CHAPTER TWO – AN UNEXPECTED PROPOSITION

Julie and Betty dropped their coins into the bank at home that was jointly kept for their savings, then they hurried out to the kitchen to see what kind of dessert May was preparing.

Eliza was busy with the finishing touches of the dinner when the twins ran in; and being the nominal head of the family since the mother was gone, she ordered the children around.

“Here, Betty – mash them pertaters whiles I strain the squash, will yuh?” said she.

“Shall I add the butter and cream, ’Liza?” asked Betty, eagerly taking up the patent masher because it was considered great fun to watch the tiny squirms of mealy potato run through the sieve.

“Julie kin get the butter an’ cream – yuh jest hurry and do the mashin’. I’m gettin’ late with th’ dinner ennyway,” replied Eliza, turning her attention to the roast in the oven.

Julie started for the jug of cream, but stopped at May’s side and asked: “How far is it from here to the Adirondacks, Maysy – I mean, how much does it cost to get there?”

“It’s a good ways, and I’ve heard it costs a lot of money, but I don’t know exactly how much. Why?”

“Oh, nothing much – I just wanted to know, that’s all,” returned Julie, as she took up the jug to carry it back to Betty.

“We want to figure out how much more money we’ll have to earn, Maysy, before we can start for that camp. That’s why Jule asked,” explained Betty, conscientious even in little things like this.

“Hoh! why you girls will have to weed Vernon’s lawn all summer before you can raise money enough to pay carfare to the Adirondacks!” laughed John, who now scuffled into the kitchen to see if he could find anything good to eat before dinner was served.

“We didn’t ask your opinion! You’re only a child, so how would you know about carfares,” retorted Julie, condescendingly.

“Oh, really! Is that so! Well, let me tell you, I know a heap more about it than you dream of, ’cause I’m planning to go to Chimney Point Camp myself this summer – so!” exclaimed John, feeling highly gratified when he saw the looks of consternation on his sisters’ faces. But he forgot to reckon with Eliza.

Eliza was a trifle more than six feet in height, and buxom as well. She had powerful hands and feet and when she snapped her mouth shut as a signal of disapproval, the children knew better than to argue.

Now Eliza plunked the soup-pot down upon the range and wheeled to face John. Her broad hands went to their habitual rest upon her ample hips, and she inquired in a high falsetto voice:

“John Lee! Does your father know what you’se just said?”

“Not yet, but he will t’night, ’Liza; the Y. M. C. A. director of our gym is coming to see him about it,” replied John, without the bravado he had expressed towards his sisters.

“Then lem’me tell you this much, sonny! Ef your father asks me fer an opinion – and I s’pose he will, seein’ how I has brung you all up – I’ll come out an’ tell him it ain’t fair fer him t’ let you take money to go to camp this summer, an’ make th’ girls set to work to earn their’n. An’ that’s onny fair to all!”

“Oh, I am not going to spend money, ’Liza – I’m goin’ to help wash dishes in camp to pay for my board,” hastily added John.

“Wash dishes! Huh!” snorted Eliza disdainfully. “I’d hate t’ hev to eat from them dishes!” Then as an afterthought struck her humorously, she added: “But men-folks don’t know th’ diffrunce – they eat what’s set before them, whether dishes are clean or dirty!”

May laughed appreciatively and said: “Which goes to show how much ’Liza appraises John’s ability to wash dishes.”

“Er anything else, that I knows of,” murmured Eliza, winking at May. “Don’t we have t’ look after his neck and ears every day afore he goes to school?”

Julie joined May in the laugh at John’s expense, and he rushed out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind him. But Betty turned to Eliza and said:

“’Liza, John’s getting to be too big a boy for us to tease like that. I think we hurt his feelings just now.”

“Betsy, if John’s too big for teasin’ then he’s big enough to ’tend to his own wardrobe and appearance. Now I wonder what he would look like in ten days ef I diden’ keep after him all the time?”

Betty said no more but she had finished mashing the potatoes and so she ran out, planning how she could please John in order to compensate him for the teasing from Eliza.

Julie had been hanging about, thinking she could scrape the bowl clean when her sister had finished whipping the cream for the Snow Pudding. But May had other plans. When the cream had stiffened into a peak of snow-like froth, the bowl was carried to the refrigerator and there placed upon the ice.

With a regretful sigh, Julie watched, then ran out after Betty. John and Betty were in the sitting-room asking Mr. Lee about railroad fares and camp-life. So Julie was just in time to hear his reply.

Having figured roughly on a scrap of paper, Mr. Lee told his questioners about how much it would cost to reach the Adirondacks. John whistled in surprise, and Betty looked at Julie in chagrin.

“My goodness, Betty! It will take us all summer to earn that much money.”

“I guess we’ll have to find some mountains nearer home, then,” ventured Betty, wistfully.

“I wonder what Ruth will do when she hears we can’t earn enough money for fares,” added Julie.

The following day after school, the four girls met again on Vernon’s lawn and exchanged items of news with each other. But the most discouraging of all was the telling of the cost of carfare to the Adirondacks.

They stood with baskets hanging from their arms, and weeding tools idle, while faces expressed the disappointment at hearing Betty’s story. Finally Ruth said:

“Then there’s no use breaking our backs over this old lawn. I’ll not dig dandelions if it isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to make you feel that way, when I told you about the fares,” expostulated Betty. “I only wanted you to know we’d have to find some other camp-place to go to, nearer home.”

“Anyway, girls, don’t let’s quit work just now, because we found out about the cost of traveling. Let’s keep right on and who knows! we may wind up in the Alps this summer – carfares, steamers for ocean voyages, and everything included – paid for and presented to us by an unknown uncle from a far country!” laughed Joan.

“Let me tell you something, too!” added Betty. “Let’s try to keep up our spirits while weeding this afternoon, by talking over what we will do when we reach the mountains. I’d rather pretend we were in the Adirondacks, or the Rockies, than over in Europe. But we can picture ourselves in the mountains, somewhere, like Sarah Crewe did you know, about her father and home, even while she had to live in the attic!”

The girls laughed at Betty’s optimism, but she took the laugh in good part; then she began weeding and at the same time began a fine oration on the beauties of the mountains and the wonders of Nature.

Soon the other girls were weeding, too, and vied with one another in thinking of some wonderful camp sports or plan they could talk about. Soon, to Ruth’s great amazement, each girl had rooted out the required number of dandelions for the day.

“Now then, didn’t I tell you we could work better if we thought of pleasant things and plans?” exulted Betty.

“We certainly did our stint this afternoon without the usual complaints and delays,” admitted Joan. “Let’s root some more.”

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly, and by the time the girls carried their baskets of weeds to Mrs. Vernon to be paid for, they found they had earned twice as much money, for they had each rooted out 200 plants instead of their usual 100.

As they sat on the cool verandah enjoying ice-cream and cakes, they told their hostess how it was they had weeded so many dandelions. Then they told her about their discouragement when they had heard how expensive a trip it would be to go to camp in the Adirondacks. But in reply to all their talking, Mrs. Vernon smiled and nodded her head.

They began to say “good-by” for the day, when Mrs. Vernon said: “I’ll have pleasant news for you to-morrow.”

“Oh, can’t we be told just a word about it now?” cried Ruth.

“Is it about a camp in the mountains?” added Joan.

But Mrs. Vernon shook her head in mild reproof of their curiosity, and refused to be beguiled into sharing her secret.

The Dandelion Girls, as they now styled themselves, lost no time after school was dismissed, the next afternoon, in running to the Vernon’s house. They found Mrs. Vernon on the side porch waiting for them.

“Before you begin work to-day, I thought I would mention a little idea I had last night after you left. It is not the secret but it has some connection with it.

“When Mr. Vernon came home last night, he told me he had heard of a fine tent for sale very cheap. There are several cot-beds and four lockers to go with it. He secured an option on it until he could ascertain what your decision might be about the purchase.

“As it is such a bargain, I would advise our buying it; then we can erect it on the rear lawn, and your tools and other chattels can be kept in the lockers. It would also provide us with a clubroom all our own while here, and when we go away to the mountains we will have a tent all ready to take with us.”

“Oh, I think that is lovely!” cried Julie, clapping her hands.

“It is so good of Uncle Verny and you – and we thank you a thousand times!” exclaimed Betty, thinking of gratitude before she gave a thought to the fun they might have in the tent.

“Well, it will make us feel as if we were preparing for a camp-life this summer, even though we may not be able to really afford it,” sighed Ruth, despondently.

“Heigh there! Cheer up, can’t you? Don’t be a gloom just when Verny tells us something so fine!” called Joan, reprovingly.

“But we don’t even know the price! Maybe it will take all the savings we have had on hand for our camping purposes,” argued Ruth.

“That’s so,” admitted Julie and Joan, but Betty said:

“How much will it cost us, Verny?”

“Well, as I am going to enjoy this outfit as much as any one of you girls, I am going to pay my share of the costs – exactly one-fifth of the total, girls.”

Ruth smiled unpleasantly at this reply, as if to say: “And you with all your money only doing what we girls each are doing!”

Mrs. Vernon saw the smile and understood the miscomprehension that caused it, but she also knew that Ruth would soon overcome all such erroneous methods of thinking and feeling if she but continued interesting herself in the Scout work and ideals.

“How much will the total cost be, Verny?” asked Julie.

Mrs. Vernon took out a slip of paper and read aloud the items that went with the tent, then concluded by mentioning the cash sum asked for the entire outfit.

“Why, it sounds awfully cheap!” exclaimed Betty.

“I think it is, girls, that is why I advise you to take it.”

“What under the sun do we want of an ax, a saw, and all that carpenter’s outfit? Why not let the man keep them and deduct the sum from the cost of the outfit?” asked Ruth.

“Because, my dear, a good ax, and other tools, are as necessary in camp-work and life as the tent itself. At present, tools are very expensive, and these are of the best quality steel, Uncle Verny says.”

“Well, buy them if you want to, but don’t expect me to wear water blisters on my hands by handling an ax or spade. Not when I go to camp!” retorted Ruth.

Little attention was paid to this rudeness, as Ruth’s friends knew enough of the laws of the scouts to ignore such shortcomings in others, but to try, instead, to nourish that which was worthy of perpetuation in thought and deed.

“Having our own tent where we can rest when we like makes it seem as if the mountains were much nearer us than so far off as the Adirondacks really are,” said Betty, happily.

“It may turn out that this camp will be all we shall have for this year,” commented Ruth.

“I don’t see why you should say that!” demanded Joan, impatiently.

“Because we’ll spend our money on this old thing and then have to weed and weed all the rest of the summer to earn the carfares.”

“It won’t figure up any differently in the end, ’cause we’d have to have some kind of a tent, wouldn’t we?” asked Julie.

“We might be able to borrow some – or buy them on the installment plan. I even might tease father to lend us the money to buy new ones when we are ready to go,” replied Ruth.

“It isn’t one of our rules to borrow or go in debt. We each want to demonstrate independence as we go along. Buying on credit, or with borrowed capital, is a very undesirable method of doing business,” said Mrs. Vernon, gravely.

“But paying back for a tent next fall, instead of next week, isn’t as bad as you seem to think,” insisted Ruth.

“All the same, we girls are going to buy for cash, and never borrow trouble, if we can help it!” declared Julie, sensibly.

“Then it is settled, is it? We take the tent?” said Mrs. Vernon.

“Of course! Even Ruth must admit that it is a bargain,” returned the three girls in a chorus.

“I don’t know the least thing about costs of camping, and there seems so little hope of my ever participating in such joys!” retorted Ruth. But they all knew she was well pleased with the purchase.

That afternoon they went to work with a zeal hitherto unfelt, for they had a keen sense of proprietorship in something worth-while. Mrs. Vernon felt happy, too, over the way the girls voted to pay cash as they went, for she knew it meant individual freedom for each; and Ruth would soon be made to understand the meaning of “obligations” if she associated with three such practical girls.

The moment the weeding was done for the afternoon, four eager girls assembled to hear about the “great secret.” Mrs. Vernon began by saying:

“Now I don’t want you girls to be disappointed in what I consider my fine secret, but I really think it is the only way out for this summer.”

Ruth sniffed audibly and sat with lifted eyebrows, as if to suggest: “Didn’t I tell you that tent would be all you got this year for your money!”

But Mrs. Vernon continued her preamble without hesitation.

“Even should you girls earn ten times the amount of money you are now receiving each afternoon, you would still lack enough to pay carfares to the Adirondacks, or the White Mountains. And as we agreed from the beginning never to borrow money for our scout work, such a long trip seems out of the question at present.

“Last night I sat puzzling over this situation, when a splendid idea flashed into my mind. I remembered a campsite in the mountains not so far from here, that will give us all the delights of the Adirondacks without the costs. A motor truck can carry our outfits instead of our shipping them by freight, and we can go there in my car, whenever we are ready to start.

“If we decide on such a plan, we could prepare to leave home the week following the closing of school. I think it will take us at least that long to get everything ready, you know.”

“Oh, how wonderful!” breathed Betty, joyfully.

“Our dreams come true!” sighed Joan and Julie.

But Ruth, as usual, could not accept any proposition, no matter how pleasant, without argument. So she said: “How do we know this campsite is where we might wish to spend a summer?”

“Mrs. Lee and I spent a summer there when we were girls, and your own mother cried because she had to go with her parents to the farm in the Catskills, instead of camping with her schoolmates. Perhaps your mother will describe the beauties of this place to you, so you will feel sure it is desirable enough for you,” said Mrs. Vernon, calmly, but with a faint suggestion of sarcasm in her tone.

Ruth had the grace to keep silence after that, and Mrs. Vernon said: “I’m not going to say more about the idea, but you shall judge for yourselves when I take you there in the auto on Saturday.”

“Dear me. I feel so excited that I’m sure I won’t be able to sleep all week!” exclaimed Julie, jumping up and dancing around.

“I feel as if there were wheels whirring around inside of me,” added Joan.

The others laughed, and Mrs. Vernon admitted: “That is the way I felt when it was agreed that I might join my friends for camp-life that summer.”

“It will be so lovely to camp in the same place that mother dear did when she was a little girl,” said Betty, her voice trembling slightly as she thought of the one now absent from sight, but not in spirit.

“I don’t know but what I’d rather try out the first summer in camp with no other scout girls to watch and comment about our mistakes,” confessed Joan. “If we start alone this year, we will feel like experienced scouts by next summer.”

“I agree with you there, Joan,” said Julie.

“Then we are pleased with my plan to ride out and inspect the old campsite on Saturday, eh?” ventured Mrs. Vernon.

“Yes, indeed!” chorused four voices; even Ruth agreed with her friends about this week-end outing.

By Saturday the girls had paid for the tent and outfit bought of the man, and had nineteen dollars left for expenses at a camp that summer. They were at Headquarters (they named the tent on the back-lawn “Dandelion Headquarters”) an hour before the time decided upon for the early start to the mountains. But it was as Julie said:

“Better too early than too late!”

Mrs. Vernon was giving last instructions about packing a luncheon to take with them, then she came out and joined her Patrol.

“What do you think, Verny? Eliza said she would bake us a crockful of ginger-snaps and cookies every week this summer, and send them to camp for us, because we would not be home to eat.”

“How are you going to get them? I asked mother about the campsite and she said it was three or four miles from any village,” said Ruth, this being the first inkling she had given that she had inquired about the camp.

“Why Rural Delivery will leave it for us, Daddy said,” replied Julie.

“And my mother said I could make fudge to sell to my family and friends. She would give me the sugar and chocolate. Father ordered two pounds then and there – so that makes a dollar more that I shall have earned before next week,” said Joan.

“I can make good fudge, too. I’ll ask May if I may sell it!” exclaimed Julie.

“Our waitress left last night, and mother said she would pay me a quarter a night if I would wash the dishes. But I hate doing dishes. The greasy water gets all over your hands and then they smell so!” said Ruth, not willing to be left out of this working-community.

“Did you do them?” eagerly asked the girls.

“Of course not! I didn’t want to feel all warm and sticky for the rest of the evening. Besides, I manicured my nails so nicely just before dinner.”

“Dear me! I wish your mother would let me do them – for a quarter a night!” sighed Betty, anxiously.

“Even if she did, would you give that money to the Patrol?” wondered Ruth, doubtfully.

“Sure! Aren’t we all earning for the general good?”

“Well, I’ll ask mother if she’ll let you do them,” replied Ruth, magnanimously. She actually felt that she was bestowing a favor on Betty by allowing her to wash her dishes and donate the earnings to the camp-fund.