them to the side of the field."
+
+"Maybe we'd better wear gloves, Jimmy," suggested Natalie in a whisper.
+
+"Yes, indeed! I'm glad we brought some rubber gloves with us in case of
+need in the house. I never dreamed of using them for this," returned
+Mrs. James.
+
+She turned and went indoors for the gloves while Farmer Ames drove on to
+the barns. Natalie followed the wagon, because she felt she could not
+afford to lose a moment away from this valuable ally in the new plan of
+work.
+
+"Mr. Ames, as soon as our garden is ploughed, can it be seeded?" asked
+she, when the farmer began to unhitch the horse.
+
+"That depends. Ef your sile is rich and fertile, then you'se kin plant
+as soon as it is smoothed out. First the rocks must come out, then the
+ground is broken up fine, and last you must rake, over and over, until
+the earth is smooth as a table."
+
+"What plants ought I to choose first? You see it is so late in the
+season, I fear my garden will be backward," said Natalie.
+
+"Nah--don't worry 'bout that, sis," remarked the farmer. "Becus we had a
+cold wet spring and the ground never got warm enough fer seeds until ten
+days ago. Why, I diden even waste my time and money tryin' out any seeds
+till last week. I will gain more in the end because the sun-rays are
+warm enough this month to show results in my planting. Ef I hed seeded
+all my vegetables in that cold spell in May they would hev laid dormant
+and, mebbe, rotted. So you don't need to worry about its bein' late this
+year. Some years that is true--we kin seed in early May, but not this
+time."
+
+"I'm so glad for that! Now I can race with other farmers around here and
+see who gets the best crops," laughed Natalie.
+
+"What'cha goin' to plant down?" asked Mr. Ames, curious to hear how this
+city girl would begin.
+
+"Oh, I was going to leave that to your judgment," returned she naively.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!" was the farmer's return to this answer. Then he added:
+"Wall now, I kin give you some young tomater plants and cabbiges an'
+cauliflower slips. Them is allus hard to seed so I plants mine in a
+hot-bed in winter and raises enough to sell to the countryside fer
+plantin' in the spring. I got some few dozen left what you are welcome
+to, ef you want 'em."
+
+"Oh, fine! I certainly do want them," exclaimed Natalie. "Can I go to
+your house, now, and get them?"
+
+"Better leave 'em planted 'til you wants to put 'em in your garden. They
+will wilt away ef you leave 'em out of sile fer a day er night. Besides,
+this stonin' work will keep you busy to-day."
+
+Mrs. James now joined them, and handed Natalie a pair of rubber gloves.
+Farmer Ames stared at them in surprise for he had never seen anyone wear
+gloves while gardening--at least, not in Greenville.
+
+As he drove Bob and the plough to the garden-space, Natalie and Mrs.
+James followed, talking eagerly of the plants promised them by the
+farmer.
+
+"Mr. Ames, you forgot to tell me what seeds to plant first?" Natalie
+reminded him, as he rolled up his shirt sleeves, preparatory to steering
+the plough.
+
+"Well, that is a matter of chice. Some likes to seed their radishes
+fust, an' some get their lettuce in fust. Now I does it this way:
+lettuce grows so mighty fast that I figgers I lose time ef I put it down
+fust and let the other vegetables wait. So I drops in my beets,
+radishes, beans, peas, and sech like, an' last of all I gets in the
+lettuce seed. I gen'ally uses my early plants from the hot-bed fer the
+fust crop in my truck-garden. I got some little beet plants, and a
+handful of radish plants what was weeded out of the over-crowded beds,
+that you may as well use now, and seed down the others you want. My man
+is going over all the beds to-day, and I will hev him save what you kin
+use in your garden."
+
+"Oh, how good you are! I never knew strangers in the country would act
+like your own family!" exclaimed Natalie. "In the city everyone thinks
+of getting the most out of you for what they have, that you might need."
+
+Both the adults laughed at this precocious denunciation of city dealers.
+Old Bob now began to plod along the edge of the garden-space with his
+master behind guiding the plough. Natalie walked beside the farmer and
+watched eagerly as the soil curled over and over when the blade of the
+plough cut it through and pushed it upwards.
+
+Farmer Ames was feeling quite at home, now that he was working the
+ground, and he began to converse freely with his young companion.
+
+"Yeh know, don'cha, thet the man what lived here fer ten years, er more,
+was what we call a gentleman farmer. He went at things after the rules
+given in some books from the Agricultural Department from Washerton, D.
+C. He even hed a feller come out from thar and make a test of the sile.
+The upshot of it all was, he got a pile of stuff from Noo York--powders,
+fertilizers, and such, an' doctored the hull farm until we gaped at him.
+
+"But, we all hed to confess that he raised the finest pertaters, and
+corn, and other truck of anyone fer many a mile around. I allus did say
+I'd foller his example, but somehow, thar's so much work waitin' to be
+done on a farm, that one never gits time to sit down to writin'. So I
+postponed it every year."
+
+"Why, this is awfully interesting, Mr. Ames. I never knew who the tenant
+was, but he must have had a good sensible education on how to run a
+farm, or he wouldn't have known about these fertilizers."
+
+"Yeh, we-all ust to grin at him for fuddling about on the sile before
+he'd seed anythin'--but golly! he got crops like-as-how we never saw
+raised before."
+
+"I could try the same methods," said Natalie musingly.
+
+"He worked over the sile every year, and never planted the same crops in
+the same places. He called it a sort of rotary process, and he tol' me
+my crops would double ef I did it."
+
+"Did he mix in the doctorings every year, too?" asked Natalie.
+
+"Sure! That's why he sent little boxes of dirt to Washerton--to find out
+just what to use in certain qualities of sile."
+
+"Then I ought to do it, too, hadn't I?" asked she.
+
+"Not this year, 'cause he said the last year he did it, that now he
+could skip a year or two. But you've gotta mix in good fertilizer before
+you plant. Then you'se kin laff at all us old fogy farmers what stick to
+old-fashioned ways."
+
+Farmer Ames laughed heartily as if to encourage his young student, and
+to show how she might laugh after harvesting. Natalie gazed at him with
+a fascinated manner, for his lower lip had such a peculiar way of being
+sucked in under his upper teeth when he laughed. Not until Mrs. James
+explained this, by saying that Farmer Ames had no lower teeth, did she
+lose interest in this mannerism.
+
+"I know all about the tools a farmer has to use in his work, Mr. Ames,"
+bragged Natalie.
+
+"Oh, do yeh? Wall then, you kin get the rake and hoe, and fix up the
+sile where the plough is done turned it up."
+
+Natalie remembered the paragraph in "Scouting for Girls" and asked:
+"Shall I bring the spade, too?"
+
+Just then, Mr. Ames stubbed his toe against a large stone that had been
+turned out of its bed. He grumbled forth: "Better git a pickaxe and
+crowbar."
+
+"My book didn't mention crowbars and pickaxes, Mr. Ames, so I don't know
+what they are," ventured Natalie modestly.
+
+"Every farmer has to have a pick and crow on hand in case he wants to
+dig fence-post holes, er move a rock--like the one I just hit."
+
+"Oh! But our fences are all made."
+
+"So are the rocks! But they ain't moved. Better go over the ploughed
+dirt and find 'em, then git them outen the garden."
+
+Natalie began to hunt for stones, and as she found any, to carry them
+over to the fence where she threw them over in the adjoining field. This
+was not very exciting pastime, and her back began to ache horribly.
+
+Mrs. James, who had lingered behind, now joined Natalie and exclaimed in
+surprise, "Why, I thought you said the old tenant was so particular with
+his garden? He should have removed all these stones, then."
+
+"This section was used fer pertaters an' corn every other year, an' some
+stones is good to drain the sile fer them sort of greens. But fer small
+truck like you'se plan to plant here, the stones has to get out."
+
+Mrs. James assisted Natalie in throwing out stones which turned up under
+the plough-blade, and when that section of the garden was finished, Mr.
+Ames mopped his warm brow and looked back over his work with
+satisfaction.
+
+"Ef you'se want to plant corn over in that unused spot alongside the
+field, it will be a fine place to use. It is not been used fer years fer
+truck."
+
+"It looks awfully weedy. Maybe things won't grow there," ventured
+Natalie.
+
+"Hoh, them's only top-weeds what can be yanked out. The sile itself is
+good as any hereabouts."
+
+"Well, then, Mr. Ames," said Mrs. James, "you'd better plough that
+section, too, for the corn or potatoes."
+
+So the rough part of the ground by the fence-line was ploughed up, but
+the quantity of stones found in the soil was appalling to Natalie. Mr.
+Ames chuckled at her expression.
+
+"Don't worry about seein' so many, 'cuz you only has to pick out one
+stone at a time, you know. Ef you does this one at a time, widdout
+thinkin' of how many there seem to be afore your eyes, you soon git them
+all out an' away."
+
+"I see Mr. Ames is a good moralizer," smiled Mrs. James.
+
+He nodded his head, and then suggested that he visit the barnyard to see
+if any old compost was left about by the former tenant. If so, it would
+be a good time to dig it under in the ploughed soil.
+
+"Oh, I want to go with Mr. Ames, Jimmy, to see just what compost he
+considers good," exclaimed Natalie, dancing away.
+
+Mrs. James watched her go and smiled. The tonic of being in the country
+and working on the farm was beginning to tell already. Before she
+resumed her task of picking up stones, however, the clarion voice of
+Rachel came from the kitchen porch.
+
+"Hey, Mis' James! I'se got lunch all ready to eat!"
+
+As the lady was well-nigh starved because of the early breakfast and the
+work in the earth, she sighed in relief. Now she would have a spell in
+which to rest and gain courage to go on with the stoning. This showed
+that it was not interesting to Mrs. James, but she was determined to
+carry it through.
+
+Natalie ran indoors soon after Mrs. James and went to the dining-room
+where the luncheon was served. She was so eager to tell what Farmer Ames
+told her that she hardly saw that Rachel had prepared her favorite
+dessert--berry tarts.
+
+"Jimmy, Mr. Ames knows more about farming and soil than books! He says a
+mixed compost from the stables and barnyard makes the best of all
+fertilizers."
+
+"His logic sounds plausible, Natty, but we haven't any such compost to
+use, and perhaps never will have if we wish to use it from our own
+barns," said Mrs. James regretfully.
+
+"But Mr. Ames said he could sell us some of that grade compost, if we
+needed any. He says he does not believe our soil needs fertilizing this
+year, as it is so rich already."
+
+"That is splendid news, as it will save us much time in seeding, too,"
+returned Mrs. James.
+
+"I wanted to show him that I knew something about composts, so I told
+him about what I read in the book for Scouts last night:--that one could
+use a commercial fertilizer if one had no barnyard manure available. He
+looked at me amazed, and I explained that many farmers used four-parts
+bone-dust to one part muriate of potash and mixed it well. This would
+fertilize a square rod of land. I felt awfully proud of myself as I
+spoke, but he soon made me feel humble again, by saying, 'Do you spread
+it out on top of the ground after the seed is in, Miss Natalie, or do
+you put it under the sile to het up the roots?'"
+
+Mrs. James laughed and asked, "What could you say?"
+
+"That's just it--I didn't know, Jimmy; so I made a guess at it. I
+replied: 'Why, I mix it very carefully all through the soil'--and Jimmy!
+I struck it right first time!" laughed she.
+
+Mr. Ames had finished his dinner (so he called it) long before Natalie
+and her chaperone, and when they started to leave the house they found
+that he was hard at work removing the rest of the stones from the
+ploughed ground.
+
+"Oh, I'm so glad of that, Jimmy!" cried Natalie, as she watched the
+farmer at work.
+
+"Well, to tell the truth, Natalie, I'm not sorry to find that job taken
+from us," laughed Mrs. James. "I found it most tiresome and with no
+encouragement from the stones."
+
+"Let's do something else, Jimmy, and let Mr. Ames finish the
+stone-work," suggested Natalie, quickly. Just then Rachel came out on
+the back steps of the kitchen porch.
+
+"Mis' James, Farmeh Ames say foh you-all to drive ole Bob back to his
+house en' fetch a load of compos' what he says is back of his barns. His
+man knows about it. Den you kin brung along dem leetle plants what is
+weeded out of his garden and keep 'em down cellar fer to-night."
+
+Natalie felt elated at this novel suggestion of work, thereby freeing
+them both from the irksome task of stoning the garden. And Mrs. James
+laughed as she pictured herself driving the farm-wagon on the county
+road where an endless stream of automobiles constantly passed.
+
+But she was courageous, and soon the two were gayly chattering, as Bob
+stumbled and stamped along the macadam road. Above the clatter of loose
+wheels and rattling boards in the floor of the old wagon, the merry
+laughter of Natalie could be heard by the autoists, as they passed the
+"turn-out" from Green Hill Farm.
+
+Having reached the Ames's farm and found the handy-man who would load up
+the barnyard compost in the wagon for them, Natalie asked him many
+questions that had been interesting her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII--NATALIE LEARNS SEVERAL SECRETS
+
+
+Natalie made good use of her eyes while Farmer Ames's man gave her the
+vegetable slips, and when she got back home the first question she asked
+Mr. Ames was: "Why can't I buy a few of your asparagus slips? I love
+asparagus and you have a fine bed of it."
+
+"I'd give yer some slips, and welcome, but it don't grow that way,"
+replied he. "First you've got to hev jest the right quality of sand and
+loam mixed in kerrect proportions, and then yer seed it down. The fust
+season of asparagrass it ain't no good fer cuttin'; the secunt year it
+turns out a few baby stalks, but the third year it comes along with a
+fine crop--ef you've taken good care of it through the winter cold, and
+shaded the young plants from summer's sun-heat the fust two years."
+
+"Oh, I never dreamed there was so much trouble to just raising
+asparagus!" exclaimed Natalie. "How long does it take in the spring, Mr.
+Ames, before the plant produces the ripe vegetable?"
+
+Mr. Ames turned and stared at Natalie to see if she was joking, but
+finding she was really in earnest, he laughingly replied: "Asparagrass
+doesn't ripen like termaters er beans,--when the young stalk shoots up
+from the sile, yer cut it off. It is the tip that is best, fer that
+holds the heart of the plant. Ef you let it keep on growin' it will
+shoot up into a high plant with the seed in its cup. But we cut it
+before it grows up."
+
+"Oh dear! Then I can't raise it for three years, can I?" said she
+complainingly.
+
+"It don't look that way," remarked the farmer.
+
+Mrs. James and Natalie had returned with the farm-wagon loaded with
+compost late in the afternoon, and Farmer Ames stopped work soon after
+their return to Green Hill Farm.
+
+"I've gotta look after my own stock and truck now, but I'll be back
+to-morrer mornin' an' help spread out the fertilizer so's the ground
+will be ready in another day er two."
+
+"I don't know what we would have done without you, Mr. Ames," said
+Natalie, standing on the carriage step near the side drive.
+
+"Well, es long es you diden have to do without me, what's the use tryin'
+to figger out what you would have done," laughed he, as he gathered up
+the reins.
+
+"That's splendid logic, Mr. Ames," laughed Mrs. James, pleased at his
+reply.
+
+"I allus says we waste more time crossin' bridges what never was excep'
+in our imagination, than it would take to go miles round-about 'em."
+
+After this last original proverb, he started the horse along his way.
+
+Directly after the evening meal, Mrs. James took her Scout manual and
+sat down on the piazza to study the chapter on gardening. Natalie saw
+what she was doing and ran in to get her book, also.
+
+"Jimmy, it doesn't say one ought to have a trowel and pick for garden
+work. Mr. Ames said we should always have them on hand in case of need.
+I can see how much easier it would have been to clear the ground of the
+stones had we had the pick instead of having had to use the
+digging-fork," said Natalie.
+
+"I think so, too. And the hand-trowel will be very useful when we
+transplant the small plants. I don't see how one can get along well
+without it, or without a short hand-rake. But I wanted to read what it
+says about making the garden beds. That is why I began reading it
+to-night."
+
+"It says the bed should be three feet wide by twelve long," read
+Natalie.
+
+"Yes, I see; but I have found three feet of soil to be uncomfortably
+wide to reach over when you wish to weed or dig about the plants. If the
+vegetables are bush-beans it is almost impossible to work in the middle
+of the bed without rubbing against the outside plants and breaking off
+branches. I should certainly plan to have my gardens but two feet wide,
+with a foot-path fifteen inches wide between every bed.
+
+"Of course, where land is limited and costly, one cannot afford a wide
+foot-path; but we can, and it will make the weeding much easier. A ten
+or twelve-inch foot-path is almost too narrow to move about on without
+damaging the plants along its edge."
+
+"Is our garden composed of clay, Jimmy, like it says in the next
+paragraph?" asked Natalie anxiously.
+
+"Oh, no! Let me read what it says: 'The bed should be dug out to a depth
+of two feet, and if the soil is clay, six inches deeper than two feet.
+In the latter case you will have to fill in the bottom with broken
+stones, or cinders, or gravel, for good drainage. The best soil is a
+mixture of one-half sandy loam, one-fourth leaf-mould, or muck that has
+been exposed all winter (to rot for this purpose), and then mix this
+thoroughly before filling it in the beds. Sprinkle wood-ashes over the
+beds next, and rake them well in the ground before you plant anything.
+This is to sweeten the soil. Lime may be used for the same purpose; but
+in either case, get advice as to the amount needed for the soil in
+question.'
+
+"That is plain enough. The soil on different farms differs as much as
+the people do, so that a careful analysis is needed to produce good
+crops," explained Mrs. James.
+
+"I suppose there are soils that need next to no potash, and other soil
+that needs no ashes, or other chemical treatments," ventured Natalie.
+
+"Exactly! So you see, if one added an extra chemical where enough of
+such was already in evidence, it would injure the tender plant as it
+sprouted," added Mrs. James.
+
+"Jimmy, Mr. Ames told me to-day that good old leaf-mould was the finest
+of _all_ composts. But where can we get any, now?" asked Natalie.
+
+"I have no doubt we can find enough down on the river banks to cover
+your garden beds this year. Then in the fall we can rake up the leaves
+and allow them to rot through the winter for next season," said Mrs.
+James.
+
+"Oh, I forgot all about the woodland down by the stream! I'll run down
+there in the morning to see if I can find any rotted leaves," said
+Natalie eagerly.
+
+"Natalie, you should also hunt up some long boards in the barn, or
+cellar, to use when we plant the seeds," advised Mrs. James.
+
+"Boards--what for?"
+
+"Well, if we have the soil all smooth and fine for planting, our feet
+will trample down the ground wherever we walk. We must do our seeding by
+leaning over the bed and work down from each side of the two-foot wide
+space. By placing a board on the foot-path between the beds, we can
+stand on it and keep the soil from becoming packed."
+
+"I should think it would do the path good to be packed down good and
+hard."
+
+"So it will, but the board will do that in an even manner. Our shoes
+will cut in and cause the packing to be done in an uneven way,"
+explained Mrs. James.
+
+"I suppose we will have to fill some baskets with any leaf-mould we may
+find in the woodland. But how can we carry them up to the gardens?"
+Natalie now said.
+
+"Maybe Mr. Ames can suggest a way to do that better than our carrying
+the heavy loads."
+
+"Well, I'd willingly carry it, just to have the benefit of it on my
+garden. The vegetables will grow like anything,--Mr. Ames says they
+will," responded Natalie.
+
+After a few moments of silence, she turned again to Mrs. James and
+asked: "Why did you just say that we might rake up the leaves in the
+fall and put them aside for the winter? Don't you know we won't be here
+when the leaves fall?"
+
+"I'm not so sure of that, Natalie," returned Mrs. James. "I have been
+thinking matters out very carefully, and from present indications there
+will be a great scarcity of apartments, or rooms, to be had in New York
+this year. The rents will be outrageous for us to pay, and as long as we
+are so comfortably housed here, why try to earn the necessary income for
+high rents? The distance to the station is not long, and you can easily
+commute to the city to attend school in September. When winter weather
+really sets in, we can take a trunk and board in New York until spring.
+That will overcome all financial worries about leases and rents."
+
+"Oh, I never thought of that! But the girls wouldn't stay with me after
+September, I'm afraid," exclaimed Natalie.
+
+"We won't have to plan or worry about that now," laughed Mrs. James.
+"Maybe the girls will be so much in love with farm-life, they will beg
+their parents to permit them to remain longer than September! In that
+case, you will have no loneliness, I'm sure."
+
+"No, that's so; and I suppose it is really up to me to make them so
+happy here that they will _want_ to remain," admitted Natalie.
+
+"I haven't suggested this possibility to Mr. Marvin, as yet, but I know
+he will be tremendously relieved to hear of it, as he is wondering what
+can be done in the fall, with our income so limited."
+
+"Well, let's talk about it the first time he comes out to see us. I am
+perfectly contented to remain here, if it is best for all."
+
+After this digression, both amateur farmers turned their attention to
+the scouting manual again.
+
+"It states here, Jimmy, that one must be careful not to allow the garden
+soil to run over boundaries, and spread out upon the foot-paths. This
+can be avoided by using a low length of fence made of a thin board about
+six inches high, or the beds can be walled in with field-stone which
+looks very artistic as well as useful. The plan of walling in the beds
+also helps to retain the moisture in the ground where the roots can
+drink it as needed."
+
+"I'll make a note of that, Natalie, as it sounds practical," said Mrs.
+James, writing down the idea on a paper.
+
+"And it also suggests that the garden beds be built up from the pathway
+for about two or three inches, making a tiny terrace of each bed and
+sinking the foot-path below the bed. By so doing, any excessive moisture
+is drained out from the soil, so the roots are not kept too wet," read
+Natalie.
+
+"Yes, I knew that before, and we certainly will follow that suggestion
+when we spread out our beds."
+
+"Well, when we get as far as that in the work, our seeds ought to
+arrive," remarked Natalie, yawning behind her hand.
+
+Mrs. James smiled at the yawn for it was not yet eight o'clock, and the
+previous evening Natalie had grumbled about retiring as early as nine.
+But she said nothing about the yawn.
+
+"Don't hold up the delivery of the seeds on the ground that we must
+finish all the garden beds first," laughed the lady.
+
+"Mercy no! I am as anxious to see the seeds as I am to plant the tiny
+green shoots that Mr. Ames promised to give us." Then after another
+mighty yawn that almost dislocated her jaw, Natalie added: "Jimmy, I
+want to get up very early in the morning to plant those slips we got
+to-day. Mr. Ames says I must give them several hours in the ground
+before the sun is up, so they won't wilt and die. So I think I will go
+up to bed--if you don't mind?"
+
+"By all means, Natalie. And I will follow, shortly. I just want to enter
+a few notes on our work in this diary, then I will retire, also; I think
+we can work better at dawn if we get our full quota of sleep during the
+night."
+
+The next day was given to breaking up the clods of earth and raking out
+the smaller stones to clear the garden beds. The compost was well-mixed
+with the soil by Farmer Ames, while Mrs. James and Natalie went down to
+the woodland by the river and found certain places where leaf-mould was
+plentiful. It was as fine as gunpowder, and of an exceptionally rich
+quality. That morning, Mr. Ames had arrived, driving Bob and an old
+buckboard. When it was proposed that someone go for the leaf-mould,
+Natalie instantly suggested that they drive Bob to the woodland so the
+baskets could be placed on the buckboard and carried to the garden that
+way. This would save time and great exertion on the part of someone to
+carry them from the river to the beds.
+
+Now the containers were lifted up and placed securely on the back and
+front platforms of the buckboard and the two hard-working companions
+gladly sat down on the seat and started Bob up the grass-grown road.
+
+Soon they were helping to spread out the leaf-mould on the soil, and
+while they worked, Natalie asked: "Mr. Ames, how comes it that no one
+ever went to the river bank to get this rich mould?"
+
+"Well, that woodland and the river banks belongs to this farm, so no one
+else would trespass on it. And the man who ran this farm had idees of
+his own about fertilizer. He placed no faith in Nature's work, but kep'
+on buyin' and experimentin' with stuff what came from Noo York."
+
+Mr. Ames stood up while delivering this explanation, then he added,
+winking wisely at Natalie:
+
+"But he diden spile yer farm, fer all his foolin' wid Noo York stuff
+instead of goin' to Nature fer her goods."
+
+His hearers laughed and Mrs. James remarked: "No, I should say not. And
+you said yourself that he managed to get the best results of any farmer
+round here."
+
+When the leaf-mould was well spread over three garden beds, Mr. Ames
+made a suggestion.
+
+"Now you two women-folk kin use my tape-line to measure off three beds
+as wide as yuh want 'em, whiles I goes down to the woods with Bob and
+brings up some more mould fer the other beds. When the marking is done,
+you kin begin to plant them termater plants I brought this mornin'. I
+left 'em in the cellar whar it was cool and damp."
+
+This was encouraging, for it began to sound as if the garden was really
+a fact. Before the seeds or slips were in the ground, something might
+happen to change the plan, thought Natalie. So Mrs. James and she
+eagerly measured out the first few beds, and about the time Mr. Ames was
+ready to drive up his installment of leaf-mould, they were ready to get
+the cabbage and tomato plants.
+
+Before sundown that day, three beds were on the way to producing their
+vegetables. One bed was planted with tomatoes and one with cabbages, the
+third was used for beets and radishes--plants which had been kept in the
+cellar from the evening before.
+
+"To-morrer we will git the other beds done and you'se kin seed 'em down
+wid all you'se wants to raise," said Mr. Ames, as he mounted the old
+buckboard and prepared to drive home.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Ames!" called Natalie anxiously. "Do you have anyone who drives
+to the Corners to-night, or in the morning, so they might get our seeds
+from the mail?"
+
+"I'm goin' in m'se'f t'-night. Yeh see, Si Tompkins has sort of a
+country-club meetin' at his store every week on this night, an' I hain't
+never missed one!" bragged Farmer Ames.
+
+"What do you do at the meetings?" asked Natalie wonderingly.
+
+"Oh, mos' everything. Lately it has be'n all about the damp cold season,
+an' how we are goin' to get our truck goin' ef this weather keeps up.
+Some of th' farmers exchange advice on matters. Then when the weather
+ain't bad, we talks about polerticks. That old League of Nations kept us
+fuming fer th' longest time! But now that it's dead, we let it bury
+itself."
+
+Both Natalie and Mrs. James laughed appreciatively at his explanation,
+and the former added: "Well, if you will only bring our seeds, if they
+have arrived, I won't dispute your rights to argue on politics."
+
+"That I will, and gladly," returned the farmer as he drove away.
+
+Natalie turned to Mrs. James and asked whimsically: "Did Mr. Ames mean
+he would gladly argue politics with us, or gladly bring the seeds back?"
+
+"He meant both, I'm sure," laughed Mrs. James.
+
+But he did not appear again that evening, and Natalie wondered why not.
+Mrs. James laughingly replied: "Because he, most likely, is the speaker
+for the night's meeting at the store."
+
+Although this was said jokingly, it was exactly what occurred and
+detained the farmer from driving home until after ten. As the farm-house
+was dark at that time, he decided to take the package of seeds home and
+deliver them in the morning when he put in his appearance for work.
+
+The farmerettes were ready for him, when he finally drove in at the side
+gate. Natalie watched eagerly as he got out of the vehicle--she wondered
+if he had the seeds.
+
+"I got th' seeds, ladies, but I be'n thinkin' about them pertater seeds
+what my brother told me about las' night when we druv home from
+Tompkins' Corners. Yuh hain't got no pertaters figgered on yet, have
+yeh?"
+
+"Laws no! I forgot all about potatoes," exclaimed Natalie, using
+Rachel's favorite exclamation when amazed.
+
+"Well--no harm done," returned Mr. Ames. "My brother has a reputation
+fer growin' th' best pertater seed in the state, an' he says he kin
+spare yuh about a peck, ef yuh let him know at once. I allus gits mine
+of him, an' my crops never fail."
+
+"A peck! Why, Mr. Ames--a peck of seed will plant that whole field!"
+cried Natalie, nodding to the big buckwheat field that adjoined her
+farm.
+
+It was the farmer's turn to look amazed now. He glanced from the speaker
+to Mrs. James and back again. Mrs. James laughed and said: "Did you
+think potato seed looked like our other seeds?"
+
+"Of course,--doesn't it?"
+
+Then Farmer Ames threw back his head and gave vent to a loud guffaw. His
+Adam's apple jumped up and down in his throat as he gasped for breath,
+and his under lip came near being drawn out of sight in the suction
+caused by his gasp.
+
+"Wall, ef that don't beat the Irish!" exclaimed he, when he could speak
+again. "Mebbe we'll have a few other surprises to give Miss Natalie
+afore she is done farmin'."
+
+"I haven't a doubt of it!" retorted she. "But just now you might explain
+about potato seed."
+
+"How much seed would you have ordered for a patch of ground about six
+beds' size?" asked Mr. Ames instead of answering her request.
+
+"About a pint,--maybe half a pint would be enough."
+
+Rachel had heard the farmer's loud laughter and having learned the cause
+of it, she decided to spare her little mistress any further ridicule. So
+she got an old potato from the basket and, having washed it carefully,
+went to the door.
+
+"Oh, Natty! Ah say, Mis' Natty! Come right heah, Honey."
+
+Natalie turned and smilingly nodded at Rachel; then excused herself to
+Mr. Ames and ran up the steps of the kitchen porch.
+
+"See heah, Chile! Don' you go an' show your ig'nance about farmin' in
+front of dat country-man. Now watch me, Honey, an' den go back an' play
+yoh knew it all dis time! Let Mis'r Ames think yuh was funnin' him."
+
+Rachel then took the large potato and showed it to Natalie. "See dem
+leetle dimples in diffrunt places on its skin? Well,--dem is called
+'eyes,' and when a pertater gits ole, dem eyes begins to sprout. Every
+sprout will make a pertater vine, so farmers call dem eyes 'pertater
+seeds'--see?"
+
+"Really! Why, Rachel, how interesting!" cried Natalie, taking the potato
+and studying the eyes.
+
+"Yep! An' what's more, you'se kin cut a pertater what has f'om two to
+six eyes a-growin', into pieces so one big pertater will plant as many
+vines as pieces you cut outen him."
+
+"This potato has five big eyes, Rachel," said Natalie, counting
+carefully.
+
+"An' bein' a great big pertater, I kin cut five pieces--watch me."
+
+Rachel then deftly cut the five sections and handed them to Natalie.
+"But it isn't bestes to cut so many slices, cuz the sap leaks out and
+that loses a lot of de power to grow a sturdy plant, Natty. When
+pertaters is plentiful, we gen'ally cuts 'em in half--an' the skin
+pertecks the sap from runnin' away. Ef we wants to use all dese five
+pieces, we has to put 'em in the hot sunshine fer an hour er two, to dry
+up de cut skin. Dat keeps in de juice when de slice is in de ground. And
+de juice is what feeds de sprout until it grows above de ground."
+
+"Rachel, you are a brick! Now I can go back to Mr. Ames and show off all
+I know!" laughed Natalie joyously, as she ran from the kitchen and
+joined Mrs. James and the farmer again.
+
+But there was no opportunity for her to display her knowledge, as Mrs.
+James had an invitation ready for her. "Mr. Ames says he would like to
+have us drive with him to his brother's farm and see a model little
+place. We can bring back the potato seed and, at the same time, get lots
+of good advice and ideas about running our farm this summer."
+
+In a few minutes more the three were crowded in upon the seat of the
+buckboard and Rachel stood in the kitchen doorway watching them drive
+off. Their gay laughter echoed back to her as she returned to the sink
+to finish the dishes, and she smiled as she murmured to herself: "Ef dis
+summer out on a farm don' make dat chile oveh inter a new bein', den my
+name ain't 'Rachel!'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII--MISS MASON'S PATROL ARRIVES
+
+
+The drive from Green Hill Farm to Mr. Ames's brother's farm was
+enlivened for Mrs. James and Natalie by the driver's gossip about the
+neighboring farmers whose places they passed. One farmer made a
+speciality of raising poultry, another tried to raise flowers, but his
+greenhouses were not arranged well, and his plants generally froze in
+cold weather. Still another farmer planned to raise nothing but
+market-truck, but he kept postponing the attempt and thus never amounted
+to anything.
+
+All these various plans gave Natalie food for thought, and she had many
+schemes outlined in her head by the time Mr. Ames drove in at his
+brother's farm-gate.
+
+The house and front gardens were as neat as wax, and one could see from
+the road that the farm itself was well cared for. Mr. Ames spoke the
+truth when he bragged of it as being a model farm.
+
+Mrs. Ames came to the side door at the sound of wheels crunching the
+gravel, and smiled a welcome at her brother-in-law.
+
+"I brung the leddies I tol' you about," explained Mr. Ames, as he jumped
+out and turned to help Mrs. James and Natalie.
+
+After introductions were over, Mrs. Ames remarked: "I'll go call my
+husband. He's at the barns tryin' to coax a few little pigs from the
+mother."
+
+"Oh, oh! Are they tiny little pigs!" cried Natalie excitedly.
+
+"Yes,--not much bigger'n a kitten."
+
+"Oh dear! Can't I see them?" asked she anxiously.
+
+Everyone laughed. "Of course you can," returned Mrs. Ames.
+
+"We will all go and see them," added Mrs. James. "I like to see little
+creatures, too."
+
+So they all walked down the box-edged path-way to the neat out-buildings
+where Mr. Ames was struggling with two squirming little pink pigs that
+were determined to run away.
+
+Natalie stood and watched while the battle for supremacy continued, and
+finally she offered to help hold them. But this was not necessary, as
+the farmer managed to get them in the pen especially built for the
+larger pigs of the litter.
+
+"They've got to be weaned and give the lean ones a chance to grow
+better," explained the farmer, mopping his brow after the struggle had
+ended.
+
+Natalie was so interested in the barnyard cattle, that the host escorted
+her about and showed her many amusing and instructive things. Mrs. James
+enjoyed this visit, also. The modern chicken-houses and duck-yards were
+admired; the pig-pens, with their clean runs and concrete pools for the
+pigs to bathe in, were inspected by an astonished Natalie who believed
+pigs to be filthy animals; and all the other devices for the cleanliness
+and comfort of the stock were commended; and then they all went back to
+the house.
+
+Mrs. Ames had hurriedly prepared refreshments, although it was not more
+than ten o'clock. Ice-cold butter-milk, home-made sponge cake, and
+fruit, was a tempting sight. Natalie was thirsty after the visit to the
+barns, and the cold drink proved most refreshing.
+
+While Mrs. Ames played hostess and showed her visitors her flower
+gardens, the two farmers went to the seed-house and sorted the potato
+seed Natalie wanted for her own garden. Then several tiny plants were
+added to this bag,--slips that had been weeded out that morning, and
+thrown out as superfluous in the Ames's gardens. These could be
+transplanted at once by Natalie, and would go on growing, thus giving
+time for the seeds to sprout.
+
+Natalie enjoyed the flowers and the stock-yard, but she was interested
+in vegetables, and now she was anxious to get home and plant the potato
+seed and other slips that had been donated. Hence, the three visitors
+were soon on their way back to Green Hill.
+
+"Mr. Ames," began Natalie, as they drove away, "your brother said I
+could save time in growing the corn if I would soak the kernels in
+lukewarm water for several hours. He says the soil is quite warm enough
+now for me to do this, so the swollen corn will not get a chill when it
+is dropped in the hill."
+
+"Yeh, I know that, too. I was goin' to suggest it," returned Mr. Ames.
+
+"He said the lukewarm water would start the corn swelling better, and by
+the time Natalie wanted to plant it the water would be cold and the
+kernel would be the same temperature. The soil would be about the same
+heat, so we would not be running any risk of failure in hastening the
+seed," added Mrs. James.
+
+"Yeh--ye kin do that," agreed the farmer.
+
+"Another thing your brother said--that I thought good, is this: when we
+plant slips, such as beets, cauliflower, and other vegetables in a
+garden bed, to keep the seeds of such kinds apart from the plant beds;
+then when the seeds sprout they won't confuse us with the older plants,"
+said Natalie.
+
+"Mr. Ames," now said Mrs. James, "your brother says he always plants his
+corn in a rich sandy soil with a mixture of gravel in it, to act as a
+drain. The more sunshine it gets, the sweeter it tastes, he said."
+
+Mr. Ames glanced at the speaker with a pitying look. "Diden yuh know
+that afore he tole you?" was all he said.
+
+Natalie nudged Mrs. James and giggled. But the lady was not silenced by
+the farmer's remark. She was enthusiastic about all she had learned and
+had to debate it with someone.
+
+"He said that he seldom used a compost made of cow-manure, unless it was
+seasoned with other lighter fertilizer, as it was so heavy it kept all
+air from permeating to the roots. _But_ he added that it formed a
+splendid foundation for other mixtures to be added to it."
+
+"Well, diden I say that same thing to yuh?" demanded Mr. Ames.
+
+"Yes, but it is more satisfactory to hear your advice seconded. Now we
+_know_ you were right in your suggestions," said Mrs. James guilelessly.
+
+"Right here, I wanta tell yuh-all that I brung my brother up in his
+farmin' knowledge. And what he knows he learned from me when I was
+votin' an' he was onny in knickers!" was Farmer Ames's scornful reply.
+
+The rest of that day was spent in planting potato seed, Rachel helping,
+so that the cut sections need not be dried out. At sundown Mr. Ames went
+for his horse and buckboard, saying,
+
+"Wall, to-morrer yuh won't need me, Mis' James. Everything is goin' on
+as fine as kin be, an' you'se know all about th' seeds."
+
+"Oh dear, Mr. Ames!" cried Natalie, in distress, "we will feel as if we
+are at sea without a rudder."
+
+The remark pleased the farmer, for he was proud of his experience and
+loved to have others admit it. So he said: "Well, ef I git time I might
+run in at noon when I drives to the store fer mail and house-goods."
+
+"Please do! We will need you by that time, I am sure," replied Natalie.
+
+But the seeds and corn and other vegetable products were planted without
+further mistakes or delay. Each day saw the work advance and by the time
+the city school closed the garden was well on its way to producing
+edibles for that season.
+
+The tiny lettuce slips that Mr. Ames's brother had given Natalie were
+growing up fresh and green; the radishes showed three to four sturdy
+little leaves, evidence that tiny red balls were forming under the
+ground. The cabbages and cauliflowers began to present funny little
+button-like heads above the soil; and the seeds were showing slender
+little spears of green where the soft earth was cleft by their
+protruding points. The tomato vines and other plants started from slips
+that had been weeded out from the Ames's farms were doing well; so that
+Natalie felt a righteous pride in her garden.
+
+[Illustration: The garden was well on its way to producing edibles for
+that season.]
+
+A letter from Miss Mason came the last Friday of school:
+
+  Dear Natalie:
+
+  Almost before you will have time to digest the contents of this
+  letter we will have descended upon Green Hill Farm. The Girl Scouts
+  in my Patrol packed and shipped the tents and other camping outfit,
+  by express, the first of the week. I wrote the man at the Corner
+  Store to hold them until we called there for them. If Mrs. James,
+  and Rachel and you, have nothing better to do on Sunday, we will be
+  pleased to have you come to our camp and dine with us. We hope to
+  have everything in order and be ready for guests by Sunday noon, as
+  we will arrive at Greenville about noon on Saturday. Until then, I
+  will wish you all rest and peace, as you will need to draw heavily
+  upon the reserve fund of it after we arrive. My Girl Scouts are an
+  active, energetic patrol, and few of them ever stop to sit down or
+  sleep while in camp.
+
+                                                Lovingly your teacher,
+                                                           Anna Mason.
+
+"Jimmy, Miss Mason says her girls will be here Saturday--that's
+to-morrow. But I haven't heard a word from the other girls about when
+they will arrive! If only they could come up and be with us all on
+Sunday. Don't you suppose we could telephone Janet and let her arrange
+it?" asked Natalie anxiously, after reading the letter from Miss Mason.
+
+"Perhaps the girls are planning to pack up and get away from the city
+for all summer when they do come here. In that case, I don't see how
+they could manage to get away on Saturday. But we can telephone and find
+out," returned Mrs. James.
+
+So Janet was called over the 'phone, and Natalie heard to her great
+delight that Janet was coming Saturday evening even though other girls
+in the group would not leave the city until the middle of the following
+week.
+
+That afternoon at sundown Natalie inspected her garden critically,
+trying to judge it from another's point of view. When she returned to
+the house she sat down on the piazza beside Mrs. James and sighed.
+
+"I suppose everyone will laugh at my garden. The seeds aren't big
+yet,--only the lettuce and other things that I transplanted from the
+Ames's farms. Do you think they really will grow up, Jimmy?"
+
+"Of course they will. Does the sun shine or do we succeed in growing
+_anything_ from the ground?" laughed Mrs. James.
+
+"But this is different. I am not an experienced farmer and maybe the
+vegetables won't grow for me."
+
+"The poor little seeds never stop to wonder whether you are a farmer or
+not. They have no partiality. It is their business to grow and bring
+forth results, so they get busy and attend to their business the moment
+they are planted. But all things take time to develop,--so with seeds.
+They do not give you a full-grown head of lettuce or cauliflower in a
+night."
+
+This encouraged Natalie so much that she went to sleep with the
+assurance that her garden would thrive just as well as any farmer's in
+the county.
+
+At noon on Saturday Natalie heard the laughter and confused talking of
+many girls. She ran to the side porch and saw Tompkins' large
+spring-wagon approaching the house. Seated in the back of the wagon was
+a bevy of happy girls, and Miss Mason sat beside the driver.
+
+"Here comes the Patrol, Jimmy!" shouted Natalie, eagerly beckoning to
+Mrs. James, who was in the living-room.
+
+The wagon drove in the side gate and Si Tompkins halted his horses while
+Miss Mason called to Natalie:
+
+"Want to jump in and go with us down to the woodland?"
+
+"Run along, Natalie, and I will come down later," said Mrs. James,
+smiling a welcome at the merry party in the wagon.
+
+In a few moments Natalie was up beside the teacher, and the wagon moved
+on down the hill to the river land.
+
+Introductions were not given until the girls had jumped out of the wagon
+and stood about Miss Mason waiting for orders. Then Natalie found the
+Girl Scout Patrol consisted of nine happy, bright, intelligent girls,
+who felt very grateful to her for the privilege extended them to camp in
+her woodland that summer.
+
+The camping outfit had been packed in the front end of the wagon, and
+when it was all removed, the girls started immediately to pitch their
+tents and do other necessary work for an extended camping-time.
+
+Natalie watched with interest and saw that these girls knew exactly what
+to do. Miss Mason selected a site where a cold water spring bubbled up
+under a huge rock and formed a small pool. The overflow ran down the
+woodland bank into the stream. Quite close to this spring the Patrol
+would camp, using the water for all needs, and being far enough away
+from it to keep camp debris from being blown, or thrown, into the pool.
+
+"Girls," called Miss Mason to her Scouts, "we will use this nice level
+spot up on the slight elevation for the tents. Here we have natural
+drainage away from our spring, and there is no possibility of the river
+seeping up into the ground under the tents. Even the hill back of us
+will not drain down upon our site, as there is that shallow valley
+between our knoll and the further hill."
+
+So the tents were raised where the Patrol Leader designated, and here
+they found all the advantages so desired by a group of campers: plenty
+of sunshine part of the day, breezes whenever the wind blew across the
+hills, privacy because of the surrounding woods, plenty of dry wood for
+camp-fires, water from the spring, and the stream farther down to bathe
+and swim in.
+
+Natalie watched the girls trench about each tent, and she also saw that
+each tent was placed about twenty-five feet from the next one. There
+were four tents in all,--two large ones for the girls and a smaller one
+for Miss Mason, while a tiny one was for a pantry.
+
+While five girls were engaged in completing the tent arrangements, Miss
+Mason and the other girls in the Patrol sought a suitable spot for the
+latrine. Here they began to dig a trench and build a shelter. Natalie
+went with them and learned that a latrine must be away from the
+water-supply and in the opposite direction from which the prevailing
+winds blew toward camp. Miss Mason was most particular about this work.
+
+"That trench is not deep enough, Amy," said she to one Scout who was
+leaving the work. "Every trench must be at least two feet deep, one
+wide, and four feet long. Your pit is only a foot deep, and you have not
+excavated the dirt from either end. Dig it out clean and pile it
+alongside so it can be thrown in again to cover over any waste. This
+latrine is for summer use--not for a week-end camp, you know."
+
+When the tents were up and ready for use, Miss Mason called the Girl
+Scouts together.
+
+"Now, girls, let us decide at once what shall be the tasks assigned to
+each Scout for the coming week. We will have a similar gathering every
+Saturday afternoon while at camp, and exchange duties so that every
+Scout in turn will have the pleasure of doing certain duties for a week
+all summer through.
+
+"First, we will choose a Corporal to assist me for the summer. We may
+vote for a new Corporal, or allow Helen Marshall to hold her post. Here
+are nine slips of paper to vote upon. Each girl can cast a vote for
+Helen, or for another girl in the Patrol, and no one shall know who
+writes the vote. Sign no name to the paper, but we will soon know what
+the general wish of the group is."
+
+Eight girls voted for Helen to continue in the Patrol as Corporal, and
+it turned out that Helen herself voted for Mary Howe as Corporal.
+
+"Well, Helen is our Corporal still. Now, girls, form ranks so we can
+designate to each one the duties of the week."
+
+The eight girls formed in two rows, four in each row, with Helen at the
+front with the Leader. Then Miss Mason began: "Mary, you shall be camp
+cook for the first week. Amy is water-scout. Mildred, you are
+camp-cleaner,--you have all the baggage and tents to look after. Lillian
+will look after the pantry and dishwashing. Peggy must take full charge
+of the wood and fire. Elizabeth will be the baker for this week; Alice
+will see that the camp-grounds and latrine are kept clean and in order;
+and Dorothy will have to be shopper and table-worker. Helen, of course,
+is responsible for all work being done properly, and I must supervise
+the Patrol and advise each one on any problem. Now, are there any
+questions to ask about the duties assigned?"
+
+Each Scout knew what was expected of her, so there were no remarks at
+the time. Miss Mason resumed her talk, to Natalie's great delight.
+
+"The fire-maker will immediately build a luncheon fire, and the cook
+will begin preparations for the midday meal, as we are hungry and will
+lunch before planning further tasks."
+
+"Miss Mason, where shall I find any food for luncheon?" now asked the
+camp cook of the Leader.
+
+"In the soap box that the storekeeper placed with the luggage. We have
+everything there necessary to keep us in food over Sunday. The edibles
+must be kept under shelter, girls, so reserve the small tent for our
+pantry for a few days."
+
+The wood-gatherer ran away to collect such fire-wood as was needed for a
+slight fire to cook luncheon, the table-scout selected a flat place to
+spread out the table-cloth, and soon everyone in the Patrol was working
+industriously. Natalie had nothing to do, and Miss Mason came over to
+her and entertained.
+
+"Well, Natalie, in the life you've led since you left New York, have you
+any reason to regret coming to Green Hill Farm?"
+
+"I should say not! Why, Miss Mason, these two weeks have simply flown
+by,--I have had so much to do, and have had so much fun doing it,"
+exclaimed Natalie enthusiastically.
+
+Miss Mason smiled. "If you continue improving in looks and health as you
+have in two weeks, Natalie, no one will ever accuse you of being
+delicate, or pessimistic. I should say you can compete with Janet for
+health and vivacity now."
+
+"Did you know Janet is coming this afternoon?" asked Natalie eagerly.
+
+"Yes, she told me the other day that she was ready to run away from the
+city the moment school closed. She would have started from home last
+night, but the expressman had not called for her trunk and she had not
+left out anything to use in case the trunk did not arrive here on time.
+So they are checking it on her ticket to insure its arrival to-day."
+
+"I'll be so glad to see Janet,--she always inspires me with a desire to
+do more than I want to when I am left to myself," remarked Natalie.
+
+"That is the effect of her natural energy and activity," added Miss
+Mason.
+
+"I was thinking, as I watched you call a meeting of the Scouts, what a
+corking assistant Janet would make in a Scout Troop. I don't know what
+name you give her in a Troop, but in this Patrol you called her a
+Corporal," said Natalie.
+
+"In a Troop she would be called a Lieutenant, but she would have to be
+eighteen years of age, or over, and Janet is not that. So she would have
+to be a Corporal for a time."
+
+"Miss Mason, if we five girls want to form a Patrol, can we do so and
+choose Janet for our Corporal?" asked Natalie.
+
+"If you had eight girls to form a Patrol you could do so, but until you
+had that number you would have to enlist with an already-formed Patrol.
+You five girls might join us for a time and, perhaps, secure enough
+girls living at Greenville to complete the necessary number to start a
+second Patrol. We have not applied at Headquarters yet for a Charter to
+form a Troop, but we hope to do so this year, if you girls can found
+another Patrol and make our membership claim two individual Patrols. I
+saw a number of girls of your age on our way from the station to Green
+Hill. I am sure those girls would hail an invitation to join a Scout
+Patrol."
+
+"Maybe they would, but I never thought of any girls in Greenville, Miss
+Mason. I rather thought they would be too busy with home work, or their
+own pleasures, to bother about Scouts."
+
+"There is where you wrong them. Not a girl in the country but would love
+to join such an organization. They can always find enough time to do the
+necessary requirements of a good Scout, and the pleasure and benefit
+they get out of a Troop more than repays them for the time used. I
+expect to interest all the girls of a membership age around Greenville
+before we return to the city this fall."
+
+"I'll talk it over with Jimmy, Miss Mason, and see what she thinks of
+this idea. I believe the Ames girl would join us, if we told her about
+the plan," said Natalie.
+
+"And once the Ames girl was a Scout, she would tell her friends and they
+all would want to join us,--see?"
+
+"Yes, if they thought it was going to be any fun."
+
+At this point in the discussion the cook came up and asked Miss Mason to
+show her certain matters in connection with the soup-kettle. Natalie
+laughed at the girl's anxious expression. But when Miss Mason invited
+her to come, too, and tell them what was wrong with the pot, Natalie
+hastened to say she would have to go back to the house and get ready to
+go to the station for Janet!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX--JANET FORMS A SECOND PATROL
+
+
+Mrs. James and Natalie had engaged Amity to call for them and drive them
+to the station to meet Janet, and when the expected visitor arrived
+there was a great display of delight on Natalie's part. All the way from
+the train to the farm the two girls were eagerly exchanging personal
+experiences since they had parted in the city.
+
+"Say, Nat," began Janet, when a lull in confidences gave her time to
+remember other things, "Mr. Marvin told Dad that you had started a
+vegetable garden all by yourself! Is that so?"
+
+Natalie smiled joyously. "Yes, and this morning I found my first tiny
+green spears above ground, Janet! It is lettuce!"
+
+Janet laughed. "You are the last one on earth that I expected to take to
+truck-farming."
+
+"But it is the most fun, Janet! I wouldn't get half as much
+entertainment out of travelling or motoring as I am having from my
+garden."
+
+The moment the girls arrived at the house, therefore, Natalie insisted
+upon Janet's going to her garden to see the tiny greens that were the
+result of the seed-planting.
+
+"Why, look at the fine things growing in those other beds!" exclaimed
+Janet, allowing her gaze to wander from the place where the almost
+imperceptible green was showing above the ground.
+
+"Oh yes,--those are tomatoes, potatoes, radishes, cabbages, and other
+things. But these particular beds are my very own work, so I feel a
+great joy in them."
+
+"Aren't the others yours, too?" asked Janet.
+
+"Yes, but the plants were given me by Farmer Ames. He threw some out of
+his own gardens because they were too crowded for the best results. I
+planted them, but I did not _raise_ them from seeds. My baby plants here
+are all my very own!"
+
+Janet laughed. She understood just how Natalie felt. It was the result
+of all her own endeavor--these tiny seedlings.
+
+"Well," said she, after admiring the garden beds to Natalie's utmost
+expectations, "I can't see what there is left for me to do, if you have
+succeeded in your farming so soon."
+
+"I have been thinking of something for you to do, Janet. We've got all
+those barn buildings, but they are empty. If only you could keep
+chickens and a pig,--wouldn't that be great?" said Natalie eagerly.
+
+Janet laughed aloud. "Turn me into a stock farmer? I never thought of
+it, but now that you present the idea, it surely sounds fascinating.
+Can't you see me currying the horses, and milking cows, or chasing a pig
+around the farm?"
+
+"I am in earnest, Jan! You can easily keep chickens and sell eggs. As
+for a pig--why, Mr. Ames's brother wants to sell a few of a litter he
+has at his farm. They are the cutest little things I ever saw. You'll
+want to own one when you see them."
+
+Janet laughed again, as Natalie's suggestion was so foreign to anything
+she had thought of. Not that it was unacceptable, however. The more she
+thought of the plan, the more it appealed to her as being worth while
+trying out.
+
+That evening Mrs. James sat with the two girls talking over the plan of
+keeping chickens and other farmyard stock.
+
+"I can manage the initial investment all right, from my allowance that I
+have saved up, but how do I know that the poor creatures will not die or
+get sick under my management?" said Janet laughingly.
+
+"We've got Mr. Ames near at hand, if a chicken gets the pip,--that is
+what they get more than anything else, I've learned," said Natalie.
+
+Both her hearers laughed hilariously at her remark, and Janet finally
+said: "Well, I just think I'll experiment for fun! Where can I buy some
+chickens?"
+
+"Oh, any farmer will sell you a hen," returned Natalie.
+
+"But I want more than one hen," said Janet.
+
+"You'll have to raise them yourself, just as I am raising vegetables
+from seeds. You get a hen, put some eggs in a nest and make her sit upon
+them. In three weeks you'll have all the young chicks you want to start
+with," explained Natalie.
+
+"It's too bad to-morrow is Sunday, or I'd go over to Farmer Ames in the
+morning and see about hens and a pig," said Janet regretfully.
+
+"We're all invited to go to the Scout camp to spend the day to-morrow.
+But you and I will start for Ames's early Monday," replied Natalie
+eagerly.
+
+So it was decided, after several hours' serious talk, that Janet should
+venture to raise chickens and keep a pig.
+
+The next day was very pleasant, and being Sunday, Mrs. James permitted
+the two girls to sleep an hour longer than was the daily custom. When
+they were through with breakfast, and had visited the gardens to see if
+any fresh spears of green had made an appearance since the previous
+evening, they all started for the Scout camp.
+
+"Yoh-all go on ahead, an' I'll be along affer-while. I'se goin' to tote
+along a pan of hot biskits fer the club," said Rachel.
+
+"All right, then we'll warn the cook that she need not worry about Scout
+bread for dinner," laughed Mrs. James.
+
+Janet was curious to visit the camp and see what a lot of Girl Scouts
+did with themselves. Natalie had told her about Miss Mason's proposal to
+interest some of the Greenville girls, that, with the five who would
+live on the farm that summer, they might organize a second Patrol, and
+the two Patrols could then apply for a Troop charter.
+
+The Sunday visit proved to be very interesting and satisfactory, for
+both girls saw how much the Scouts could do that they had never dreamed
+of before. The Sunday dinner that was prepared and served by these girls
+was delicious, and everything in camp was conducted according to Scout
+rules. When Mrs. James and her two charges were ready to start for the
+house, both Natalie and Janet were enthused with the ambition to launch
+a campaign for a second Patrol without delay.
+
+
+[Illustration: The dinner that was prepared and served by these girls
+was delicious.]
+
+On the walk back home Natalie said: "We ought to write the girls to get
+a Scout book for themselves, and then come to Green Hill as soon as
+possible. We need them to go around and talk up the Scout idea with
+girls about here."
+
+"I wish to goodness Helene was old enough to be a Girl Scout. That would
+give us six girls, instead of five," said Janet.
+
+"Helene can be a Scoutlet--because she is under twelve--but I am not
+sure that that would count in our Patrol," said Mrs. James.
+
+That night a letter was written to each of the three girls remaining in
+New York, telling them to go straightway to Headquarters and secure a
+copy of "Scouting for Girls," the handbook that is necessary for a Scout
+to read and apply. Also the three girls were urged to pack up and come
+to the farm without losing any more valuable time. But no mention was
+made of the reason why this request was urged.
+
+Natalie was up an hour before breakfast on Monday and hurried to her
+garden to see what had grown since the day before. To her great surprise
+and joy, she found the corn had sprung up an inch above ground since she
+had visited her beloved gardens the day previous. So excited was she
+that she raced back to the house, shouting as soon as she came within
+call:
+
+"Jimmy! Jimmy! My corn's all up! Way up, so'se you can see the blades!"
+
+Rachel hurried out of the door to learn what had happened, and when she
+heard the corn had sprouted and caused all the commotion, she laughed
+and shook her fat form in amusement.
+
+Mrs. James and Janet were most sympathetic, and hurried with Natalie to
+the bed. Sure enough! The green blades were bravely holding up their
+pointed green heads as if to bless their young planter.
+
+"That's because yesterday was such a hot day, and the night was damp and
+dewy," remarked Mrs. James.
+
+By this time Natalie had gone to her other vegetable beds, and now
+called out: "Oh, oh! The beets and beans are up, too!"
+
+To the great delight of the farmerette, it was found that all the shoots
+had now broken through the soil and tiny green heads were showing in
+neat rows wherever Natalie had planted seeds. This was very encouraging,
+and the three returned to the house for breakfast in an exalted frame of
+mind.
+
+"I don't s'pose there is anything more I can do to-day to hurry them
+along, is there?" Natalie wondered aloud, as they finished breakfast and
+were discussing the wonders of a vegetable garden.
+
+Mrs. James laughed. "No, I should advise you to start out as Janet and
+you planned, to interest girls in a Scout Patrol to-day. By permitting
+the vegetables to grow unwatched, they will surprise you the more.
+Perhaps the corn found courage to come out of the ground when it heard
+you were not around to annoy it. Had we been about the place yesterday,
+instead of at camp, the corn may never have dared come out of hiding."
+
+Natalie glanced at the speaker to see if she was in earnest, but Janet
+laughed merrily at the words.
+
+"Well," ventured Natalie, "as we ought really to find enough girls to
+fill our quota for a Patrol, I think we will visit some of the families
+to-day, and then attend to our farm work later."
+
+"How shall we manage to get around to the different houses, Nat, if they
+are so far apart?" asked Janet.
+
+"I'm going to sit on the steps and watch for Mr. Ames to go by. When he
+comes in sight I shall ask him to drive us to the Corners. He will stop
+at Tompkins' for an hour, most likely, and by that time we can be ready
+to come back. I want to call on Nancy Sherman and Hester Tompkins. They
+are both about our age. On our way back from the store, we will ask Mr.
+Ames to tell us when he can drive us to his brother's farm to buy the
+pig. He may say we can go this afternoon, and if he does, we'll go!"
+
+"We'll buy the pig, all right, but we'll also get the Ames girl to say
+whether she wants to be a Girl Scout with us," laughed Janet, admiring
+Natalie's clever plan.
+
+"Janet," remarked Mrs. James, "don't you see a great improvement in
+Natalie's ambitions? In the city she never gave a thought to planning
+anything. Now she is all plans for the future."
+
+"Yes, I see Nat blossoming out into a regular organizer," laughed Janet.
+"If I don't watch out she will usurp my throne. I was always the leader
+in the crowd of girls at school, but Nat is fast getting ahead of me."
+
+The very idea of Natalie advancing ahead of Janet made the girl laugh.
+But it pleased her, too, to hear her friends praise her. She knew, as
+well as anyone, that she was lazy and procrastinating in the city. But
+now she was eager to do things and to do them at once!
+
+While she sat on the side piazza waiting for Mr. Ames, she watched the
+robins alight on the trees beyond the fence that divided the lawn from
+the field. They called to others, and chirruped at a great rate, as they
+fluttered in and out among the green branches.
+
+"What do you suppose makes them gather in _those_ trees? They have been
+there all day yesterday and to-day. Can they be building community
+nests?" wondered Natalie aloud to Mrs. James.
+
+"I rather think they are after the cherries. The fruit seems to have
+ripened quickly these last two days, and robins are very fond of ripe
+cherries."
+
+"Whose cherry trees are they, Jimmy?"
+
+"I don't know, Natty, but the field is said to belong to this farm, so I
+am going to ask Mr. Ames if the cherries are on our property. You see,
+they grow on the line with the fence, so I cannot tell what the land-law
+says about them."
+
+Mr. Ames was now seen driving leisurely along the dusty road, and the
+three who were awaiting him walked down to the gate and stood under the
+great elm tree watching his approach.
+
+"Good-mornin'," called he, when within hearing.
+
+"Good-morning," chorused the waiting group.
+
+"I be'n thinkin' sence yistiddy, when I druv past them churry trees,
+there, that you'se oughter pick 'em right off! Ef you don't the durned
+robins'll spile all the fruit fer youh," announced the farmer, not
+waiting to draw up to the gate.
+
+"Oh, we wanted to ask you if the trees belonged to us," returned Mrs.
+James.
+
+"Why, sure! Who else kin claim 'em?" said he.
+
+"They stand on the fence-line, so we were not sure," explained Natalie,
+showing off her newly-acquired land-learning.
+
+"It ain't that they're standin' on the survey line, but that the last
+farmer here used them trees fer fence-posts to nail the wire on. That
+saved him three hull chestnut posts, see?"
+
+"Oh, I see!" returned Mrs. James. "But how far off the line is his
+fence? Are the trees inside or outside the wire fence?"
+
+"Well, as fur as I remember now, he ran the fence about a foot this side
+the line-path. Your proppity ackchully goes out a foot furder on the
+road, but runnin' the wire where he did, he managed to get the use outen
+all them trees what grow along the road. He saved 'most fifteen dollars
+in posts by doin' that."
+
+Mrs. James studied the situation for a few moments and then said: "When
+was the wire fence stretched on this line?"
+
+"Why, lemme see!" and Farmer Ames shoved his hat over one ear while he
+scratched his head for the necessary intelligence to beam forth. "That
+was the last year, before one, that he lived here."
+
+"Then the fence has stood on that line about three years?" persisted
+Mrs. James.
+
+"Yeh, about that."
+
+"Well, then, I'll tell Mr. Marvin to order you to change it. When you
+get time you can plan to put up posts on the _right_ property line and
+remove the old wire fence."
+
+Natalie and Janet wondered why anyone should bother over such a little
+matter, but Mr. Ames understood, and smiled.
+
+"I reckon you knows somethin' about proppity law, eh?"
+
+"I know this much--that if that fence is allowed to stand without
+protest for a certain time the land becomes public property, and Natalie
+would have a lawsuit on her hands if she ever sold it or wished to claim
+it again. The fence should never have been placed back from the line,
+even if it saved fifteen dollars. Those three cherry trees are worth ten
+times that sum, and once they become public property we can never regain
+rights in them."
+
+Thus the two girls learned a bit of amazing real estate law while they
+stood by the wagon. When Mrs. James concluded, Natalie told Mr. Ames
+they wished to go to the store, so he gladly made room for them on the
+seat beside him.
+
+Janet and Natalie had no difficulty in enlisting Nancy Sherman and
+Hester Tompkins in a proposed membership of the new Patrol, and these
+two girls promised to interest Mabel Holmes and Sue Harper. So there
+were already four girls, each about fourteen years old.
+
+"I'm sure Dorothy Ames will join right off, 'cause she knows a girl at
+White Plains who is a Scout, and Dot wanted to start something like it
+here. But we didn't know how to begin," explained Nancy Sherman.
+
+When Mr. Ames was ready to drive home, his two companions were ready
+also. Soon after they had left the Corners Natalie spoke of their desire
+to visit his brother's to buy a pig.
+
+Janet instantly added: "And I want some chickens, too. Must I have a hen
+set on eggs to raise them?"
+
+"You kin do as you like about that! I kin sell you'se some young chicks
+cheap, and you kin raise 'em. Then you kin buy a settin' hen and raise a
+brood that way, too. An' you'se kin keep some old fowl fer layin' aigs
+to use in the cookin'."
+
+"Dear me, how much would all that cost me?" worried Janet.
+
+"Wall, the aigs fer settin' ain't more'n other kinds. Th' old hen'll
+cost yuh about two dollars. Layin' hens cost about one-fifty each, an' a
+good rooster'll cost near abouts two-fifty. The leetle chicks won't cost
+no more'n twenty-five cents each."
+
+"Oh, that is fine! I can do that, all right!" cried Janet delightedly.
+
+"How much will the pig cost her?" asked Natalie.
+
+"Not much. When my brother has such a big litter as this one is, I've
+known him to give away a few of the little porkers before they cost him
+anything fer feed."
+
+Natalie and Janet exchanged looks! Plainly they said: "Oh, if only those
+pigs haven't cost him anything for feed!"
+
+"How about keepin' right on to my brother's farm, now?" asked Mr. Ames,
+as they drew near the Green Hill house.
+
+"That will be all right! We'll just let Jimmy know," replied Natalie
+delightedly.
+
+Farmer Ames was a kindly soul, but he had a keen sense of business as
+well. When he heard the two girls talk of buying a pig and chickens, he
+wished to close the bargain without delay for his brother and himself.
+If they had time to think it over, they might change their minds, and he
+would lose a sale. So he proposed that they go right on then and
+conclude the business.
+
+"How about paying for them, now, Mr. Ames?" asked Janet. "I have to
+write home for my money, and that will take a few days."
+
+"Oh, don't let that worry you any. Let my brother do the worryin' about
+his pay," laughed Mr. Ames jokingly.
+
+Mrs. James consented to their going to the stock-farm then and there,
+but reminded the girls that the chicken-coops and pig-pens were not
+ready to receive any living creatures yet.
+
+"Oh, we'll fix all that when we get back," called Janet as they drove
+away.
+
+Janet found the stock-farm so interesting that she almost forgot the
+real cause of their visit--the enlisting of Dorothy in the new Patrol.
+The little pink pigs were so alluring in their antics that Janet decided
+to buy the three which had been separated from the mother and had been
+weaned.
+
+The price asked seemed ridiculously cheap, compared to what butchers in
+the city charged for a pound of pork. So the three pigs were placed in a
+small box and the top was slatted down to keep the lively little things
+in bounds.
+
+When this thrilling business matter had been concluded, Natalie told
+Dorothy about the new Patrol they wished to launch. They had no trouble
+whatever in gaining Dorothy's eager consent to become a member, as she
+had long wanted to be a Scout. So the two girls started homeward about
+noontime, feeling that they had accomplished a wonderful day's business
+in many ways.
+
+"We'll jest stop at my house to let you choose some hens an' chicks, an'
+I'll deliver 'em in the mornin', when I drive by."
+
+"Why can't we take them along with us to-night?" asked Janet.
+
+"Cuz it is hard work to ketch hens in the daytime whiles they are
+scratchin' around. But onct they go to roost at night, it is easy to get
+hold of 'em without excitin' 'em too much."
+
+Natalie and Janet gazed at the various chickens they found about the
+place, and Natalie whispered to her companion when the farmer was not
+near by:
+
+"Janet, choose the biggest ones you see, because Mr. Ames said they were
+all the same price. Some of these are awfully small while some are great
+heavy hens. You won't be taking advantage of him, you know, if he said
+we could take any we liked."
+
+"That's so! I might take those big white hens with the yellow legs,"
+replied Janet.
+
+"Yes, they're nice-looking, too. Those dappled ones are not a bit
+picturesque; nor are those smaller hens with red-brown plumage. The
+white ones will look so nice walking around our lawn."
+
+So Janet selected six of the largest white hens she could find in the
+entire flock of several hundred chickens. Mr. Ames remonstrated in vain
+that she had better take Rhode Island Reds, or some of the guinea hens
+instead. She _wanted_ the big white ones.
+
+"And we'll take that lovely rooster with the wonderful tail," added
+Janet, selecting one with marvellous hues in his cock-plumes when the
+sun changed its colors to variegated beauty.
+
+"He ain't no good fer a rooster, Miss," said Mr. Ames.
+
+Natalie whispered advice again. "Janet, I believe he wants to keep him
+for himself. Don't let him do it."
+
+"Mr. Ames, I'll take the one with those pretty feathers, or I won't buy
+any!" declared Janet firmly.
+
+"Oh, all right, Miss. I don't care what you choose as long as you want
+them. But I'm tellin' you-all, them hens is old and that rooster is
+sickly," explained Mr. Ames, in a tone that said plainly: "I wash my
+hands of all your future complaints."
+
+"Now how about the young chicks you told us about? Can I buy some of
+them?" asked Janet, when hens and rooster were noted on a paper.
+
+"Yeh; come with me and I'll show you the kind you'd best get to start
+with. They're about three to four weeks old and kin scratch fer
+themselves and eat whatever they find. You kin let them run wild, and
+they'll get stronger that way."
+
+Then the chicks were selected and Mr. Ames found a hen that was wanting
+to set on a nest of eggs. So he picked up the hen and put her in a
+feed-bag. Both Natalie and Janet cried in fear lest she smother before
+they reached home.
+
+"Nah, she's ust to such ways. I'll set her when we git over to Green
+Hill, and you gals kin pick out the eggs and slip 'em under her to-night
+when it is dark. Then she won't bother you."
+
+All this was very interesting to the two girls who had never heard a
+word about raising chickens, or setting hens, before. So Mr. Ames drove
+them home in high spirits. The crate holding the pigs was left by the
+kitchen steps, and the hen placed in the coop on some china eggs, until
+Janet could select other eggs.
+
+On his way past the house again, Mr. Ames called to Mrs. James: "Them
+churries oughter be picked soon. Ef you want me and my man to do it, we
+kin come this afternoon, likely."
+
+Rachel overheard and said: "Mis' James, pickin' ox-hearts is fun fer
+gals. Dem trees is jus' bustin' wid fruit a-waitin' a lot of young gals'
+hands to pick 'em. Ef I wuz you, Honey, I'd give Mr. Ames an answer in
+th' mawnin'. One night moh won't hurt the fruit, nohow."
+
+The farmer sent an angry glance at Rachel, but she met it with
+effrontery. When Mrs. James said, "I think I will wait until to-morrow
+before deciding," Rachel grinned at the discomfited man.
+
+He drove away without loss of time, and merely said: "I'll bring them
+chickens over to-morrer."
+
+The moment he was out of hearing, Rachel said eagerly: "Why, Mis' James,
+them Girl Scouts down at camp'll give their haids to climb them trees
+and pick cherries on shares fer you. Charity begins to home, so let our
+gals get the benefit, says I!"
+
+"Oh yes, Jimmy! Then Janet and I can help them, too. It will be heaps of
+fun, I think. We have a good ladder in the barn, and another shorter one
+in the cellar, so some of us can pick the outside boughs while the
+others climb up and do the inside branches," planned Natalie.
+
+Mrs. James studied the blue sky seriously. Then said: "I suppose we
+ought to pick them at once, then, while the weather is good. Once a rain
+sets in, cherries will rot. The birds, too, are ruining the ripe fruit
+with their pickings, so we ought to begin work immediately after
+luncheon."
+
+"I'll tell you, then!" exclaimed Natalie. "While you and Rachel get the
+luncheon out, Janet and I will hurry to camp and ask Miss Mason if her
+girls want to do the work."
+
+"I'm sure they will be crazy to do it," added Janet.
+
+So the two friends ran down to the woodland camp where a bevy of merry
+Girl Scouts were just finishing their dinner. Natalie told what brought
+her there, and added: "We ought to be able to pick all the cherries
+before sundown, don't you think so, Miss Mason?"
+
+"Why, yes, if so many of us work. But we might break down the branches
+if we all climb in the trees," said she.
+
+"Some of us will use ladders, and some climb the trees. There are three,
+you know, so we can plan to be on different boughs to pick," explained
+Natalie.
+
+The Scouts donned their overalls which they generally used in outdoor
+work about camp, and started back with Natalie. At the house they were
+told that the fruit was to be gathered on shares, and each girl could
+sell her cherries to Mrs. James, or keep them, as she chose. Then the
+pickers were given baskets, or pails, and sent to the trees, where
+Natalie and Janet joined them after luncheon.
+
+The step-ladder found in the attic was brought down and placed under the
+tree with the low boughs. One girl mounted this and began to pick from
+its top step. The long ladder from the barn was placed against another
+tree so that the topmost branches could be reached by careful work, and
+a short ladder was put against the lower boughs.
+
+Natalie eagerly climbed up in the branches of one of the trees and began
+to pick quickly. She had a two-quart tin pail that was hung over a short
+branch near her hands, and as she began to pick the cherries, she sang
+or called to her companions. Rachel smiled approvingly as she heard her
+"Honey-Chile" so happy, then she turned to go back to her kitchen and
+start a big supper for so many Girl Scouts that night.
+
+After a time, Janet called to Natalie: "Say, aren't a lot of the
+cherries bad from the pecking the birds gave them?"
+
+"Yes, and it's a shame, too! I pick what seems to be a luscious cherry,
+and when it is in my hand, it turns out to have a great rotted spot on
+the other side," added one of the Scouts.
+
+"If the birds would only keep at the same cherry and finish it, instead
+of flying from one to another and taking a nip out of each," said
+Natalie.
+
+"Well, you see, they bite the ripe spot out of the cherry, and then fly
+to another good ripe mouthful. It is easier that way than trying to turn
+their heads around the cherry to eat the opposite side," laughed Janet.
+
+"Girls!" now shouted Natalie, making a quick dash at something about her
+head. "Do these horrid little yellow-jackets annoy you, too?"
+
+"They are after the decayed cherries," called a Scout.
+
+"They are not yellow-jackets, are they? I thought they were hornets,"
+said another Scout.
+
+"They're both--there is a hornet, now--buzzing about my ear!" cried
+Janet.
+
+At that very moment, a sharp scream from Natalie caused every girl to
+turn her head and see what had happened. In another moment a crash of
+branches and a flash of a body falling down through the leaves made
+several of the Scouts cry out in fright.
+
+Natalie had been picking the cherries from the topmost branches, as she
+liked to sit up high and pelt the stones from the fruit she ate, down at
+the girls' heads, to tease them. The hornets had a small nest in the top
+of the tree, but Natalie was not aware of that. As she called and
+laughed at her friends, the hornets began to grow excited, and when they
+found the annoyance failed to go away but came ever nearer their nest,
+they buzzed about and threatened in angry terms. Still Natalie paid no
+attention to what they said to her. She thought they wanted to feed on
+the rotten fruit, whereas they merely wished her to go and leave them in
+peace.
+
+At last the disturbance was too much for one of the old hornets. He flew
+in circles about her head and scolded until his exasperation took form
+in the offensive. Natalie's neck was a very advantageous spot and she
+could not see him when he lit on her collar and quickly crept up to the
+soft smooth skin in the nape of the neck.
+
+Without further warning he drove in his dagger-point and Natalie
+screamed with pain. Forgetting that she was up in a tree, and must cling
+fast to the boughs, she suddenly put both hands to her neck. The natural
+result was, she fell down so quickly that her friends could not get to
+her assistance in time to do a thing.
+
+Smaller twigs and branches had given way with her weight and she would
+have fallen to the ground, had not a friendly bough caught her under the
+arms and suspended her momentarily. Then the smaller bough that grew
+from the friendly one snapped short off under the girl's weight, and the
+sharp up-thrusting section left on the tree ran right through the
+suspender-straps at the back of her overalls. There she hung, like a toy
+doll on a Christmas Tree,--her feet dangling and her head and hands
+helplessly held out to be taken down by some kind friend.
+
+The terrifying scream brought Rachel running from the kitchen and Mrs.
+James up from the cellar, where she had gone to hunt for more containers
+for the cherries. When Rachel saw what had happened she wrung her fat
+hands in agony.
+
+"Oh, m' Honey! My li'l' chile--hang on t' dat limb fer all you'se wuth!"
+yelled she. Then she rushed over the grass to the rescue,--but Natalie
+dangled just out of reach above her head.
+
+Janet slid down the rough trunk of the cherry-tree the moment she heard
+her friend shriek. Her thin stockings hung in strips when she reached
+the ground, and her legs were skinned from knees to ankles, but she felt
+no pain, as she was so excited over the outcome of this accident.
+
+"Quick! Someone get that step-ladder we had here!" cried she, jumping up
+and down in her fear that Natalie would let go and fall; yet she was too
+excited to run for the ladder herself.
+
+Rachel instantly comprehended and jumped across the intervening space
+between the two trees and caught a firm hold of the lower part of the
+step-ladder. She never stopped to see if anyone was on the top step. But
+one of the Scouts had been standing on it with her form hidden in the
+foliage of the tree. As Rachel whirled the ladder out from under her,
+the Scout was left in mid-air, instinctively clutching the branches to
+save herself.
+
+The other Scouts had descended the trees by this time, and some ran over
+to help save Natalie, while others stopped under the tree where the new
+accident threatened to take place.
+
+"Help! Help!" yelled the girl who was dangling from a bough.
+
+Miss Mason had been measuring the cherries impartially, half for the
+individual pickers and half for Mrs. James, when the first accident
+happened. She was out of the house and crossing the grass when the
+second scream reached her ears. She saw an old hemp hammock hanging from
+a clothes pole on the drying-place, and had a sudden idea.
+
+The hammock was snatched and carried over to the tree where the Scout
+hung. "Here, girls! Spread it out quickly! We will have a life-saving
+net and win a reward for our presence of mind!" ordered the teacher.
+
+The Scouts instantly obeyed and the net was spread even as May wailed:
+"I have to let go! My hands won't hold on longer!"
+
+"All right! Drop!" commanded Miss Mason. "We'll save you."
+
+May yelled and let go. She was caught in the meshes of the old hammock,
+but the hemp was so rotten that in another moment it separated and let
+May down on the grass. However, it had answered its purpose, for the
+time, and had broken her fall.
+
+While this "first-aid" was being given, Rachel ran, in great excitement,
+back to assist Natalie. She had hastily placed the extra-high
+step-ladder under the tree and, without taking time to see that the
+braces that hold back and front sections firmly apart were _not_ taut,
+she began to mount the steps to reach her "Honey."
+
+Half-way up, the now overbalanced ladder started to sway uncertainly,
+and Rachel gasped as she wildly tried to clutch something to steady
+herself. Natalie's feet were the only available things in sight.
+
+"Ough! Mis' James! Heigh, down dere--someone grab hol' on dis ladder!"
+shouted Rachel, her eyes almost popping from her head.
+
+"Wait! Hold on, Rachel!" called a chorus of voices below.
+
+The ladder was still quaking uncertainly when Rachel lost courage and
+began to descend precipitously, without stopping to find a sure footing
+on the steps. Consequently, she missed the second step from the bottom
+and sat down unceremoniously in a bushel of ripe ox-hearts.
+
+"Umph!" was the grunt that was forced from her lungs, but the Scouts all
+howled with dismay when they saw the result to their patient cherry
+picking.
+
+Janet did not stop to see what was occurring to Rachel. The moment she
+saw the mammy come down, she ran up the steps and steadied herself by
+holding to the bough from which Natalie still swung. Miss Mason managed
+to hold the bottom of the ladder until Janet had guided her friend's
+feet to the top step. Then the strain on the suspenders was loosened and
+it was easy to unbuckle the straps at the back of the overalls.
+
+In a few more moments, Natalie was helped down the ladder and once more
+stood on _terra firma_. But such a funny sight was presented her when
+she breathed in safety once more, that she momentarily forgot the hornet
+sting and laughed wildly.
+
+Mrs. James had called several of the Scouts to help her in pulling
+Rachel up out of the bushel basket upon her feet again. This muscular
+deed was accomplished just as Natalie stepped down on the ground. But
+Rachel's percale bungalo-gown was a sight!
+
+The luscious ripe cherries were mashed all over her skirt, and half of
+the fruit in the basket was crushed as if done by a fruit-press. Rachel
+was torn between two fires--that of humble apology to the scout-pickers
+for spoiling their "fruits of labor" and concern over Natalie who was
+holding her hand over the back of her neck. Mother-instinct that was so
+deeply rooted in Rachel, although she had never had a child of her own,
+won the day and she ran over to Natalie to ascertain the extent of the
+troublesome sting.
+
+"Oh, mah pore Honey! Mah sweet li'l' chile--did dem nasty bees sting
+yoh?" Rachel cried, enfolding Natalie in her capacious embrace. Then she
+added, "Now jus' you-all wait a minit, chillun, an' I'll soon git dat
+stinger out."
+
+Consequently she made a soft paste of mud and water, and slapped a
+handful of it on Natalie's neck. Then she tied a towel over it to keep
+it in place.
+
+"Now, Honey, yoh jus' sit heah wid yoh haid down in front, so's dat mud
+won't run down yoh back," advised she.
+
+Natalie obeyed, albeit the mud did ooze in trickles down her back and
+fill up at her belt in a dried lump.
+
+The pain of the sting was soon over, and Natalie tried to gather some
+more cherries, but she kept away from the top of the tree where the
+hornets still buzzed angrily about. The other Scouts also kept a safe
+distance from that nest.
+
+By sundown all the cherries were picked, and the quantity evenly divided
+into shares. Each girl had made a pile of the fruit she gathered, and so
+no Scout felt that another was benefiting by her work. But when all was
+measured out, it was found that the girls had picked about the same
+quantities, with but little variation.
+
+That evening while enjoying Rachel's bountiful supper, the Scout girls
+were told about the new Patrol that Janet and Natalie were hoping to
+start. That was a very engrossing subject and no one gave a thought to
+things outside, until it was time for the Scouts to return to camp. Then
+a plaintive squealing came from a crate placed on the piazza, and Janet
+suddenly remembered the pigs.
+
+"Oh, horrors! Will little pigs die if they have been left without a
+thing to eat for a day?" wailed she, as she clasped her hands in shocked
+concern.
+
+Everyone laughed at her, and Mrs. James said: "Not if you attend to them
+at once. But they will have to live in the crate overnight, as nothing
+can be done about housing them now."
+
+So Rachel mixed a dish of warm milk and corn meal for the wailing
+squealers, and soon hushed their clamorings. Janet felt guilty of gross
+neglect on the first night of her business investment, but Natalie tried
+to condole with her by saying:
+
+"Well, cherries, and pigs, and new Scouts can't all be gathered in one
+day, you know."
+
+This created such a laugh at the quaint combination of the triple
+interests, that Janet felt relieved in mind. After the Scouts had gone
+back to camp, Natalie reminded Janet of the eggs they were to give the
+hen for setting.
+
+"We'll do that now," said Janet anxiously.
+
+So the two girls went to the pantry without asking advice of Rachel or
+Mrs. James, and counted out twelve eggs. These were carefully carried to
+the hen-coop and after many wild squawkings from the hen, and concerned
+action by the two farmerettes, seven of the twelve eggs remained
+unbroken and were placed under the future mother of a family.
+
+"My! I wouldn't want to experience a skirmish with a hen very often,"
+said Janet, counting the scratches on her hands and arms after they
+reentered the kitchen.
+
+"Neither would I," agreed Natalie, holding her hands and wrists under
+the cold water faucet to let the cooling flood wash away the signs of
+battle with the hen's sharp bill.
+
+"Well, she's got seven sound eggs to hatch, anyway. When we get time to
+spare, we will put a few other eggs under her, so we can have the full
+dozen chicks as Mr. Ames advised."
+
+"I never knew it was such a simple matter to raise chicks, did you?"
+remarked Natalie, as she wiped her hands on the kitchen towel.
+
+"No, and when you think of all the money we pay for roast chicken in New
+York, it makes you want to live always on a farm, doesn't it?" added
+Janet.
+
+But neither girl knew that many store eggs were not suitable for
+hatching chicks. They had not examined the yolks as chicken farmers do,
+to see if the egg was fertilized. So they had placed two suitable eggs,
+and five unfertilized eggs, under the hen. When but two chicks would
+result from that experiment, what a disappointment there would be. Janet
+would be sure to declare that stock-raising wasn't such an easy
+business, after all!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X--TRIALS OF A FARMER'S LIFE
+
+
+Mr. Ames brought the chickens and hens early in the morning, and so
+interested was Natalie in Janet's stock-investment that the vegetable
+gardens were quite forgotten for a few days. Sunday she had spent at
+camp with the Girl Scouts; Monday she and Janet had gone to the Corners
+and enlisted girls to join them in a new Patrol, and in the afternoon
+they had picked cherries; then on Tuesday the chickens came, and some
+sort of a house had to be built for the pigs, as well as for the hens.
+So three days had passed by and she had not had time to inspect her
+gardens.
+
+Farmer Ames acted huffy because the cherries had all been gathered when
+he drove up to the kitchen door in the morning. So he merely delivered
+the crate containing the hens and young chicks, and having handed Rachel
+the basket of eggs for the setting hen, drove away again.
+
+"Dear me! I wanted to ask him how big a pen to build for three pigs!"
+sighed Janet, when she heard he had gone.
+
+"No 'count why he hes to tell yuh that! I rickon anyone like me, what's
+borned and brought up on a farm in Norf Car'liny, kin help dat way,
+better'n an ole grumpy farmer in Noo York state," announced Rachel.
+
+"All right, Rach, I'll be thankful of your advice," replied Janet,
+gazing down at the squirming pigs.
+
+So Natalie and Janet occupied themselves most industriously in the
+building of a pig-pen for the little porkers, and in mending the old
+hen-house and chicken run. A separate coop was found where the setting
+hen might brood quietly on the eggs, and the young chicks were given
+their freedom of the place, because Rachel said they would grow much
+faster if they could run about and scratch.
+
+But this advice had dire results, as Natalie learned, too late.
+
+By sundown the pigs were nicely housed, and the old hens and rooster
+found comfortable roosts in a remodelled hen-house. The young chicks
+clustered together in the chicken yard and were driven inside the house
+by the persuasive "s-sh's" and waving hands of the concerned
+farmerettes.
+
+These important matters disposed of for the day and Rachel not having
+announced supper, Natalie said: "Come with me to see my garden. I
+haven't had a moment's time to visit it lately."
+
+"I suppose the lettuce is large enough to pull, now," laughed Janet
+teasingly.
+
+"No, but I shouldn't be surprised if the radishes that were transplanted
+from Ames's garden were big enough to use."
+
+The two girls went arm-in-arm down the pathway and when they reached the
+old box hedge that divided the vegetable beds from the back lawns, they
+stood for a moment listening to the echo of merry laughter coming from
+the woodland down by the river.
+
+Then Natalie came to the first garden bed.
+
+"Oh, oh! Look,--Janet! What has happened to my beans?" cried she
+shrilly, as she stood gazing in horror at what she saw.
+
+Janet gazed, too. The tiny green things that had looked so fresh and
+pert a few days before were out of the ground in many places, and the
+soil was unevenly scattered in small heaps. From this havoc, Natalie
+quickly looked over at the lettuce bed.
+
+"Oh, oh! How dreadful! Look at that garden bed! Why, all the lettuce is
+cropped off close to the ground. _What_ could have done it, Janet?" her
+eyes filled with tears and her voice threatened an imminent howl.
+
+"Goodness me, Nat! I don't know what has happened!" said Janet, deeply
+concerned for her friend.
+
+The two then hastily visited the other beds, and found the radishes and
+potato plants undisturbed, but the corn was dug up in spots and the
+remaining blades half-eaten.
+
+Without a thought for the tender green still remaining, Natalie suddenly
+collapsed upon the corn hills and gave vent to a heart-breaking cry.
+Once the flood-gates were down, she wept and wailed and would not be
+comforted. Finally Janet ran to the house and summoned relief.
+
+Mrs. James and Rachel hurried after her to soothe the crying damsel in
+the corn field; but Rachel understood what had taken place in that
+garden, even as she raced past the half-destroyed vegetable beds.
+
+She knelt down beside Natalie and tried to pacify her by endearing
+terms, but the amateur farmer was too sorry for herself to pay any
+attention to Rachel. All she could gasp forth was: "If I ever find out
+who did this, I'll kill them!"
+
+Rachel sent Mrs. James a knowing look, and nodded toward the barnyard.
+Thus the lady gathered that the hens and chicks had feasted on the
+tender greens and had dug up the soft rich soil in seeking for
+earthworms when they had been turned loose that day.
+
+Darkness slowly crept up from the river banks and the four finally
+turned to go in to supper. As they reached the box hedge, Rachel
+remembered the boiling potatoes that were almost cooked when she was
+summoned hastily by Janet.
+
+"Oh, laws! I betcher they am all black as cinders by this time!" cried
+she, making a leap to escape over the hedge and reach the kitchen in a
+hurry.
+
+A dense smoke was seen issuing from the open door of the kitchen, and
+Rachel's three followers forgot their recent troubles in this new
+disaster.
+
+Just as they reached the steps of the back porch, Rachel rushed the
+smoking pot out of the door and ran with it to the grass beside the
+board-walk.
+
+"Dere ain't no smell on eart' ner unner de eart' to beat dis smell o'
+burnin' pertaters!" growled Rachel angrily, as she planked the blackened
+cooking pot down upon the ground.
+
+"Oh my! The kitchen is full of smoke!" exclaimed Janet, who had poked
+her head in at the open door.
+
+"Did you'se 'speck it to be sweet an' free as hebben?" snapped Rachel
+scornfully.
+
+Mrs. James said nothing but quickly drew the two girls aside to the
+other door to permit Rachel to calm her perturbed nerves. Then Natalie
+remembered her beloved garden.
+
+"Jimmy, who could have been so mean as to do that?"
+
+"Of course, I wasn't present, Natalie, dear. But I have heard that crows
+love to dig up corn kernels in a newly-planted field, so that farmers
+have to use scarecrows to keep them off. Maybe some sort of a bird found
+the toothsome greens and called to all the family to hurry and feast
+while there was time."
+
+Natalie pondered this idea for a time, but it never occurred to her to
+lay the trouble at the heels of the chickens. But she determined to lose
+no time in dressing up the most frightful scarecrow that was
+conceivable.
+
+After the unscorched remainder of the supper was served, Rachel came to
+the dining-room to make a suggestion.
+
+"Ef we-all git up earlier than us'al to-morrer mornin' we kin git all
+dem rooted-up plants back in the groun' afore sun-up. Mebbe it will rain
+to-morrer, then no harm'll come of diggin' up all dem roots."
+
+The mere possibility of rain made Natalie jump up from the table and,
+quickly excusing herself, run out on the porch to study the heavens.
+
+"Not a star out, and the sky looks awfully cloudy," cried she hopefully,
+as she returned.
+
+"Then we'll all get up at dawn and begin work in making amends in the
+garden," said Mrs. James consolingly.
+
+The little plants were replanted early in the morning and certain spots
+where the soil had been scratched away were smoothed out again, so that
+only a close observer would have seen that there were places here and
+there where no vegetables grew.
+
+About seven o'clock a fine drizzle began, and Natalie welcomed it with
+sparkling eyes. "_Now_ the roots can have time to get freshened again
+before a hot sun comes to dry things up."
+
+A letter came that morning telling Natalie that Norma, Frances, and
+Belle would soon be ready to leave the city. By counting from the date
+of the letter, it was found that they would be at Greenville that very
+day on the noon train. Probably the letter had been delayed in coming,
+or had been overlooked in some way.
+
+"We had better send word to Amity, by Mr. Ames, that he is to meet the
+train they come on," suggested Mrs. James.
+
+But the girls watched for Mr. Ames in vain that morning, and noon hour
+came and still no word had been sent to Amity. Janet was out feeding the
+pigs when she heard a shout from the road. She looked up wonderingly and
+saw the three girls tramping along in the rain and mud, trying to manage
+suit-cases and umbrellas at the same time, as they jumped puddles or
+avoided a stretch of mud.
+
+She ran to the house and called Natalie. In another moment, both girls
+were out on the side-piazza waiting to take the luggage from the
+bespattered girls.
+
+"My goodness me! Why don't you move nearer the railroad station, Nat?"
+complained Norma.
+
+"That horrid hackman wouldn't give us a lift, although he was sitting at
+Tompkins' store toasting his feet at a stove," added Belle, angrily.
+
+"At a stove! In summer?" cried Natalie, wonderingly.
+
+"Yes, but there was no fire in the thing. He was tilted back in a wooden
+chair telling stories to some farmers, and his old horse was standing
+out in the rain, patiently waiting for a bag of oats," said Frances.
+
+Mrs. James joined the group now, and overheard the last words of
+complaint. "I don't see why he could not drive you here, as long as he
+was not engaged."
+
+"That's exactly what Belle asked him, but he said: 'Can't you see I _am_
+engaged? I must not interrupt this talk on polerticks. It's mos' votin'
+time and we-all has to get facks afore we cast a ballot,'" laughed Norma
+imitating Amity.
+
+"Did you entice him with extra pay?" asked Janet laughingly.
+
+"What was the good? He just ignored us, so we had to walk the rest of
+the way here," Frances said. "But I made up my mind to one thing: If
+that is the way the only cab-man of Greenville treats his trade, I'll
+cut him out of it all, if I can manage to have _my_ way."
+
+They were all in the living-room now, and had removed muddy overshoes
+and wet coats and hats. Rachel was hastily brewing some hot tea to make
+everyone feel more cheerful, so the girls sat and talked.
+
+Natalie instantly asked Frances what she meant.
+
+"Well, Daddy and mother are going out to Colorado for the summer, and
+the machine will be put up in a garage, or I will have it out here to
+use. Now I've been thinking over all Nat said about each one of us
+earning some money this summer, and I couldn't think of a single thing I
+could do. But that cranky old hackman gave me a cue: I'll use the car
+out here for the people who wish to travel back and forth, or take a
+drive to certain places. I ought to be able to save quite a sum before
+fall," explained Frances eagerly.
+
+"Frans, that will be fine! We will be your best customers," laughed
+Janet, while the other girls all approved the plan.
+
+"That seems like Frances' golden opportunity, but Norma and I haven't
+found a thing to do, yet," added Belle.
+
+"You will, never fear. Janet found her vocation the first day she was
+here," laughed Natalie.
+
+Then Janet had to tell about her stock-raising, and her friends laughed
+heartily when they heard about the first night the piggies arrived at
+their new home.
+
+"The chickens are doing fine! I had to keep them shut up in the yard
+to-day to get them thoroughly acquainted with their surroundings, so
+they won't run away," said Janet, but she did not say that they were
+kept locked up for fear they might wander over to the garden again and
+create more trouble.
+
+"I should think you would have a cow and sell milk," suggested Belle
+laughingly.
+
+"Cows cost a lot of money. I priced one of Ames's and when I heard the
+sum, I lost interest in milk," replied Janet, causing the girls to laugh
+at her explanation.
+
+"But I am going to buy some ducks as soon as my new allowance is due.
+There is plenty of water for them to swim in and ducks look so rural,
+don't you know," added she.
+
+"But they are difficult to raise, Janet," said Mrs. James.
+
+"Why? If you let them swim about and give them enough feed, what more
+can they want?"
+
+"I don't know, but they take certain spells of sickness quicker than any
+other fowl and, in a day or two, the whole flock droops and dies off.
+Geese are much easier to rear and bring better prices in the market,
+too."
+
+"Oh, then I'll have geese. But I've heard they chase one, if they don't
+like you," said Janet.
+
+"They wouldn't chase you if you fed them; and should they take it into
+their geese-heads to run anyone else out of the yard, it will be a
+warning for others to keep away."
+
+The drizzle stopped after luncheon, so that the girls put on raincoats
+and oil-skin caps and started to visit the Scout camp. On the way, they
+visited Natalie's garden and extolled her work and patience that had
+brought forth such results.
+
+Natalie beamed like a full moon at the deserved praise and explained how
+wonderful the vegetables were before the dastardly birds dug everything
+up.
+
+"Yes, Nat, I know," remarked Belle. "It's almost like the wonderful fish
+one just missed catching, isn't it?"
+
+Everyone laughed at this, even Natalie joining in at her own expense.
+"Well, I don't care! They _would_ have been much better if they had not
+been interfered with," said she.
+
+After leaving the garden, Natalie opened the subject of the Scout Patrol
+that would be an offshoot of Miss Mason's first Patrol. This would give
+both Patrols the opportunity to launch the Troop.
+
+"Fine! How soon can we begin?" said Belle.
+
+"Well talk it over with Miss Mason this afternoon. I haven't had time,
+yet, to tell her about the Greenville girls who agreed to join us, as
+Janet and I have had _so_ much to do since then," explained Natalie.
+
+The girls were now near enough to the woodland to hear the sound of
+singing. Mrs. James held up a hand for silence and they stood and
+listened. It sounded very wonderful from the hillside where they were to
+hear the blending of soprano and alto voices in the national anthem "Our
+America." There was a martial impetus in the singing that spoke well for
+the patriotism of the Girl Scouts.
+
+"What does Miss Mason call her Patrol, Nat?" asked Norma, as they
+resumed their way to the river.
+
+"Now that you speak of it, Norma, I must confess that I never asked.
+Isn't it funny that I never thought of it?" said Natalie.
+
+"But we will ask now, and find out. Of course we will have to use the
+same name if Miss Mason has already chosen one for a Troop," said Janet.
+
+The visitors reached the camp site and found the Scouts holding a
+council meeting. They had just finished the patriotic song and Miss
+Mason was opening the meeting by an address. The unexpected guests were
+invited to sit down on a huge log and hear the Leader's speech.
+
+"The members of this Patrol know the reason for this council, but I will
+explain to the newcomers, too," said Miss Mason, turning to Mrs. James
+and the girls.
+
+"We have decided to send to Headquarters in New York to ask to be
+enrolled as a Troop, now that we have had more than a year's experience
+with the organization. Because you girls wish to start another Patrol
+and unite with our Troop, we think it urgent to be registered and
+chartered by the National Headquarters, and be able to own a flag and
+choose a title and crest for our use."
+
+The visiting girls exchanged glances with each other, as the question
+just asked Natalie was about to be answered now. Miss Mason did not see
+their looks and proceeded with her explanation.
+
+"We chose a name when first we started our Patrol but we have never
+registered it, and there was a question whether we would care to change
+it after a time. We called ourselves the 'Solomon's Seal Patrol' as
+having so much meaning to the name. We think that the reflected glory of
+Solomon's wisdom is better than none. So we have decided, now, to
+christen our Troop by that name. We will vote on this later. At present
+I wish to mention a few other points.
+
+"I am now about to speak of a new Patrol, or new members, so it is
+fortunate that our visitors arrived in time to hear all I have to say.
+
+"I suppose every girl present has a manual: 'Scouting for Girls'?"
+Everyone nodded in the affirmative, and Miss Mason continued:
+
+"Then you will read on page 44, that every girl who wishes to enroll as
+a Scout must be at least ten years old and must have attended meetings
+for a month, during which time she will have passed her Tenderfoot Test.
+During the first month she is known as a Candidate. When she knows the
+meaning of the Promise and the Laws, and is sure she understands the
+meaning of the oath she is about to take, and comprehends the meaning of
+'Honor,' she is eligible to be a Tenderfoot.
+
+"My Girl Scouts passed the Tenderfoot class last year, and then took the
+Second Class Test, which was also passed successfully by them. We are
+all ready to pass the First Class Scout Test, except that each girl must
+present a Tenderfoot who has been trained by the candidate. This is our
+opportunity, as you girls all wish to be Scouts, and my girls can train
+you, thus giving them the privilege of being First Class Scouts.
+
+"I was going to speak of other things, but since our visitors' arrival,
+I wish Mrs. James to tell us how many girls she knows on whom we can
+count for the new Patrol." Miss Mason turned to Mrs. James and waited.
+
+"Natalie knows more about the matter than I, Miss Mason, as she and
+Janet went about the Corners securing the candidates. Let her tell us
+about it," replied Mrs. James.
+
+Natalie was called upon to address the audience and so she got up and
+spoke. "Janet and I called on Nancy Sherman and Hester Tompkins and
+secured their promise to join our Patrol as soon as we were ready for
+them. Then we went to Dorothy Ames's house and got her interested. With
+these girls"--Natalie waved her hand at the four girls sitting on the
+log,--"we will have eight applicants. Janet has a younger sister Helene,
+who is not twelve yet, so we are not sure whether we want her to belong
+to our Patrol. All of us girls are over twelve and it is more fun when
+girls are nearer an age. I've been thinking that Helene might start a
+Brownie Troop, a younger Patrol than ours. We might allow them to join
+us, later on."
+
+As Natalie sat down, the girls of Solomon's Seal Patrol showed their
+delight at the progress made in the enlisting, and Miss Mason commended
+the two who had visited the girls of Four Corners and had interested
+them in the proposed plan.
+
+"Mrs. James, have you thought of a Leader and Corporal for Natalie's new
+Patrol?" asked Miss Mason.
+
+"I fear I am not well enough versed in scouting to take such a
+responsibility upon myself. I would prefer having you do it," responded
+Mrs. James.
+
+"I'd rather not be any officer, Miss Mason," exclaimed Natalie, "because
+they always have to work while the others have a good time. I'll just be
+an every-day Scout."
+
+The girls laughed, as there was more reason than rhyme in the statement.
+But Miss Mason said: "There's always one girl in a group who has the
+knack of directing her companions. Such a girl ought to be an officer."
+
+"Then, for goodness' sake, choose Janet for our manager," exclaimed
+Natalie. "She always runs us and everything concerned with us."
+
+The Scouts laughed, and Miss Mason nodded her head. "I always thought as
+much, but you will confess, Natalie, that she makes a pretty good
+general, eh?"
+
+Janet blushed with pleasure at the teacher's praise, and Natalie smiled:
+"Oh, _pretty_ good!" Then she grinned at her friend.
+
+"Janet, will you act as Patrol Leader for your new Scouts?" asked Miss
+Mason, turning again to Janet.
+
+"I will, if Natalie will be my Corporal," returned Janet.
+
+"Seeing that there are only two members in our Patrol as yet, I can't
+see how I can get out of being either one or the other," laughed
+Natalie.
+
+"Oh, but we will have more members shortly, and this office of Corporal
+must be considered as binding until a new election," explained Janet.
+
+"Well then, Jan, if you can bear up under the arduous duties of a Patrol
+Leader, I reckon I can survive the work of acting as your Corporal,"
+retorted Natalie.
+
+"All right. Then we'll enroll our Tenderfoot Scouts in a Patrol before
+the next official meeting here, and begin training them in the path that
+they should follow," agreed irrepressible Janet.
+
+After this, many subjects that interest Girl Scouts were taken up and
+discussed, and the girls from Green Hill Farmhouse were more deeply
+impressed with the wonders of scouting than they had dreamed possible.
+Each girl determined to do everything possible to learn as much that
+summer as those Girl Scouts of Solomon's Seal knew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI--NORMA AND FRANCES LAUNCH THEMSELVES
+
+
+Frances lost no time in putting her idea for business into operation, so
+she wrote her father that night, asking him to let her have the
+automobile at Green Hill Farm for the summer instead of storing it with
+some big garage company. She did not say that she wished to start a
+service route to earn money, but she did say that there was a fine barn
+on the farm where the car could be kept, and it would give them all such
+pleasure to be able to drive about the lovely country in Westchester.
+
+No one was shown this letter, but Frances insisted upon walking to the
+Corners with it that night, to get it out on the first early morning
+mail to New York.
+
+"Let's all walk to the store with Frans," suggested Janet, jumping up to
+show her readiness to go.
+
+"That will give me the chance to get some slips that Mrs. Tompkins
+promised us the other day," added Natalie.
+
+"And we can introduce Norma, Belle, and Frances to Nancy Sherman and
+Hester Tompkins," added Janet.
+
+So the girls hastily arranged their hair and started out, with Mrs.
+James to escort them. The country road was very alluring in the
+twilight, but there were no gorgeous colors from a flaring sunset that
+evening, as the grey overcast sky had continued all day.
+
+They tramped along the foot-path that ran beside the road and Norma said
+jokingly: "When we hiked this from the station we never dreamed we would
+be retracing our steps so soon."
+
+"It seems almost as if we had been at Green Hill a month, doesn't it?"
+said Frances.
+
+Just at this moment Janet gave a sudden gasp. "Oh me, oh my! I must run
+right back home, girls!"
+
+"What for? What's happened?" asked four anxious voices.
+
+"Oh, _oh_, oh! It isn't what's happened,--it's what I forgot to do!"
+
+"But what? Can't you confide in us?" urged Natalie.
+
+"I forgot all about those pesky chickens. I never fed them to-night, nor
+did I give them fresh water. I've got to do it before it is too late."
+
+Everyone laughed, but Mrs. James said: "You're too late already, Janet.
+Chickens go to roost before twilight. You will not get them to eat or
+drink to-night."
+
+"Dear me! Then they will grow so thin I'll never be able to enter them
+in a County Fair!" said Janet whimsically.
+
+"You never hinted that that was your ambition," laughed Natalie. "You
+started out to do a thriving business with eggs and broilers."
+
+"I can do that, too, can't I? But there is nothing to prevent me from
+trying for a cash prize in some Poultry Show this fall, either,"
+explained Janet.
+
+"If I start a business of any kind, you won't find me neglecting it like
+that!" bragged Norma.
+
+"Wait until you start one--then talk!" retorted Janet.
+
+"How are your vegetables growing to-night, Nat?" said Belle teasingly.
+"Almost ready to ship to Washington Market?"
+
+"Instead of laughing at Janet, or my investments, why don't you do
+something yourselves?" demanded Natalie scornfully.
+
+"We would love to, but what is there left for us to do?" returned Norma.
+
+"Surely you don't think vegetables and stock-raising compose all the
+industries in the world, do you?" laughed Mrs. James.
+
+"No, not in a city; but on a farm, what else can one do?" asked Belle.
+
+"Well, I always thought there was a wonderful opportunity for some
+ambitious girl to raise flowers and send in bouquets to the city every
+morning," suggested Mrs. James.
+
+"Bouquets! Who to?" asked Belle.
+
+The other girls were listening attentively, for they had never thought
+of such a possibility before.
+
+"Mr. Marvin said the flowers he cut back of the house, the day he came
+up here, brightened his office for many a day. I am convinced that many
+hard-working business men downtown would lean back in their swivel
+chairs and smile at a handful of homely country flowers on their desks,
+if they but had them. Think of the scores of troubled, rushing men in
+the financial districts of New York, who would stop a minute in their
+mad race for success to think of their boyhood home, should a rose give
+forth its perfume on his desk? Think of the peaceful rural picture a few
+flowers in a glass on the desk might bring to a jaded man who never
+takes time to dream of his old home."
+
+Mrs. James' words created a vision that was most effective with the
+girls. After a few moments of silence, Norma said softly: "I'd love to
+do just that thing, Mrs. James."
+
+"But you haven't any flowers to start with," said Belle.
+
+"Why can't I start some just as Nat did her vegetables, if I go right at
+it now?" demanded Norma.
+
+"Norma, Mrs. Tompkins promised me some petunia plants, and asters, and
+sweet-peas, and other slips, if I wanted to use them in the flower
+gardens. I really didn't want them but I hated to refuse her, as she is
+so fond of flowers she thinks everyone else must be, also. Now, this is
+your opportunity!" said Mrs. James.
+
+"You take the plants and slips she offers, and by judicious praise you
+will urge her to talk about her gardens. In this way, you can find out
+more about raising flowers than if you had a book on the subject. I
+never saw such gorgeous blossoms as she has," said Natalie eagerly.
+
+"When she finds she has a really interested florist who intends doing
+the work properly, she may give Norma more slips than Natalie could draw
+from her," suggested Frances.
+
+"At any rate, we need plenty of flowers around the place to make it look
+attractive, and Norma's plan will beautify the grounds as well as give
+her her profession," said Mrs. James.
+
+When they arrived at the Corners Frances mailed her letter; and Norma,
+with Mrs. James, stopped in to see Mrs. Tompkins and her flower gardens;
+but the other girls went to Nancy Sherman's house to plan about the
+Patrol meetings.
+
+Mrs. Tompkins was delighted to have visitors who were interested in
+flowers, and when Norma was ready to join the girls to go home, she
+carried a huge market basket filled with all sorts of plants,--from a
+delicate lily to a briar-rose.
+
+As they trudged along the dark road, Norma said: "I suppose it will be
+too dark when we get home to plant the flowers to-night, Mrs. James?"
+
+"Oh yes; but you can get up before the sun in the morning and have the
+planting done before the heat of the day," said Mrs. James.
+
+"Mrs. Tompkins told me to place inverted flower-pots over all the young
+plants during the middle of the day, until they began to perk up their
+heads. That would show they had taken new root in the soil to which they
+had been transplanted. But the rose-bush and lily I must plant in a
+sheltered spot and shade them with a screen for a week or more. They
+would always freshen up at night but would droop during the day unless I
+did this," explained Norma.
+
+"I wonder how long it will be before those little things have flowers?"
+said Belle.
+
+"Mrs. Tompkins told me that they would bud in two weeks at least. I
+mean, the portulaca and heliotrope and other old-fashioned plants she
+dug up for me. You see, they were already started in her garden, and
+this transplanting will only set them back a few days, she said."
+
+"Then you can begin to figure on an income in a month's time, at the
+very latest," teased Belle.
+
+Norma made no reply to this laughing remark, but she was determined to
+show Belle that perseverance and persistence were great things that made
+for success.
+
+It was past nine when the girls reached Green Hill Farm. As they entered
+the side gate they heard strange sounds coming from the barnyard.
+Everyone glanced at Janet to inquire the cause of the sounds.
+
+"It sounds just like those piggies. What can they be squealing for at
+this hour?" said Mrs. James.
+
+Janet looked guilty, but she said nothing. However, as soon as they
+reached the side piazza, she hurried on past the kitchen door and made
+for the barn.
+
+Rachel heard the arrival and came out on the piazza. "Mis' James, dem
+pigs ain't kep' still all night. I guv 'em some hot mush at six o'clock
+'cause Janet fergot to feed 'em. But I ain't goin' to be no nuss-gal to
+any porkers when I'se got my house-wuk to look affer. Ef I wuz goin' to
+raise hogs, I'd raise 'em, but I ain't goin' to do it fer no one else,
+nohow."
+
+Everyone laughed appreciatively, and Mrs. James added: "Janet told us
+she had forgotten the chickens to-night. But I told her there was no use
+in her returning home, then, as fowl went to roost with the sun, and
+would not want to be bothered again. I was not aware the pigs had been
+forgotten, too."
+
+"Wall, I kin tell her what ails 'em, but I jes' thought I'd let her try
+to fin' it out herself. Mebbe she'll take a little interest in her
+business if she is left to do the wuk!" declared Rachel.
+
+"What makes them squeal, Rachel? You can tell us, can't you?" coaxed
+Natalie.
+
+"Well den, dey ain't got no beddin' to sleep on, an' t' dish wid water
+is be'n upsot all evenin', so dey ain't got no drinkin' water. Young
+pigs drink an orful lot of water an' dey has to have good beddin' to
+sleep on, or dey'll squeal."
+
+After this explanation, the other girls were eager to go to the pig-pen
+and see what Janet was doing for the comfort of her investment. Natalie
+ran indoors and got an electric flashlight, and they all started for the
+barnyard, Rachel bringing up the rear.
+
+Poor Janet was ready to scream, when they found her trying to hush the
+pigs. She would try to catch first one, then another to see if anything
+had happened to them, but they kept her jumping around the pen without
+her fingers ever touching their little pink hides.
+
+After Mrs. James explained the cause of their rioting, Janet crawled
+over the closely-fitted laths that fenced them in; and all the girls
+started for the barn to find some fresh straw for a bed. Water had been
+given them, and the avidity with which they drank it showed how thirsty
+they had been.
+
+When the bed was made up in the little house, the three weary little
+fellows ran in and were soon curled up to sleep. Then the girls followed
+Rachel back to the house, Janet listening very humbly to her discourse
+on "Cruelty to Domestic Animals."
+
+Early in the morning Norma was up, and without disturbing anyone,
+slipped down-stairs and started to work on the flower beds. She had
+listened so earnestly to Mrs. Tompkins' advice about digging and
+fertilizing the soil, that she had finished the narrow beds that edged
+the house before the other girls came down.
+
+"Why, Norma, you certainly are industrious," said Mrs. James, when she
+saw all that had been accomplished.
+
+"Isn't it fun, Mrs. James! I never dreamed how nice it is to be a
+farmer. But I never want to be anything else, now."
+
+Belle laughed, for she was too dignified and superior to ever think of
+farm-work. Natalie watched Norma rake over the roundel that was the
+center of the turn-around in the drive from the road, and then remarked:
+"Where did you find the compost, Norma?"
+
+Norma looked up and smiled. "Mrs. Tompkins told me how to mix the
+fertilizer found in a barnyard, and so I did. But I found some in a box
+over there by the vegetable gardens and I used some of that, too."
+
+"If I didn't have to go and look after my vegetable gardens, Norma, I'd
+help you plant the flowers," said Natalie. "But duty calls me, so I must
+obey."
+
+"I'll help Norma plant the slips," offered Janet.
+
+"Your duty is calling you with a louder voice than Natalie's ever
+could," laughed Belle, holding up a finger to attract attention to the
+pig-pen.
+
+The girls laughed, and Janet sighed. "I suppose it will be pigs, pigs,
+pigs all summer, whenever I have anything else I wish to do. Even that
+old hen misbehaves, and gets off the nest every time I examine the eggs
+to see if they are being pecked."
+
+Natalie had started for her garden by this time, but when she reached
+the low dividing fence at the end of the grass plat back of the kitchen,
+she screamed furiously and ran for her precious vegetables.
+
+The other girls turned and ran over to see what had happened. Natalie
+was shooing the young chicks away from her tender green sprouts, but she
+dared not tramp upon her beds, so the broilers ran a few feet away and
+then stood eyeing her. They, seemingly, were but waiting for her to go
+away so they could resume their breakfast.
+
+"That's because Janet forgot to feed them last night for supper. Now all
+my young beets are eaten off the top! How can we ever raise anything to
+eat or sell, if her old pesky chickens keep this up!" wailed Natalie,
+examining the beets.
+
+"They only managed to get a few of them, Nat! Thank your stars you got
+here when you did," remarked Belle.
+
+"I just bet it was those same horrid birds that destroyed my garden
+before! I never saw a crow after that, and I thought I had frightened
+them away with the scarecrow. But now, I'm sure it was the broilers!"
+declared Natalie.
+
+"What a lot of satisfaction it will be to pick their bones," suggested
+Frances. That made them all laugh and put Natalie in a better humor.
+Janet was wise enough to remain at her work with the pigs and chickens,
+and not venture near Natalie that morning.
+
+At breakfast Natalie opened the subject. "Janet, you've got to keep
+those chickens in a yard. If they get into my garden again, I'm going to
+wring their necks and stew them for dinner!"
+
+"Wait until they have a little more to them than skin and bone," laughed
+Janet.
+
+"They'll make soup--if nothing more," snapped Natalie.
+
+"I was about to say, Janet, that you might get some wire-netting at the
+Corners, such as is used for runways for chickens," suggested Mrs.
+James.
+
+"How much will it cost? I can't spend more than my allowance, you know,"
+answered Janet.
+
+"I have a letter here, in reply to one I wrote Mr. Marvin, saying I was
+to use my own good judgment about the out-buildings. I wrote him that we
+ought to repair the coops and pens, as well as the barns, as soon as
+possible. And he says we can get whatever material we need for slight
+repairs at the Corners. He opened an account for us with Si Tompkins and
+this wire can be charged to that."
+
+"But I don't see why you should pay for my chicken run, Mrs. James?"
+said Janet.
+
+"We are going to repair it, anyway, whether you keep chickens in it, or
+someone else does it. If you are willing to help with the work to be
+done on it, we will consider it squared on the cost of the wire-netting
+and nails," explained Mrs. James.
+
+"I'll go to the Corners right after breakfast and get the wire. Maybe I
+can find someone to drive me home again, so I won't have to carry the
+awkward roll," said Janet eagerly.
+
+Norma was too busy with her flowers to join the other girls after
+breakfast, and Natalie said she saw some weeds growing up in her garden
+beds so she would have to get after them. Janet and Belle and Frances,
+therefore, started for the store, planning to help carry the roll of
+wire back home.
+
+Mrs. James assisted Rachel with the housework as it was cleaning-day,
+and so everyone was engaged when an automobile stopped in front of the
+house.
+
+Norma Evaston was carefully patting down the soil about a geranium plant
+when a shadow fell across it. She glanced up, and started in surprise
+when she saw Mr. Lowden smiling down at her.
+
+"Good-morning, Norma. I thought to find Frances here, too, so I crept up
+the walk to surprise her," said he.
+
+"Oh, how did you get here? There isn't a train until eleven," returned
+Norma wonderingly.
+
+"We came in the machine. Mrs. Lowden and I are going to leave it here
+for you to use this summer, so we thought it best to drive out and go
+back later by the train."
+
+"Why, Mr. Lowden! Frans only mailed that letter last night! How could
+you have received it already and driven here?" Norma puckered her brow
+as she tried to figure out what time the letter could have arrived in
+the city that morning, if it left Greenville at six o'clock.
+
+"What letter?" It was now Mr. Lowden's turn to be surprised.
+
+"Oh, didn't you know Frances wanted the car to use all summer as an
+investment?" asked Norma innocently.
+
+"As an investment! What do you mean?"
+
+"Yes, and we think it will be great fun, too," returned Norma eagerly.
+"You see, I am going in for flowers to sell to tired homesick financiers
+downtown in New York. One sniff of a sprig of heliotrope or the cheerful
+nod of a pink standing in a glass of water on his desk will refresh one
+so that he will start out like a new man!
+
+"Nat is raising vegetables. She has all the greens up above the ground
+already, but those hungry chickens ate off a number of her best ones, so
+that makes them look a bit messy just now. However, they will soon
+recover and grow as good as ever. The household will buy all its
+vegetables from her, and Solomon's Seal Patrol expect to buy theirs from
+her, too.
+
+"Janet went in for stock-farming. She only has a few pigs and the
+chickens as yet, but there are plenty of other things to get, as her
+allowance comes due. She is now planning to buy some guinea-hens, a
+flock of geese, some bees for honey, a few pigeons so we can have
+squabs, and other stock as time rolls by.
+
+"But Frances chose to go into the service business. She is going to run
+an auto-bus from the station to the different destinations, and when we
+girls wish to take a pleasure-ride in the country, we all expect to pay
+a just price for the use of the car. By fall, Frans ought to have saved
+quite a sum of money, don't you think so?"
+
+Norma had talked so fast that Mr. Lowden could not have said a word had
+he wanted to; but he listened with face growing redder and redder, and
+when Norma concluded her amazing explanation he burst out laughing loud
+and long. His wife heard the mirth as she sat in the car waiting to
+learn if he had found the right place. Now she jumped out of the tonneau
+and ran over.
+
+Norma sat back on her feet gazing up at the breathless man, when Mrs.
+Lowden joined the two. He tried to sober down enough to explain, but he
+spoke in gasps.
+
+"Natalie raises vegetables for Solomon; Janet has turned
+stock-broker--her stock breaks down all of Natalie's greens. Norma here
+is the philanthropist of the crowd,--she is about to raise flowers for
+heart-sick financiers. But our Frances is the Shylock of the party. She
+is going to charge fees for the use of an automobile that costs her
+nothing! What do you think of your daughter, now, Mabel?" And he laughed
+again, so heartily that Rachel came out to see who was with Norma.
+
+Mrs. James soon followed Rachel, and the Lowdens were welcomed by the
+hostess. Norma could not stop her work long enough to sit down on the
+piazza and visit, but she sent this advice after Mr. Lowden as he was
+about to mount the porch-steps:
+
+"Janet went to the Corners for chicken-wire and you can do the girls a
+great favor by going for them with the car. Belle and Frances went with
+Jan, to take turns carrying the roll. But I guess it is going to be
+awfully heavy for them!"
+
+Mr. Lowden then excused himself for a time, and left his wife with Mrs.
+James. He soon had the car speeding along the road that went to the
+Corners, and Norma felt she had done her friends a good turn. But she
+never dreamed that Frances had not mentioned the automobile as a
+money-maker for that summer.
+
+When the machine came back with the girls and their roll of
+wire-netting, Frances looked disconsolate. Norma was wondering whether
+her father had refused her the car for business purposes, and so she
+stopped planting long enough to join the party on the piazza.
+
+"What do you think, Norma? Dad says I have to be sixteen before I can
+have a license to drive a jitney. If I drive without one, that old lazy
+Amity Parsons will arrest me. And if I use someone else's license, I can
+be heavily fined. That explodes all my ambition!" exclaimed Frances
+woefully.
+
+But Janet came to the rescue, as usual. "Say, Mr. Lowden, Frans can
+drive the car without a license if she has someone in the seat beside
+her who _does_ have a regular license."
+
+"Who can I have?" demanded Frances.
+
+"Well, I don't know! I haven't thought of that, yet!" admitted Janet.
+
+"I can drive a car, so there is no excuse why I should not be able to
+secure one," said Mrs. James thoughtfully.
+
+"The main point is--we've got the car here to use for the summer, and
+the other points can be covered as we reach them," remarked Janet.
+
+Mr. Lowden laughed again, for all this business ambition was highly
+amusing to him. But he had no objections to the automobile remaining at
+Green Hill Farm during his absence in the west, and the girls all
+breathed easier when they heard his verdict.
+
+"Well, you can argue out the question about a jitney license, but I must
+go back to my flowers," said Norma, getting up from the steps and
+starting for the roundel.
+
+"And I must start work on that chicken-fencing. If it is to be done
+before nightfall, I must ask help, too," said Janet, beckoning Belle to
+help her carry the roll of wire.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Lowden were invited to stay to dinner but they declined
+with regrets, as they were to be back in New York soon after noon. Then
+Frances said: "I'll have to drive you to the station to catch the only
+train that stops at Greenville this afternoon, and how will I get back
+if I haven't a license?"
+
+"I'll accompany you, Frances, and later we will have to plan a way out
+of the difficulty," said Mrs. James.
+
+Good-bys were said, and the girls stood on the piazza waiting to see the
+car start off, when Rachel came out. "Hey, Mis' James! I got it! Jes'
+hol' up a minit, will yuh?"
+
+She hurried down the walk and ran out of the gate to lay her plan before
+the owners of the automobile.
+
+"Yuh all knows my nephew Sam in Noo York? Well, he got a shover's
+license las' spring cuz he figgered on drivin' somebody's car this
+summer in the country. But we all know what a easy-goin' darky he is,
+too!
+
+"He diden have ambichun enough to hunt out a place, so he jes' waited
+fer a plum to drap in his mout'. Ef he is in Noo York, he'll be at dis
+address, sure! Ef I tells him to come out heah, widdout fail, to run dat
+car, he'll come quick as lightnin'. Ef us gives him room an' board, he
+oughter be glad fer the chants. Den no one kin pester Mis' Francie 'bout
+license, er nuttin. An' Sam kin make hisself useful to me by bringin' in
+coal an' wood fer t' kitchen fire, an' doin' odd jobs about t' place."
+
+This information seemed to suit Mr. Lowden exactly, and he turned to
+Rachel to say: "I'll find him, Rachel, never fear--if he is to be found
+in the city. Look for him in the next day or two."
+
+Then saying good-by again, they drove away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII--GRIT INVITES HIMSELF TO GREEN HILL
+
+
+The vegetables, animals, and flowers might have experienced gross
+neglect during the next few days, after the automobile arrived, had it
+not been for Mrs. James' insistence that "duty came before pleasure."
+Even so, Natalie spent no time weeding the beds but gave the "farmer's
+curse" ample opportunity to thrive luxuriantly.
+
+The third day after the Lowdens had promised to hunt up Sam and send him
+to Green Hill Farm, a most unique post-card came for Rachel. It had the
+picture of the Woolworth Building on one side, and the information that
+this was a "gift card" given to those who visited the tower. On the side
+with the address, Sam printed with lead-pencil, "Deer ant: wurd cam fer
+me to be shoffer at yur place. Money O. K. comin rite away. sam."
+
+This elaborate epistle was displayed by Rachel with so much family pride
+that the girls had hard work to keep straight faces. But they knew how
+hurt Rachel would be if she thought the writing was illiterate, so they
+said nothing.
+
+"If that card was mailed yesterday, as the postmark shows it was, Sam
+ought to be here to-day," said Mrs. James.
+
+"Yes, but he won't get here in time to drive us to Ames's farm for the
+guinea-hens," said Natalie.
+
+"As that will be my last act of law-breaking, I'll drive," announced
+Frances.
+
+Therefore, the girls hurried away in the car. They had not gone more
+than half the distance to Dorothy Ames's home, when Natalie saw a dog
+following the machine.
+
+"Go home, old fellow!" called she, waving her hat to drive him back.
+
+But the dog stood momentarily still and wagged his stumpy tail, then
+galloped after the car again, to make up for lost time.
+
+"Girls, what shall we do with that dog?" cried Natalie in distress. "If
+he follows us much further he may get lost."
+
+Frances stopped the car and called the dog to her. He stood with front
+paws on the running-board and looked up at her with happy eyes.
+
+"He's a fine Collie, girls. Look at his head and the lines of his body.
+Someone get out and look at the collar for the owner's name," said
+Frances, leaning over to study the dog.
+
+Belle got out and having examined the collar, remarked: "No name on it.
+It's just a plain leather affair with a frayed rope-end still attached
+to the ring."
+
+The dog gave a short friendly yelp at Belle and wagged his tail rapidly,
+as a token of good fellowship.
+
+"Let him run after us if he wants to, then we will take him back with us
+when we return," suggested Janet.
+
+"We'd better have him jump inside the car, then, so he won't stray while
+our attentions are turned," ventured Norma.
+
+So the dog was given room in the tonneau where he stood and watched over
+the side of the machine as they flew along the road.
+
+Arrived at Dorothy Ames's farm, he waited until the door was opened,
+then he leaped out and pranced about the girls.
+
+"That's some dog you girls got there!" declared Mr. Ames, as he came
+forward to welcome his visitors.
+
+"Yes, he must belong to someone living near Green Hill. He ran after our
+car as we turned from the state road into this road," explained Natalie.
+
+"I ain't never seen him about afore. I knows every dog fer ten mile
+around Greenville, and there hain't no farmer that kin afford a' animal
+like that," returned Mr. Ames.
+
+"Why--is he a good one?" wondered Janet.
+
+"Got every point a prize-winnin' Collie ought to have. I wish he was my
+dog! I'd win a blue ribbon on him," said Mr. Ames, as he examined the
+dog critically.
+
+"Then someone will worry until he is home again," said Norma
+concernedly.
+
+The dog seemed not to worry, however, for he yawned and followed the
+girls about as if he had known them since puppyhood. Mr. Ames told the
+girls that the dog must be about two years old, and certainly showed he
+had been accustomed to a good living.
+
+The guinea-hens were selected, several pigeons ordered to be delivered
+in a few days when the house would be ready, and a number of young
+goslings spoken for. Janet was not going to lose time planning for a
+stock-farm business and not act, it seemed.
+
+"If you gals are going to take the dog back the way he came, you'd
+better not try to take the crate with the hens, too. I'll leave them on
+my way to the Corners," advised Mr. Ames.
+
+The business matters settled, Frances spoke of her new line of work. "If
+you folks ever want to rent a car for a trip, or when you want to go to
+the station, just call me on the 'phone and I'll come for you. I am
+starting a jitney-line and am always on hand for my clients."
+
+Mr. Ames laughed and said: "Sort of runnin' opposition to Amity, eh?"
+
+"Well, not opposition, exactly, as Amity is never about to attend to
+business. But I intend running the car faithfully, as anyone who is in
+the public service should do," said Frances.
+
+"What about a license?" questioned the farmer wisely.
+
+"Oh, that's taken care of. My chauffeur, Sam White, is going to drive
+the machine, while I act as conductor."
+
+Mr. Ames laughed again, heartier than ever, and Dorothy smiled
+sympathetically at Frances. Then she said: "I wish I had something to do
+besides churning butter and working on the farm."
+
+"Well, Dorothy, just you stick to us Girl Scouts and we'll find you some
+desirable field of labor," said Janet encouragingly.
+
+Soon after this the girls started homeward, the dog jumping in without
+being invited and sitting up in the place provided him before. The girls
+patted him and said he was a clever fellow. That started his tail
+wagging violently and his tongue panting with pleasure.
+
+At Green Hill, Mrs. James watched the girls stop at the side piazza, and
+then, to her surprise, she saw the dog jump out of the car. He stood
+waiting for his companions to alight and then he sprang up the steps and
+wagged his tail at her.
+
+"What a fine dog," said Mrs. James, patting his head. "Whose is he?"
+
+"We don't know, Jimmy. He just followed us after we left the state road.
+Mr. Ames says he doesn't belong to anyone around here, 'cause he knows
+every dog in the county," answered Natalie.
+
+"He must have lost his way, then. Maybe he was with a party of autoists
+who passed that way. They will surely come back to hunt for him, so we
+had better hang a large sign out on the tree by the front gate," said
+Mrs. James.
+
+"That's a good plan," assented Natalie. "I'll run in and get a cardboard
+box and print the sign."
+
+"Don't describe the dog,--just say we found a strayed canine," advised
+Janet.
+
+"If no one comes for him, we may as well keep him until we determine
+what to do about it," added Natalie.
+
+"We must find a name for him, too. What do you suppose he was called?"
+asked Mrs. James.
+
+"If we knew that, we might have a clue to his owners," laughed Janet.
+
+"The best way to name him is this way," suggested Natalie. "Let each one
+write a name on a slip of paper and fold it up. Rachel shall deal out
+the votes and the last one out of the box shall be his name. How is
+that?"
+
+"Good! Run and get the paper, Nat," laughed Janet.
+
+So in a few moments six slips of paper were cut and handed out. The
+pencil was passed around and everyone wrote her choice of a name for the
+dog. Rachel was called out to collect the votes in an old hat, and when
+they were well shaken she removed them, one by one, until the last one
+was taken up.
+
+[Illustration: Mrs. James leaned over to see who was coming in.]
+
+She opened it slowly and spelled out carefully: "G-r-i-t."
+
+"Ho, _Grit,_ that is my choice!" shouted Natalie, clapping her hands. As
+if the dog was pleased with his name, he jumped around madly and barked
+shrilly.
+
+"He seems to like his name," said Janet, laughing at the way the animal
+tried to lick Natalie's face.
+
+"Maybe it sounds something like his real one," suggested Mrs. James.
+
+"Wall, whatever it is, I says he oughter have a pan of water to drink.
+Affer all dis excitement he needs refreshin'," remarked Rachel, going to
+the kitchen and calling the dog to follow her.
+
+He went obediently, and just as the girls began to plan the sign, and
+what to write thereon, the gate clicked. Mrs. James leaned over the
+piazza rail to see who was coming in, and saw a short, fat, colored
+youth of about eighteen, approaching.
+
+"It must be Sam,--Rachel's nephew," whispered Mrs. James.
+
+The expected chauffeur saw the party on the piazza and removed his cap
+politely, but his face expressed trouble, and he sighed as he stopped at
+the foot of the steps.
+
+"You are Sam, aren't you?" began Mrs. James.
+
+"Yas'm, an' I would huv be'n here long ago, as I writ, but I lost my
+bes' friend and be'n huntin' him fer more'n an hour." Again Sam sighed
+heavily and his eyes were moist.
+
+"Oh, what a pity!" exclaimed Mrs. James. "How did it happen, Sam?"
+
+"Wall, yuh see, Ma'am, I brung him on the baggidge car tied to a rope,
+an' when we got off at the Statchun he was that glad to see the green
+grass and fresh air that he galavanted 'round like a crazy thing. He tuk
+it inter his head to chase a bird what flied low along the road, and I
+laffed as I follered after him. But I lost sight of him, down the road,
+until I got to the Corners. I diden know what way to take there, so I
+went the most travelled one.
+
+"That's where I made my mistake. I should hev asked the storekeeper the
+way to Green Hill. I whistled and called fer a mile, er more, but Grip
+never showed up. Then I got afraid he was really lost. I turned back and
+asked the man at the Corners ef he saw'd a dog run by, an' he said,
+'Yeh, the mutt was chasin' down the road to Green Hill Farm.'
+
+"I got mad at him fer callin' Grip a mutt, but I hurried along the road
+he pointed out. I kep' on goin' and callin', an' went right by this
+place widdout knowin' it. When I came to a farm owned by a man called
+Ames--a mile down the road,--he tol' me I was too far. So I come back
+again. But I hain't seen no sound of Grip sence." A heavy sigh escaped
+Sam and he drew his sleeve across his wet eyes.
+
+Perhaps the sound of the voice reached Grit--or Grip--in the kitchen, or
+perhaps his canine instinct told him his master was there,--whatever it
+was, he came bounding out of the house and leaped upon Sam with such
+force that the little fellow was rolled over backward upon the soft
+grass.
+
+Grip pawed and rolled over again in his joy at seeing his master again,
+and the girls stood and shouted aloud with amusement at the scene. When
+Grip's violent expression of welcome had somewhat quieted down, Mrs.
+James said:
+
+"This certainly is a good ending to our adventure."
+
+Then she proceeded to tell Sam how the girls found Grip on the road, and
+how fortunate it was that no other tourists had taken him in.
+
+Rachel heard a familiar voice and now came hurrying from her kitchen.
+"Wall, of all things! Ef it ain't Sambo! How'de, my son?" exclaimed she,
+enfolding the little man in her capacious arms.
+
+"You talk as ef you hadn't looked fer me?" grinned Sam, endeavoring to
+free himself from the close embrace.
+
+"I'm that glad to see yoh, Chile! I felt sort o' fearsome 'bout leavin'
+yoh all alone in a wicked city widdout me near to advise yoh dis
+summer," returned Rachel, beaming joyously upon her kin.
+
+Sam laughed, and then the story of Grip was told in a most graphic
+manner, the girls interrupting to add some forgotten item.
+
+"Laws'ee! Ain't dat a plain case o' Providence fer us? An' to think how
+Natalie called the dawg Grit, too!"
+
+"Now that all this excitement is ended, suppose you business girls go
+and attend to your work," suggested Mrs. James. "While you were away I
+walked over to the vegetable garden and was horrified to find so many
+weeds growing taller than the plants we are trying to coax along. And
+Janet's investment has escaped from the pen and given Rachel and me the
+race of our lives. After half an hour's heated chase we captured the
+pigs, but the chickens are still at large, scratching Norma's flower
+slips out of the ground. I have shouted at them, and driven them away
+repeatedly, but I see they are back there again."
+
+No more needed to be said then, and in a minute's time three excited
+girls were wildly racing to their various places of work to repair the
+damages made in their investments.
+
+Then Sam was shown his room in the attic, where he could unpack his
+fabrikoid suit-case and don his farm-clothes. It was plainly evident
+that he liked the idea of living in the country and driving a car when
+called upon, and Mrs. James considered the girls were most fortunate to
+have Rachel's own relative--to say nothing of the dog--on the place that
+summer.
+
+Mr. Ames drove by before noon and left the crate with the guinea-hens
+and pigeons, and Janet eagerly began work on a separate coop for the
+hens. Sam offered to help build the pigeon-coop on the gable end of the
+carriage-house, where the birds could alight without molestation.
+
+But the story of Janet's stock-farm and how she succeeded is told in
+another book and can be given no extra room in this story. Suffice it to
+say, she certainly had troubles of her own in trying to raise a barnyard
+full of different domestic animals; and had it not been for Sam's
+ever-willing help in catching the runaways or repairing the demolished
+fences, the result would not have been quite so good.
+
+That evening, as they all sat on the side steps of the piazza watching
+the far-reaching fingers of red that shot up from the western sky, Belle
+spoke plaintively:
+
+"I feel like a laggard, with you girls all working so hard at some
+business. Nat with her garden, Janet with the barnyard, Norma with the
+flowers, and Frans with her jitney--what is there for me to do? I hate
+dirt and animals, and I haven't any car,--so what _is_ left for me?" she
+sighed.
+
+"Why don't you turn your attention to Scout study?" asked Natalie,
+feeling that they had neglected Solomon's Seal Camp lately.
+
+"I don't want that kind of work,--I want a real business, like you girls
+have,--but what is there to do?"
+
+"You'll just have to pray and wait for an answer," suggested Norma, the
+devout one of the group.
+
+"Is that what you did before the flowers came your way from Mrs.
+Tompkins?" asked Belle.
+
+"No, but you see, I always pray and hope for an answer, so I don't have
+to lose time when something comes to me. It is always coming at the
+right moment, so I never have to ask especially for any one thing,"
+explained Norma seriously.
+
+Belle laughed softly. "I wish you'd do it for me, Norma."
+
+"Why, Belle! You know how to ask for yourself! You'll get it all the
+sooner if you stop laughing and try my plan," rebuked Norma.
+
+The talk suddenly changed at this point, and no one thought more of
+Norma's advice to Belle. But the latter was duly impressed by Norma's
+faith, and determined to try secretly a prayer or two in her own behalf.
+So that evening after she had retired, she earnestly asked that a way
+might be shown her to occupy herself that summer even as her friends
+were doing.
+
+The following morning Sam suggested that the car meet the three daily
+trains from the city, to carry any passengers to their destinations. As
+it took but a short time to drive to the station and back, this plan was
+agreed upon. Frances would act as conductor of the fares and direct Sam
+the way to go when taking a passenger home.
+
+On the morning trip they would bring back the mail and any orders that
+might be needed for the house or the Scout camp. In the afternoon the
+trip would be made for passenger service only, and at evening the mail
+would be brought back, or any purchases needed at Tompkins' store.
+
+The initial trip was made that morning at nine-thirty, the girls wishing
+Frances all success in her new venture. As the car disappeared down the
+road Natalie hurried to her garden to go to work on the weeding.
+
+Janet went to the farmyard to begin building some sort of shelter for a
+calf she purposed buying from Mr. Ames. And Norma began to plant seeds
+in her flower beds. Mrs. James went in to help Rachel, and Belle was
+left alone on the porch to plan various things to interest herself,
+also.
+
+As she rocked nervously, trying to think of something agreeable to do,
+she heard Natalie cry loudly from the garden. She sprang from the porch
+and ran down the path to render any help possible to the friend in
+distress, and saw Natalie jumping up and down, with skirts held high and
+close about her form.
+
+"Oh, oh! Belle,--bring a rock! Get a gun--anything--quick!" yelled
+Natalie.
+
+"What for--what's the matter?" shouted Belle, looking anxiously about
+for a stone or a big stick.
+
+"A snake! A great big snake ran out of the ground and tried to get me!"
+screamed Natalie, still jumping up and down.
+
+Belle caught up a heavy stone and tried to carry it quickly to her
+friend, but she had to drop it after running a short distance, as it was
+too heavy for her. Then she found a smaller stone and ran with that to
+demolish utterly the awful thing!
+
+"Where is it? Where did it go?" cried Belle excitedly, as she reached
+the vegetable beds.
+
+"Oh, oh--it came out of that hole in the corn-hill, and ran that way!"
+gasped Natalie, breathless with her violent exercise.
+
+"Out of that hole! Why, that is only as big as my small finger! How
+could a great snake come from there?"
+
+"All the same it did! Oh, _oh,_ OH! Look, Belle! There it is,--under
+that corn-spear!" shouted Natalie, bending and pointing at the
+terrifying (?) object.
+
+Belle had to look hard to be able to detect the little frightened snake.
+There, curled up under the tiny spear of green, was a young grass snake
+about three inches long. It held up its pretty striped head and watched
+fearfully for the huge rock to fall upon its innocent body.
+
+Belle stood upright and gave vent to a loud laugh. "Oh, Nat! That is
+only a dear little worker in your garden. Why would you kill a creature
+that will gobble up your troubles?"
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded Natalie, ashamed of her groundless fears.
+
+"Why, I've read in school that grass snakes, garter snakes, and even
+black snakes, are the farmers' best friends. They eat cut-worms, clean
+off all grubs from plants, and even keep out moles, beetles, and other
+pests, that ruin vegetables."
+
+Natalie bravely turned her back upon the grass snake at this and wagged
+her head prophetically: "All the same, where a young snake like that can
+be found there must be a big parent, too."
+
+"Doubtless, but the parent snake can kill off ten times as many pests as
+a baby snake, so don't go and kill it when it hurries to your cornfield
+to catch a field-mouse," laughed Belle.
+
+As Belle started back for the rocking-chair to continue her mental
+planning, she saw Frances' car approach swiftly from the Corners.
+
+"Oh, goody! She has a passenger!" shouted Belle to Norma as she ran past
+the flower beds.
+
+Norma dropped her trowel and fork and raced after Belle to the gate to
+watch the private jitney go past. But Sam stopped in front of the gate
+and Frances beckoned to the girls.
+
+As Belle ran out to see what was wanted of them, a well-dressed lady,
+seated in the tonneau, smiled and said:
+
+"I alighted at Greenville by mistake. I was directed to a country place
+beyond White Plains, where I hear I can buy some antiques. I am in the
+business in New York, but I haven't time now to wait for another train
+and go on to visit this lady. Your young friend here thought the one
+named Belle might possibly undertake this commission for me, as she was
+at liberty to sell her time. Which of you is Belle?"
+
+Belle immediately signified that she was the one, and the lady
+continued: "I believe you know something of antique furniture and
+china?"
+
+"Something--because I started a little collection of my own at home. I
+have read many books to be had at the Library on the subject and can
+tell a Wedgewood jug or bowl or a Staffordshire plate, as readily as
+anyone. I also know the different Colonial period furniture when I see
+any."
+
+"Splendid! Then you can act as my agent up here, if you will. I must get
+back to keep an appointment in New York at two o'clock, but you can hunt
+up this old farmhouse for me that is somewhere west of Pleasantville, on
+a road that is described accurately on this map," said the stranger, as
+she unfolded a paper and glanced at it to see that it was the right one.
+This was handed to Belle, and the lady continued:
+
+"If you find anything there--or at any place in this section of the
+country--such as brasses, dishes, furniture, or pictures, telephone me
+at my business address and I will make an appointment to meet you
+wherever it is. Will you consider it?"
+
+"I should like nothing better, if you think I can do it for you,"
+returned Belle, delighted at the prospect.
+
+"I think you can, and for this service I will pay you for the time you
+actually give to the pursuit. Also I will pay for the hire of the car,
+as I explained to this young lady here.
+
+"If you can possibly find time to go to this house to-day, it will
+please me greatly, as I want information about the four-poster canopied
+bed I hear is there for sale. Telephone me full particulars after you
+come back, will you?"
+
+Belle agreed eagerly to the proposition, and the lady then mentioned the
+salary she would pay, by the hour, for this service of Belle's. Also
+Frances mentioned her charge for the use of the car, which was agreed to
+without demur.
+
+"Now I wish your man would drive me to the railway station at the
+nearest point where a train can be taken without losing more time. I do
+not care which town it is, as long as I can get back to the city before
+two o'clock."
+
+Belle was left standing speechless on the footpath as the car drove
+rapidly away, and Norma smiled happily. "Did you pray as I told you to,
+Belle?" asked she.
+
+"Uh-huh!" was all the reply Norma got, but she understood Belle's ways
+and ran back to her flowers without another word. Belle walked slowly
+toward the house to get her hat and handbag so as to start on the new
+venture as soon as Frances returned from the White Plains railroad
+station.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII--BELLE'S CHOICE OF A PROFESSION
+
+
+Solomon's Seal Patrol invited the Tenderfoot members to their camp on
+the afternoon before the Fourth of July to begin their lessons in
+scouting. Frances agreed to notify the three Greenville girls of the
+invitation and then call for them at the time appointed.
+
+Because of the afternoon to be spent at the camp, Natalie planned to
+give her entire morning to the garden. There had been enough rainfall at
+intervals, during the time she had first started her garden, to keep the
+plants sufficiently moist, but for several days, now, the sun had baked
+the soil and there had been no sign of a cloud in the sky.
+
+At breakfast that Saturday morning Natalie spoke of it. "Jimmy, my
+garden is as dry as a lime-kiln. What had I better do about it?"
+
+"You might try sprinkling it with a hose. I see there is a hydrant right
+near the box-hedge--for that very purpose, I guess."
+
+"I never thought of that! But I will need a hose," said Natalie.
+
+"I saw one in the cellar, Nat, when I was nosing about for some old
+flower-pots to cover my transplanted flowers," now remarked Norma.
+
+"Then I'll get it out right after breakfast, and see if it will screw
+onto the hydrant."
+
+Norma went with Natalie as she went down the outside cellar-steps to the
+partitioned corner where the hose had been seen. It was wound on an old
+wooden rack that could be carried up to the grass-plot and turned to
+unwind the long piece of rubber.
+
+"Isn't it great to discover this all ready for us?" said Natalie
+delightedly.
+
+"With a brass cap on one end to screw it to the hydrant, too," added
+Norma.
+
+The other girls gathered around to watch the two gardeners manipulate
+the hose, and when it had been carefully unwound Natalie dragged one end
+over to the hedge to try and screw the cap to the hydrant.
+
+This was soon accomplished, and Norma then straightened out the length
+of rubber to allow the water to flow through it more readily when
+Natalie should turn the faucet. As the unexpected advent of a garden
+hose was a cause for celebration, the four girls called to Mrs. James to
+come out and watch the sprinkler work.
+
+Rachel felt that she must be on the spot also, so she hurried out,
+wiping her wet hands on her apron as she came.
+
+"All ready, Nat,--turn on the water!" called Norma, as she picked up the
+end with the sprinkler on it.
+
+Natalie turned the brass faucet and instantly the flow of water swelled
+the hose out, but there were many punctures in its length, and one
+serious crack, so that the water spurted up through the holes and made
+graceful fountains. There was enough force of water, however, to cause a
+fine shower of water to come from the sprinkler, until suddenly, without
+warning, a sound as of a muffled explosion came, and quite near the
+sprinkler the rubber burst and shot forth a stream of water.
+
+"Wait a minit, Honey--I'll run an' git a piece of mendin' tape what I
+foun' in my kitchen closet," called Rachel, hurrying up the stoop-steps
+and disappearing through the doorway.
+
+The girls tried to stop the undesired spurt of water by placing their
+hands over the crack and on other holes in the length of the tube. Then
+Rachel appeared with the bicycle tape, and was just coming down the
+steps when Natalie called to her.
+
+Norma still held the sprinkler in her hand and now turned to see what
+Rachel had; in so doing, she unconsciously turned the end of the hose
+also, so that instantly all the girls trying to stop the leakage were
+thoroughly sprinkled.
+
+Such a screaming and shouting ensued that Norma instantly turned to see
+what had happened. This time the water drenched Mrs. James, who fled
+precipitately for the house.
+
+Rachel was haw-hawing loudly at the funny scene when Norma turned to
+explain the accident to the girls. Without warning, the shower now fell
+upon Rachel, who had approached within its radius.
+
+But the latter was not as docile about being soaked as were the girls.
+She dashed forward, caught the hose from Norma's hands and threw it upon
+the grass.
+
+"Turn dat water off at d' hydran', Natalie Av'rill!" shouted the irate
+woman.
+
+Natalie had been laughing immoderately at the outcome of the experiment
+with the hose, but she quickly obeyed Rachel's order and turned off the
+water.
+
+"You thought it was awfully funny, Rachie, until you got a soaking
+yourself," called Natalie, still giggling.
+
+"Me! I wa'n't mad, a'tall! I jes' wants to mend dis pipe, an' one cain't
+do nuthin' wid water flyin' through it at such a rate. Now I kin wrap
+dis tape aroun' it an' fix it, so's you kin water your gardens,"
+explained Rachel loftily.
+
+After this incident the hose was mended and Natalie soon had her young
+vegetables well watered and left to the mercy of the sun that day. No
+one at Green Hill Farm knew enough to advise her not to water the plants
+while the sun was shining upon them, and Natalie fondly fancied she had
+done a good thing.
+
+Norma sprinkled her flowers well when Natalie had done with the hose,
+but the flower beds were sheltered from the noonday sun, so they did not
+fare as badly as did the vegetables.
+
+Sam was in the barnyard helping Janet construct a new shed for the calf
+which she wanted to buy the next week, and he was not so well versed in
+farm-lore, so Natalie never understood why all her tender seedlings
+should wilt so quickly and seem to dry away before the afternoon heat.
+
+The tomato plants, that had been transplanted from Mr. Ames's farm, had
+grown wonderfully well, and were large enough to warrant Natalie's
+starting the frames which would be needed when the red fruit appeared on
+the vines. So she planned how to make the best kind of square frame for
+them, as she loosened the soil about the potato plants that morning.
+
+Her thoughts were so filled with the vision of the lath frames that she
+failed to see something crawling on a tiny leaf of the potato vine where
+she was hoeing. When her eye was attracted to the movement, she gave a
+slight shudder and screamed.
+
+"Wat's d' matter now?" called Rachel from the kitchen steps.
+
+"Ooh! A horrid bug on one of my dear little potato vines!" cried
+Natalie, standing still to watch the crawling beetle.
+
+Rachel hurried over to the garden. "Da's onny a tater-bug, Honey. Ain't
+chew ever hear tell of tater-bugs? Ef you'se let 'em go, dey will eat up
+all your taters in no time."
+
+As she explained, Rachel took the Colorado beetle between her fat thumb
+and forefinger and soon crushed it. Natalie shivered as she watched the
+remains flung away, but Rachel meant business and had no time for dainty
+shudderings.
+
+In a few minutes she had turned over other tiny leaves and revealed many
+bugs eating away at the juicy food. These were quickly caught and
+killed, but a few of them managed to get away by flying up out of
+Rachel's reach.
+
+Natalie stood by and watched, and when Rachel said: "Now you'se kin go
+on wid dis job. Ebery vine has to be hunted on and dem tater-bugs killed
+off."
+
+"Rachie, I just can't crush them the way you do!" complained Natalie.
+
+Rachel looked at the girl for a moment, then said: "Neber mind dis way,
+Honey. I'll git Sam to fix you up a tin can on a stick. You kin have
+some kerosene in it and brush dese pests into t' can by using a short
+stick. Dey can't fly away, when once dey fall in dat kerosene."
+
+"But Rachel, isn't there a way to keep the horrid pests away from my
+garden?" asked Natalie anxiously.
+
+"Yeh--we'se will have to squirt Paris Green or hellebore on the leaves,
+I rickon," returned Rachel thoughtfully.
+
+"Then tell Frances to buy some next time she drives past Si Tompkins'
+store," said Natalie, turning her back on the potato-beds and starting
+work on the bean-plants.
+
+The weeding had all been finished, and most of the potato-vines had been
+cleaned of the beetles, before the noonday meal was announced to the
+busy workers. They were half famished, as was usual nowadays, and
+hastened to the house to wash and clean up before appearing in the
+dining-room.
+
+Frances drove to the Corners and not only got the powder for Natalie's
+plants, but also got the two girls who were to attend the Scout meeting
+that day. Having left them at the house, she drove on to Ames's farm for
+Dorothy.
+
+Mr. Ames came out of the corn-house when he saw the car and walked over
+to speak to Frances. Dorothy was almost ready, so while there were a few
+minutes to fill, Frances told the farmer about Natalie's potato-bugs and
+the powder she bought.
+
+"Tell her to use it when the leaves are damp with dew in the mornin'--it
+has better results that time. Ef she squirts it on dry, an' the leaves
+are dry, too, the eggs won't die. It is the wet paste made on the leaves
+when the powder melts in the dew that chokes off the young so they can't
+breathe."
+
+"I'll tell her what you say," replied Frances thankfully.
+
+"An' warn her to keep an eye open fer cutworms, too, 'cause they will
+appear about these times, when beans an' young vines are becomin'
+hearty. I've hed many a fine plant of cabbitch chopped down through the
+stem, jus' as it was goin' to head."
+
+Natalie was given these advices and felt that she was being well looked
+after, with two interested farmers at hand to keep her right.
+
+The afternoon at Solomon's Seal Patrol Camp was spent in interesting
+ways. Miss Mason first read the principles of the Girl Scouts, then
+repeated the motto. Most of the girls knew the slogan, which they gave
+in unison, and then said the pledge aloud.
+
+Miss Mason then read the letter from National Headquarters which was a
+reply to her application for a Troop registration. The members of the
+first Patrol had heard its news--that they might begin their ceremonies
+as a Troop, because the application had been filed and accepted, and the
+registration would soon reach them.
+
+The new Patrol heard this with delight, and the fact that they were
+going to be actual members of a Troop made them feel that they had
+become more important to the public than ever, in the last few minutes.
+
+The new Scouts were put through several tests that afternoon, and were
+then permitted to watch the Scouts of Patrol No. 1 do many thrilling
+First Aid demonstrations. The afternoon ended with refreshments, all
+prepared and served by the girls. The cakes, wild berries and lemonade
+tasted delicious as the girls sat under the great oak tree and chatted.
+
+On the homeward walk, Nancy Sherman said to Natalie: "There are a few
+more girls at the Corners who are crazy to join the Scouts this summer.
+But I told them I thought our Patrol was full. Was that right?"
+
+"Who are the girls--and how old are they, Nancy?"
+
+"Oh, most of them are about thirteen or fourteen, but one girl is past
+fifteen. There are six, in all, and they say that they know some more
+girls who will join when they hear of it."
+
+"Why can't they start Patrol No. 3, and belong to this same Troop,"
+suggested Janet.
+
+"That's just what I was thinking," said Natalie.
+
+Then Mrs. James spoke. "Nancy, you invite all these girls to our farm
+some day and we will entertain them. After we have shown them what we
+can do in Scout work we will accept them as candidates, if they consent
+to become _our_ Tenderfoot Scouts. In this way, girls, you all can win
+the needed test to enroll as a First Class Scout when the time is at
+hand."
+
+This was an excellent idea, and the girls felt greatly encouraged at the
+hope of being able to take the examinations as First Class Scouts, of
+Patrol No. 2, of Solomon's Seal Troop.
+
+Nancy was entrusted with the invitation to the girls, and warned to keep
+secrecy about the plan to secure the approval as First Class Scouts on
+their Tenderfoot training.
+
+Sam and the car were nowhere in sight when the girls reached the house,
+but Rachel came out and explained.
+
+"A telerphone call come f'om Noo York f'om dat antique woman, sayin' fer
+Belle t' git dat ol' chest of drawers oveh by Tarrytown road, right now.
+It war to be expressed at onct to her shop in Noo York, what Belle had
+an address of, so I had Sam go along to git it an' fetch it back so's we
+coul' pack an' ship it right off."
+
+"Oh, Rachel! He need not have done that! I made all arrangements with a
+man near there to get the chest to the railroad station and express it
+to the city. I was only awaiting orders," exclaimed Belle, annoyed at
+the way her well-laid plans were upset.
+
+"I wuz thinkin', Honey, dat mebbe dat man would cost somethin' to do t'
+wuk, an' Sam ain't doin' nuthin' whiles he's waitin' fer orders. So yuh
+oughta get dat money foh yo'se'f."
+
+Belle had not thought of this, and now she saw that Sam and Rachel were
+planning for her benefit. But Frances said: "How is he ever going to
+carry the chest if it is a big affair?"
+
+"It isn't, Frans," said Belle. "It is a low-boy that will easily go in
+the tonneau, and no harm come to the car."
+
+"Then I think Sam's plan was good. It saved you time and expense," said
+Mrs. James.
+
+"Yes, and I must share the charges the man would have asked me, with
+Sam," said Belle.
+
+This pleased Rachel immensely,--that her kin should be commended and
+given a share in the profits. She felt amply repaid for all the
+solicitude she had felt about the order.
+
+The Solomon's Seal Tenderfoot Scouts had to walk home that day to the
+Corners, as Sam was not expected back in time to drive them home. The
+Green Hill girls accompanied their fellow-members to the gate and
+watched them depart.
+
+That evening Sam told Belle that he would build her a strong crate from
+some old wood found in the barn, and the chest could be taken to White
+Plains station early Monday. This plan would save time, and also the
+cost of crating and expressage if done at Tarrytown. So the chauffeur
+was highly commended for the suggestion and told to do it as soon as he
+could.
+
+The experiences of Belle that summer in hunting antiques in the
+Westchester Hill farms were most interesting, but no room can be spared
+in this book for the telling of her adventures. So that must wait for a
+volume on her exploits.
+
+As the next day was Sunday, Natalie did not do any garden work, but
+Janet had to attend to her farmyard stock the same as on week-days. She
+grumbled a great deal over the cares and endless work of a stock-farmer,
+but the girls noticed that she was daily planning to add to her troubles
+by buying additions.
+
+The girls were seated under the large sugar maple on the side lawn,
+waiting for Janet to finish her feeding of the pigs and chickens, when a
+siren was heard. Natalie jumped up and saw a car approaching along the
+road. A party of ladies were with the man who drove the machine.
+
+"Oh, I do believe it is Mr. Marvin, girls!" called Natalie.
+
+"What!" cried Mrs. James in consternation. "Just look at us all--in our
+old clothes!"
+
+But the automobile was already at the gate, and the girls found to their
+delight that he had brought out their mothers.
+
+It seemed like ages since they had seen each other. The girls talked
+eagerly of all that had happened since they came to Green Hill. Norma
+showed her flower beds, which really were looking good. And Belle told
+about her antique collecting. Frances displayed with pride the sum of
+money already earned with her private jitney, and Janet took the
+greatest satisfaction in escorting her younger sister Helene and the
+ladies to the barnyard to see her stock. Natalie, last of all, showed
+her gardens, which looked as neat as a row of pins.
+
+Mr. Marvin complimented the girls on all their work, and then spoke of
+the roses in Natalie's cheeks and the difference in her general physical
+looks.
+
+"I suppose you are going to stay to dinner, aren't you?" ventured
+Natalie cautiously.
+
+"No; we are invited to dine with some friends quite near Green Hill
+Farm, but we thought we ought to stop in and see you before we go on to
+our hostess's place," said Mr. Marvin.
+
+"I never knew you people were acquainted with anyone around here," said
+Janet, wonderingly, to her mother.
+
+"We are, however. A young lady we know well in the city is summering in
+Greenville, and we came to visit her and her family."
+
+Neither of the girls dreamed that Mrs. Wardell was referring to Miss
+Mason and her Troop, so they kept guessing who the acquaintance might
+be. Finally Mr. Marvin laughed and told the secret.
+
+Natalie laughed, too, and said: "Well, we certainly were thick-witted
+that time. We might have known it was Miss Mason's camp."
+
+Mr. Marvin could not take his eyes from Natalie, she was so different
+from the girl he had always known in the city. As she told of the
+adventures she and the girls had with their "professions" and the funny
+experiences with the old garden hose, her face was so alive with healthy
+interest and her eyes sparkled with such fun, that everyone saw the
+benefit the country life had been to her.
+
+Later, as they all started for Solomon's Seal Camp, Mr. Marvin confided
+to Mrs. James: "She is so changed that I do not dread her return to the
+city again. She hasn't spoken one morbid word, nor seemed pessimistic
+once, since I've been here."
+
+"She isn't, either," admitted Mrs. James. "Ever since she started work
+on that garden she has mentioned nothing that has happened in the past
+to cause her sorrow. I sometimes wonder if she has forgotten it all."
+
+"Let's hope so. These mournful remembrances never do anyone the
+slightest good. Don't revive them in her memory."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV--VISITORS AND WELCOME ORDERS
+
+
+That afternoon at the Scout Camp taught the city visitors many things
+about the outdoor life that now interested their girls. Then when it was
+time for Mr. Marvin to drive home, he suddenly remembered something most
+important.
+
+"How could it have slipped my mind?" said he, as he took several folded
+papers from his breast pocket.
+
+He adjusted his glasses and read: "Miss Norma Evaston, Floriculturist,
+Green Hill, Greenville, New York."
+
+This long paper was handed to Norma who opened it with much curiosity.
+She glanced at it and then exclaimed in surprise,
+
+"Oh, splendid! What does it mean?"
+
+"Well, I'll tell you. I told a few friends of your idea of keeping their
+office desks refreshed with old-fashioned flowers during the summer, and
+each one signified a desire to be placed on your customer list. So, you
+see, when the plants blossom, many of us will expect bouquets."
+
+And then Mr. Marvin handed Belle a paper. She almost forgot her dignity
+in her joy.
+
+"Mr. Marvin authorizes me to find him an old Colonial secretaire with
+diamond-paned glass in the upper doors, and the old urn and balls
+crowning the top. I'm sure I know just where to get such an one!"
+
+"I want a mahogany one, Belle, and I am not particular about the cost,
+either. The condition of it will govern the price," explained the
+lawyer.
+
+Janet frowned over the paper which Mr. Marvin now gave her. "What's the
+matter with your order, Janet?" asked Helene.
+
+"Why, here I have orders for fresh eggs and broilers every week, and the
+horrid old hens won't lay a single egg. Three of them insist upon
+setting, and I can't keep them away from the nests that have China decoy
+eggs in them. The silly old things just set on them and chuckle with
+satisfaction. If I shoo them away, they make the _most_ fuss!"
+
+Everyone laughed at Janet's trials, but Mr. Marvin said, "That order
+stands good for all season, Janet. When your hens do begin to lay,
+you'll have to ship the eggs by the car-load."
+
+"How about an order for me?" called Natalie, seeing a paper in Mr.
+Marvin's hand.
+
+"'Last but not least,'" laughed he. "We have all voted to turn
+vegetarians after this, just to order your crops, Natalie. Here is an
+order for our winter potatoes, all the sweet corn you have left to sell,
+and other fresh things."
+
+Natalie laughed and opened her paper. She laughed still louder as she
+read the orders given her to fill at some future date.
+
+Then the city visitors said good-by. As Mr. Marvin started the engine,
+he called back over his shoulder: "A month from to-day I am coming out
+with a truck for deliveries."
+
+The girls laughed and waved their hands at him, and soon the car was out
+of sight. Then they sat down to discuss the marvellous opportunity given
+them by Mr. Marvin.
+
+After a time, Sam sauntered up to the side piazza and waited for an
+opportunity to speak to Mrs. James. Seeing him anxiously awaiting his
+chance, she smiled.
+
+"What rests so heavily on your conscience, Sam?"
+
+"I jus' walked down Miss Natalie's garden path to have a look at her
+wegetables, an' I see dem brush peas is 'way up. She oughta get her
+brush to-morrer, sure, er she'll have trouble makin' t' vines cling. Ef
+she says t' word, I'll go an' cut down some good brush in t' woodland
+afore she gets up in t' mornin' an' have it ready to use when she comes
+out."
+
+"Oh, Sam! Will you, please? I didn't know those peas needed anything to
+hold to. I wasn't sure whether I planted the dwarf peas first, or the
+climbing variety," exclaimed Natalie.
+
+"That ain't all, either, Miss Nat," added Sam seriously. "I saw you got
+lima beans planted in one bed, an' no poles on hand fer 'em. Did you
+order any bean poles f'om Ames?"
+
+"Bean poles! Why, no!" returned Natalie.
+
+The girls laughed at her surprise, but Sam continued:
+
+"How did you 'speckt the vines to clim'?"
+
+"I never knew they did climb! I thought they just naturally grew and
+branched out and bore beans," explained Natalie, to the great amusement
+of Mrs. James and the girls.
+
+"Well, den, I'd better hunt up some decent poles, too, in t' woods, eh?"
+asked Sam.
+
+"Would you have to cut down any good trees?"
+
+"I'd choose any what looked sickly, er maybe some dead young trees.
+Don't worry 'bout me choppin' down any fine ones."
+
+"Say, Nat, I think it will be fun for us all to go with Sam in the
+morning before breakfast, and help cut the brush and bean poles,"
+suggested Janet.
+
+"I'm willin'," said Sam, smiling at the girls.
+
+So the five girls went with Sam at sunrise the next morning, and by
+breakfast-time, Natalie had sufficient poles and brush at her garden
+beds to help all the peas and beans she could find room for that year.
+
+The stock-grower and florist, and even the antiquarian, took such an
+interest in sticking the brush into the garden for the peas and helping
+the tendrils cling to their new support, that they left their own tasks
+undone.
+
+Sam had driven Frances in the car to the store after breakfast, so he
+was not around when the girls planted the bean poles. He had not pointed
+out the particular bed where the limas were growing, as he thought, of
+course, that Natalie knew. But she had not followed Mrs. James' advice
+given a few weeks before, when the seed was sown--to register each bed
+with the ticket of the vegetable that was planted there. Now she had to
+depend on her own memory to determine which of the different plants were
+beans.
+
+The three other girls carried the poles where she directed, and
+carefully walked on the boards Natalie laid down for their feet, to keep
+the beds from being trodden while they dug holes and firmly placed a
+seven-foot pole in each hill of beans.
+
+"There now, don't they look business-like?" exulted Natalie, as she
+surveyed with pride the rows of bean poles.
+
+Sam stopped the automobile near the side porch just after Natalie made
+this remark, and seeing the girls still at the garden, he hurried there
+to see if he could help them in any way.
+
+"All done, Sam! Aren't the poles nice?" exclaimed Natalie.
+
+"Yeh, Miss Natalie, the poles is nice enough, but you ain't got 'em
+planted in the lima-bean garden," said Sam slowly, so as to break the
+news gently.
+
+"What?" cried three girls in one voice.
+
+"Nah. Them green plants is dwarf string-beans, and t' lima beans is on
+the other side."
+
+"Oh goodness' sake!" wailed Natalie, sitting down plump on the radish
+bed. "All that work done for nothing?"
+
+Norma and Belle frowned at the poles, but Janet laughed. "If this isn't
+the funniest thing, yet!" she exclaimed.
+
+The greater part of the morning had passed before the error made in the
+garden had been corrected. Natalie was so tired by the time she reached
+the house that she dropped wearily upon the steps and sighed.
+
+Mrs. James came out upon the piazza when she saw her approaching the
+house, and at the sigh she said: "What's wrong?"
+
+"Oh, that horrid old garden is _such_ a care! I wish to goodness I had
+chosen stock-raising instead. Then I could have had the pleasure of
+watching the little things run about and show their gratitude when one
+feeds them. But lifeless old seeds and expressionless vegetables are
+such uninteresting things to work for!"
+
+Mrs. James understood that something had gone awry, so she wisely
+remarked: "Oh, I don't know! Janet seems to have as much trouble with
+her stock as anyone has with other work."
+
+"Well, she doesn't have to dig holes and plant bean poles for her pigs
+to climb up on!"
+
+Mrs. James barely kept from laughing outright at the funny excuse given.
+But she replied: "Janet had a dreadful time just now, trying to catch
+two of the little pigs that escaped and started to run down the road."
+
+"No,--really!" exclaimed Natalie, sitting up with great animation.
+"Where is she now?"
+
+"Trying to repair the fence that they broke down. They are growing so
+big and strong that the rickety enclosure she made at first will never
+keep them in, now."
+
+"I just hope they get away and give her a chase all the way to the
+Corners!" cried Natalie.
+
+"Why should you wish such hard luck for poor Janet?" asked Mrs. James,
+laughingly.
+
+"Because she laughed at my bean poles and refused to help us dig them up
+again."
+
+"Dig them up again! Did you bury them?"
+
+Then Natalie found she had made an admission that would have to be
+explained.
+
+"No, not buried them, but we mistook the plants. It was such an easy
+thing to do--to believe the string-beans were limas, you know."
+
+"Oh! Then you never followed my advice about tagging the different
+beds."
+
+But Natalie did not reply.
+
+The following morning, Janet asked Frances to inquire if there was a
+package for her at the post-office, as it should have arrived several
+days before.
+
+"Is it a big package?" asked Frances.
+
+"No, it's a book that I ordered from the city. It's all about raising
+things. Not that I need to find out about chickens and pigs, but I
+expect to buy that calf from Mr. Ames, and Belle saw some sheep in a
+pasture up in the Hills the other day, when she was hunting for
+antiques. I am wondering if they are difficult to raise. That is why I
+want the book."
+
+The book arrived that morning, and Janet straightway applied herself to
+studying its pages, in order to learn what other farmyard animals she
+could keep that would not give her too much trouble, and repay her for
+the expense incurred.
+
+The result of that reading was to rouse Janet's growing ambition to
+fever-heat. She determined upon a plan by which she could borrow the
+capital from her father and buy her stock without further loss of time.
+But her experiences are told in the volume following this one, called
+"Janet: a Stock-Farm Scout."
+
+Natalie's garden beds began to look most flourishing, for every seed had
+sprouted and the transplanted greens were growing like wildfire. She
+began to figure ahead to find how soon she might gather crops, but she
+kept this vision a secret, as she knew the girls would tease if they
+heard of it.
+
+The very impressive paper that conveyed the rights of Solomon's Seal
+Troop to take its place in the Girl Scout Organization arrived that
+week, also, so that Natalie realized that great things were already
+growing out of her coming to Green Hill Farm that summer. But how they
+multiplied and developed thrilling experiences will be narrated in the
+second volume of this Girl Scout Country Life Series.
+
+                                THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Natalie: A Garden Scout, by Lillian Elizabeth Roy
+
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