THE SCOUTS ARRIVE
Great was the surprise of the girls when the next afternoon they beheld
walking towards the Camp two young men in Scout costume. They were none
other than Harvey Bigelow and young Teddy Kip, the Master and assistant
Scout Master of the “Flying Eagles” Scout Patrol. Each wore a small
flag, and upon a red ground was a black and white eagle. As they
advanced they gave their cry—“Yeh—yeh—yeh!”
“Oh! Harvey,” screamed Ethel, and rushed forward, greeting them warmly.
Then Cousin Kate came and welcomed them cordially, introducing them to
the nine girls.
“Why, Mrs. Hollister,” said Harvey, catching sight of her in her tent,
“it does seem good to see you here,” and he gazed at her thoughtfully
and curiously. “’Pon my word you’ve grown so young I thought you were
Ethel at first.”
She wore one of her daughter’s costumes and really she did look
wonderfully youthful.
“Well, you can’t complain. The Camp life has done you some good, and
there you were so down on it.”
“Yes, I was, but people change. Look at yourself,” replied she
seriously.
“Mrs. Hollister,” said he, “I’ve been here only one week, but I already
feel that I’m another man. It’s splendid for both boy and girl. It’s a
boon to be able to get away from city people and fashionable resorts.
Nan has put up a big fight and, Ethel, she’s coming out to see you next
month,” he said.
“Oh, how lovely! Kate, hear this: Nannie Bigelow is coming here to see
us next month.”
“I shall be here until the middle,” said Harvey, “and she’ll go home
with us. I’ve an aunt in Springfield and she’ll go there for a visit
first. After that she’ll come on here and spend a few days if you girls
want her to.”
“I’m so glad,” said Ethel, and she ran to tell her mother.
Teddy Kip was a handsome lad of about eighteen. Immediately Patty Sands
suggested that he must see everything, so she took him off under her
wing. The rest sat on the ground while Harvey related several anecdotes
and funny experiences that had befallen his patrol since they came to
Camp.
“Now you must stay and dine with us,” said Kate. “Our cooking may not
surprise you, as it is the Scouts’ way as well, but we’ll give you a
change—a shore dinner. Father sent up some very fresh clams. We’ll steam
them, and we’ll have roasted potatoes, corn, and broiled chicken, a
little salad and a ripe watermelon to finish.”
“Well, I declare—’pon my word, one might imagine himself in Rhode
Island. We’ll stay,” and he smacked his lips.
“Nora, will you take Mr. Bigelow and show him our cellar. And the
boys—perhaps they’ll help us to prepare our meal,” said Kate.
The young fellows were delighted to help the girls. Nora arose slowly
and Harvey followed.
Kate remarked to Ethel that Nora had changed so since her mother’s death
and asked her if she had noticed it.
“Yes, I do notice that she seems more quiet,” replied Ethel.
“But you still dislike her though?” asked Kate.
“I don’t know,” replied Ethel. “I’m ashamed to admit it, Cousin Kate,
but I can never seem to overcome that antipathy to her. If only her
voice would lower a little, and if she’d cease to come up and slap one
on the back I might feel differently, but she’s so rough and
unladylike.”
“Ethel, environments may have had much to do with that. She seems to
love your mother. But here comes Patty with young Kip.”
“What a dandy site you have here for a Camp,” said the young man. “Gee!
it’s choice. It beats ours.”
When dinner was ready how they ate! They pronounced it equal to the best
shore dinner ever prepared, and when finished there was nothing left
excepting clam shells and corn cobs.
That was Mrs. Hollister’s last day in Camp. She had been with the girls
for two weeks. After leaving Camp she was to spend half of her time with
Kate’s parents and the remaining with Aunt Susan.
Harvey and Teddy stayed until nearly five o’clock, and it was with
regret on both sides that they had to go.
The next day being Sunday, Kate read the prayers while they all sung
several hymns, after which each girl was left to do as she chose. Ethel
proposed to ride horseback. Several joined together and hired a
buckboard for the afternoon.
“We’ll meet you at the Lake,” they said to Ethel, and off they went.
It was a warm afternoon. The sky looked alternately bright, then cloudy,
but they started not minding though it rained.
Nora declined to join the buckboard party and strolled off by herself.
She looked almost pretty in her clean, white linen suit and her hair
tightly bound by a broad black ribbon. The goldenrod and sumac were
opening, but the summer flowers looked old and tired, as though they
needed new gowns and freshening up a bit. The girl thought of how alone
she was and sighed. Then her mother came into her mind. To think that
she had to be taken while so young—not yet forty-five, and the tears
rolled down her cheeks. But “Thank God,” she thought, “I never caused
her any unhappiness, and I still have my dear, kind father,” and Nora
wiped her eyes. “It’s Miss Ethel who dislikes me. No matter what I say
to her nor how friendly I am, she won’t like me. And when I try to joke
or do her a little kindness, if she smiles sure her smile chills me.
It’s like a piece of ice going down me back. And her ‘thank you, Honora’
is as cold as charity. I like her mother the best. And yet Miss Ethel
kissed me goodbye at the train last summer; but she was kissing everyone
and I suppose she had to kiss me, for she’s too much of a lady to slight
a body. Yet she’d be glad to see the last of me—that I know.”
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