PREPARATIONS
The Scott house was a scene of great activity on the morning following
the party. John Hadley, who took upon himself to assume the leadership
of the boys, and Jack Wilkinson, an able lieutenant, had put their heads
together on the way home the night before. Before taking leave of the
other boys, John cautioned them to get excused from work—it was
Saturday, and a half holiday—and to be on hand early. “Wear your old
clothes,” he warned them. Having the keys in their possession, he and
Jack accompanied by Mrs. Hadley, were the first to arrive. Like a good
commander, John had planned ahead—in his Ford he had a collection of
buckets, scrub-brushes, brooms, and other implements with which to give
the place a thorough scouring. The other boys, arriving soon after, and
seeing the array of implements lined upon the porch, realized that they
had not come to play.
Consequently, when the girls came to the scene of action in Lily’s car
about an hour later, they found the work progressing rapidly under the
direction of Mrs. Hadley. The windows all over the house were open wide
to admit the air and sunshine. A medley of sounds greeted their ears:
singing, whistling, the boys’ voices calling back and forth in the empty
house. But over all the swish of the broom and the scrub-brush
predominated.
The appearance of the girls caused a momentary cessation in the work.
John and Jack, who had been removing the barricade of boards from the
lower windows and doors and were storing them in the stable, came around
to the front of the house; boys’ heads appeared at the windows here and
there. And when Marjorie, who was the first out of the car, ran up the
porch steps, Mrs. Hadley stepped from the doorway to welcome her.
Looking inside, the girl saw the two new boys, Pierce Ellison and Eugene
Schofield, grinning out at her, their hands laden with soap, cleaning
rags, and scrub-brushes.
“Behold! The Gold Dust Twins!” cried Lily.
“But you have progressed marvellously!” exclaimed Marjorie.
“Regular Brownies, cleaning up while we slept,” said Ethel.
“Girls, before we do another thing, let’s go on a tour of inspection,”
suggested Marjorie. “I want to see everything.”
So they went about examining the house, while the boys went back to work
again.
The double doors opened upon a wide central hallway, from which the
stairway in the rear led to the apartments above; on each side was a
large, high-ceilinged room, with windows extending to the floor, and a
fire-place in the corner.
“We must certainly take this room on the left, with the side entrance
from the garden, for the tea-room,” remarked Marjorie. “The lay-out
could not be more suitable. Evidently the Scotts used it for their
dining-room, for here is a breakfast room and kitchen adjoining. We
could fix up the living-room as a sort of rest-room, where people could
sit for awhile after having tea.”
When they passed into the kitchen they examined everything with close
attention, almost as if they were practiced housekeepers.
“Isn’t it lucky to find a gas stove!” cried Ethel joyfully. “Of course
it’s fearfully dirty—”
“But the boys can clean it!” laughed Florence. “Isn’t that what you were
thinking?”
“Yes, I guess it was,” admitted the other.
“But don’t you wish they had left us some pots and pans!” sighed Lily,
surveying the empty closet in dismay.
“No, because they’d be terribly rusty,” replied Marjorie. “But I tell
you what I do wish—that Doris were home to help us. She could give us so
many suggestions—and tell us about prices.”
“I can tell you that much!” remarked Florence. “They’re out of sight!”
“You’re always so optimistic, Flos!” said Alice.
The girls stepped out on the back porch for a minute, and then,
returning through the hall, took a peep at the cellar. But it appeared
dark and forbidding.
“That must be where the ghost lives!” remarked Marie Louise, with a
shudder. “Don’t let’s go down!”
“Just as you say!” laughed Marjorie. “Now for the upstairs.”
After a brief inspection of the second floor they returned to Mrs.
Hadley who was waiting for them on the porch, with her notebook in hand.
They all grouped themselves about her on the steps.
“Do you like it?” she asked, smiling into their enthusiastic faces.
“Adore it!” cried Marjorie, feeling that no words could be too
superlative. “And when it gets fixed up—”
“Well, that is what we’re here for!” replied Mrs. Hadley. “Now let’s get
down to business. First of all, I think you ought to elect a treasurer—”
“Oh, we wouldn’t consider anybody but Marj!” interrupted Lily. “Isn’t
that so, girls?”
“It certainly is!” shouted two or three at the same time.
“Then that’s settled,” said the older woman. “I do hope you dispose of
everything as quickly.”
“We will!” returned Alice. “Just watch us!”
“Well, I have jotted down the things to be considered, and I thought we
might give one responsibility to each girl—and vote her so much money.
The biggest job of course is furnishing—and dishes; then there is
decoration—menus, and sign, and so forth; then hiring a cook and getting
the gas and electricity turned on; then advertising; and finally, buying
the food and supplies. Can anybody think of anything else?”
“I certainly think you have covered everything,” said Marjorie,
admiringly. “Now—do you think five hundred dollars will be enough?”
Mrs. Hadley did not answer immediately, and the girls waited nervously
for her opinion.
“It will have to be,” she said. “In fact, four hundred will have to be
enough, because you ought to keep a hundred in bank, to run on.”
“But everything is so dreadfully expensive!” Florence reminded them
again.
“How many rooms do you plan to furnish?” asked Mrs. Hadley.
“The porch and dining-room with tables and chairs, and the rest-room
with wicker furniture and grass rugs,” said Marjorie.
“And that,” observed Ethel, “could use up the four hundred alone!”
“Oh, no!” objected Marjorie. “Surely not! We’ll shop around.”
“A good shingle is expensive, too,” observed Mrs. Hadley. “At least, if
it is painted to order.”
“I think I could do that!” offered Marie Louise, shyly. “Provided one of
the boys would cut out the wood for me.”
“John will,” said Marjorie. “He loves to do work like that.”
“And you could paint the menu cards, too, couldn’t you?” asked Ethel.
“It’s wonderful to have an artist in the crowd, isn’t it?”
They talked for awhile longer, apportioning the duties and the money,
but deciding to do nothing about making purchases until Monday morning;
for, as Mrs. Hadley reminded them, Saturday was an unsatisfactory day to
shop. She herself promised to interview a cook—a girl named Anna
Benton—that afternoon; for she wanted to secure her immediately before
someone else captured her. And, as she assured them, this girl was just
the person they wanted.
They found plenty to do over the week-end, and enjoyed some delightful
rides in both Lily’s and John’s machines, but Marjorie was glad when
Monday morning came, that she might go into her work in earnest. She and
Ethel had been delegated to purchase the furniture, and for this purpose
had been assigned the sum of two hundred dollars. It seemed like a
fortune to Marjorie.
“It would be nice if we didn’t have to use it all,” remarked Marjorie,
as they entered one of the large department stores; “so that we could
save some for flowers. I love to see them in a tea-room.”
“Yes, so do I,” agreed Ethel. “And the boys promised to take care of the
garden if we get it started.”
“What’s the idea for the tea-room furniture?” asked Marjorie.
“Oh, painted, of course! Some light color—with flower decorations, if
possible.”
“It would be nice if we could get pansies,” remarked Marjorie.
“Especially since it’s to be called ‘Pansy Tea-Room,’ and Marie Louise
is using them on her shingle and her menu cards.”
The girls went happily in search of the furniture department, and, upon
locating it, stepped confidently up to a salesman. He showed them
charming little breakfast sets of cream, and gray, and canary, decorated
with dainty bouquets and flower baskets; and both girls exclaimed in
delight. Marjorie was in the act of counting up how many sets they would
need, when Ethel casually asked the price. To her utter dismay they
heard that one set alone would cost more than they had planned to spend
upon the entire furnishings.
“I am afraid it is too expensive,” Marjorie murmured in confusion to the
clerk. “We—shall have to look elsewhere.”
When they turned away she was almost in tears.
“Don’t worry, Marj!” said Ethel, reassuringly. “This is one of the most
expensive shops in town. We’ll try some place cheaper.”
But though they went from place to place, examining furniture of cheaper
grade, they could not find anything to fit in with their pocket-book. At
last, dismayed and dejected, they returned to the house. They found
Marie Louise designing menu cards at the wicker table on the porch.
“Did you buy the stores out?” she asked, cheerily. “Because Lily and
Florence did. I wish you’d see the stuff they brought home in Lily’s car
from the five-and-ten-cent store!”
“No,” said Marjorie; “we didn’t buy a single thing!”
“Remarkable girls!” exclaimed Marie Louise. “I don’t know any other
girls who could go shopping with two hundred dollars and not spend a
cent!”
“We couldn’t find anything cheap enough!” sighed Ethel, dismally.
Marie Louise put down her pencil, and looked about the porch for a
minute. Suddenly she was seized with an inspiration.
“I have it, girls!” she cried joyfully. “We didn’t go to an artist for
our sign, and pay artists’ prices; we didn’t hire an expensive
house-cleaning establishment to put our house in order; we’re not going
to engage professional waitresses at big wages—we do all those things
ourselves! Why not apply the same principle to the furniture?”
Marjorie regarded Marie Louise in utter amazement. Her suggestion did
not sound sensible.
“But we can’t make furniture!” she protested.
“We can buy a cheap grade from a manufacturer, and finish and decorate
it ourselves,” explained Marie Louise. “I know how to do it—we studied
the method at school. And I’m sure our crew of boys would help in the
evenings. As for the rest-room furniture, why not use this from the
porch? Nobody would mind doing without it for the summer.”
“Wouldn’t your mother object to our using it?” asked Ethel.
“No, I’m sure she wouldn’t, for we could be careful. Now cheer up! We’ll
get the boys on the telephone and have them come over to plan
everything.”
Acting upon the suggestion of Marie Louise, they set out the next day to
search for a furniture manufacturer. This time the artist went with
Marjorie and Ethel. They were able to procure small round tables at
eight dollars each, and good looking chairs at three dollars. They were
plain, but substantially built, and had what Marie Louise called “good
lines.” So they went home happy, having bought six tables and
twenty-four chairs, and one extra oblong table, costing ten dollars, to
be used as a serving-table.
“Now, Marie Louise,” said Marjorie, “it’s up to you to see that they get
fixed up.”
“Don’t worry about that,” replied the other girl. “This is right in my
line. I’m going to get more fun out of the old tea-house than I
expected.”
“Well, we got more furniture than I ever thought we would,” said Ethel,
“and we’ve spent only a hundred and thirty of the two hundred dollars.
That’s seventy dollars to the good on this item, Marj.”
“The paint must come out of that yet,” reminded Marie Louise. “But that
won’t cost much.”
The days that followed were even busier for the girls than they had
anticipated. For the rest of the week the place reeked with the odor of
the successive coats of paint which they applied to the furniture. Under
the direction of Marie Louise, they finished it in a pale cream-colored
enamel, and she decorated it with a charming pansy design. It was work
they enjoyed doing; for they took great pride in seeing the bare,
unfinished pieces being converted into furniture as beautiful as any
they had seen in the shops.
Mrs. Hadley and Ethel made scrim curtains for the windows; and John,
poking about one day in the cellar, found a full set of made-to-order
screens for the doors and windows, which he freshened up with paint and
put in place. He also procured two boards which he cut in the shape of
tea-kettles, and which Marie Louise painted and decorated with a large
pansy in the center of each, and lettered to read:
THE PANSY TEA-ROOM.
John planted two posts outside the hedge by each entrance of the drive
and hung the signs in conspicuous positions.
By the time that the two weeks of preparation were up, the outside of
the place presented the well-kept appearance of a beautiful home, and
inside was cozy and charming. Both the girls and the boys had enjoyed
the work, and were pleased with the results. Indeed, they felt sorry for
Daisy Gravers, who arrived after everything was in readiness for the
opening day.
The good news that she brought with her added another drop to their
already brimming cup of happiness. Mrs. Trawle, the baby’s mother, was
out of the hospital now, and able to take care of little Betty herself,
though not yet strong enough to earn any money towards their support.
And so the scouts faced their opening day with only one anxiety: the
fear that the tea-room would not have the patronage they hoped for, that
it would not warrant their expenditure of the four hundred dollars they
had borrowed. But in this, as in all of their other undertakings, they
lived up to the law that a Girl Scout is cheerful, and hoped for the
best.