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.