AFTER THE MEETING
As soon as the opening ceremony was over, and John Hadley stepped
forward to speak, he looked eagerly around the audience for Marjorie.
But he was not able to locate her immediately; in fact, it was not
until the boys had begun to semaphore, that he recognized her earnest,
up-turned face.
Neither he nor Marjorie showed by their faces that they had ever seen
each other before, but John waited impatiently for the meeting to be
over, so that he might have a chance to talk with the girl who had
occupied so much of his thoughts during the past days.
When Miss Allen had said that the Girl Scout candidates had already
been chosen, and that they were to meet the Boy Scouts for a few
moments after the demonstration, John felt sure that he would see
Marjorie. For certainly she would be among those selected. Jack had
often told him of his sister’s love of the out-of-doors; and the
interest she had expressed in scout affairs at the dance assured him
that she was just the type of girl to become a Girl Scout.
So, when Miss Allen introduced the seven girls on the way to the gym,
it was with a feeling of keen disappointment that John realized that
Marjorie was not one of them. Recognizing the ΦΑΒ sophomores that he
had met at the dance, he went up and spoke to Ethel.
After they had exchanged the usual greetings, he tried to ask as
casually as possible, “Where is Marjorie Wilkinson? Isn’t she a
candidate for the scout troop?”
“No,” replied Ethel, “unfortunately she isn’t!”
“Why not?” asked John in surprise. “I thought she would be just the
sort of girl to go in for a thing like this!”
“She is--she’s very athletic. She made the school hockey team, which is
a big honor for a freshman. But Miss Allen made other qualifications.”
By this time, the party had reached the gymnasium, and their
conversation was interrupted while Miss Phillips invited everybody
to dance. Before John had a chance to ask Ethel for the dance, David
Conner had claimed her, and he was forced to find another partner.
But they did not dance long, for Miss Phillips had some questions she
wished to ask the Boy Scouts. During the brief intermission that
followed, John again sought Ethel.
While he was turning over in his mind an easy way to bring the
conversation back to Marjorie, Lily approached with ice-cream and cake.
“Miss Andrews is Marjorie’s room-mate,” said Ethel, while Lily was
serving them. “She can tell you all about her.” Then turning to Lily,
she explained, “Mr. Hadley was wondering why Marjorie isn’t a candidate
for the troop, and I started to explain. But won’t you sit down here,
so that I can see if Miss Phillips needs me?”
Lily took Ethel’s place, and explained about her room-mate’s Latin.
After the young people had finished their ice-cream, Miss Phillips
asked everybody to move their chairs into a circle, so that the
conversation might become general. She asked John all sorts of
questions about the conducting of meetings, and troop affairs, and the
girls listened with interest to his replies.
“We would like a spirit of friendly rivalry between the troops,”
he said. “We might have contests in such things as signalling and
knot-tying.”
“Not very soon!” laughed Miss Phillips. “I am afraid it will be a good
while before we can compete with you!”
“Won’t you tell us about camping?” asked Frances. “What do we have to
take with us, and about how much does it cost?”
John hesitated. “It would be easier to show you, Miss Wright, when you
come out to our cabin for a visit. We’ll fix a date for a party, as
soon as your troop is established.”
The girls exclaimed enthusiastically over the plan, and asked more
questions about the cabin.
“Do you have qualifications to join your troop like we do?” inquired
Lily.
“We certainly do!” said John emphatically; “but they’re a little
different from yours; every three months we have what we call a B.
S. Candidate test. To pass this a fellow has to make flower and leaf
collections, and know how to identify a certain number of birds, and
answer all sorts of questions besides. Then if he passes that test,
he has to spend a night alone in the cabin. He’s allowed a gun, and
as there really aren’t any tramps around to be afraid of, it’s pretty
safe.”
“Except for the ghosts,” interrupted David. “Most all the boys report
that they saw something mysterious.”
At this point, Miss Phillips invited the boys to inspect the swimming
pool, and the conversation lost its general tone.
John walked with Lily.
“It must be terribly exciting to stay all night alone in that cabin,”
she said, “but I’m afraid I’d be too scared to try it.”
“Oh, I guess most girls would!”
“I bet Ruth Henry wouldn’t, though! She’d try most anything!”
“Ruth Henry?” repeated John; “that name sounds familiar.”
“Most likely you have heard Marjorie speak of her. She’s a friend from
her town.”
“No, but I have heard Jack Wilkinson mention her. But she can’t be a
very intimate friend, for she wasn’t at the dance!”
“Neither was I,” said Lily, good-naturedly; “and I count myself a very
intimate friend of Marjorie’s! But she only invited the ΦΑΒ girls to
that house party!”
“Oh!” said John significantly. “And how is ΦΑΒ?”
“Dying; the Girl Scouts put it out of business.”
“I should think they would! What does Marjorie think of that?”
“She resigned long ago.”
“Good for her!” said John. “Well, I wish she was a Girl Scout. It’s my
last year at Episcopal, and if I don’t see her this year, I guess I
never will. Will you give her my regards?” he added, hesitatingly.
“Surely,” said Lily. “And what are you planning to do next year, Mr.
Hadley?”
“Princeton, I think,” he said, “though I’m not quite sure.”
By the time the scouts had completed their tour of inspection, it was
ten o’clock, and they said good-bye to the girls and hurried off to get
their things. Lily ran up to her room as fast as she could, to tell
Marjorie the news.
“Did he really ask about me?” asked her room-mate, trying to appear
disinterested.
“Yes, and he seemed so disappointed that you weren’t in the troop!”
“Tell me all about it,” said Marjorie; and Lily complied with her
request, carrying on one of those one-sided conversations about “what
_he_ said,” that girls all love to hold with each other.
“But I didn’t tell him how soon you would be a Girl Scout,” she
concluded.
“If I only am!” sighed Marjorie. “It seems to me I never wanted
anything so much in my life!”
“Well, keep on studying, and it won’t be long now till the next Latin
test, and that will surely give you the chance you have been waiting
for!”