THE GIRLS VOTE “AYE”.
“Before I take up the plan outlined by Mrs. Hutchins and her lawyer,”
Katherine continued, as she unfolded the paper, “I want to explain one
circumstance that might be confusing if left unexplained. As I said, the
uncle and aunt who have Glen in charge live in Baltimore. They do not
own any real estate, but rent a rather expensive apartment, which they
never could support on the family income aside from the monthly payments
received from Mrs. Hutchins as trustee of Glen’s estate. This family’s
name is Graham, and its head, James Graham, is a bookkeeper receiving a
salary of about $1,800 a year. In these war times, when the cost of
living is so high, that is a very moderate salary on which to support a
family of six: father, mother, two girls and two boys, including Glen.
“But this family, according to reports that have reached Mrs. Hutchins,
is living in clover. Mr. Graham, who is a hard working man, still holds
his bookkeeping position, but in this instance it is a case of
‘everybody loafs but father.’ He is said to be a very much henpecked
husband. Mrs. Graham is said to be the financial dictator of the family.
“Now, Mrs. Graham seems to be a woman of much social ambition. Among the
necessaries of the best social equipment, you know, is a summer cottage
in a society summer resort with sufficient means to support it
respectably and leisure in the summer to spend at the resort. It is said
that the Grahams have all this. They have purchased or leased a cottage
at Twin Lakes, which you know is only about a hundred miles from
Hiawatha Institute. I think that every one of us has been there at one
time or another. It is about three hundred miles from here.
“What Mrs. Hutchins wants us to do is to make a trip to Twin Lakes,
pitch our tents and start a Camp Fire program just as if we were there
to put in a season of recreation and honor work. But meanwhile, she
wants us to become acquainted with the Graham family, cultivate an
intimacy with them, if you please, and be able to report back to her
just what conditions we find in their family circle, just how Glen is
treated, and whether or not he gets reasonable benefits from the money
given to the Grahams for his support and education.
“I have given you in detail, I think, what is outlined on this paper I
hold in my hand. I don’t think I have left out anything except the names
of the children of the Graham family. But there are no names at all on
this paper. The reason for this is that it was thought best not to
disclose the identity of the family for the information of any other
person into whose hands it might fall, if it should be lost by us. The
names are indicated thus: ‘A’ stands for the oldest member of the
family, Mrs. Graham, for she is two years older than her husband and the
real head of the household; ‘B’ stands for the next younger, Mr. Graham;
‘C’ stands for Addie, the oldest daughter; ‘D’ for the next daughter,
Olga; ‘E’ for the only son, James, named after his father; and ‘F’
stands for Glen. There, you have the whole proposition. What do you want
to do with it? Mrs. Hutchins, I neglected to mention, wants to pay all
of our expenses and hire help to take off our hands all the labor of
moving our camp.”
Replies were not slow coming. Nearly every one of the girls had
something to say, as indicated by the eager attitudes of all and
requests from several to be recognized by the Guardian, who was “in the
chair.” Azalia Atwood was the first one called upon.
“I think the proposition of Mrs. Hutchins is simply great,” the latter
declared with vim. “It’s delightfully romantic, sounds like a story with
a plot, and would make fourteen heroines out of us if we were successful
in our mission.”
“I want to warn you against one danger,” Miss Ladd interposed at this
point. “The natural thing for you to do at the start, after hearing this
lengthy indictment of the Graham family, is to conclude that they are a
bad lot and to feel an eagerness to set out to prove it. Now, I admit
that that is my feeling in this matter, but I know also that there is a
possibility of mistake. The Grahams may be high class people, but they
may have enemies who are trying to injure them. If you take up the
proposition of Mrs. Hutchins, you must keep this possibility in mind,
for unless you do, you might do not only the Grahams a great injustice,
but little Glen as well. It would be a pity to tear him away from a
perfectly good home that has been vilified by false accusations made by
unscrupulous enemies.”
The discussion was continued for nearly an hour, the written
instructions in Katherine’s possession were read aloud and then a vote
was taken. It was unanimous, in favor of performing the task proposed by
Mrs. Hutchins.
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