Not only stock-raising and garden trucking progressed wonderfully for a few days, but the scouting also showed improvement in Patrol Number Two, after the acquisition of bees, goslings, pigeons, and lawn mower. When the scouts of Solomon’s Seal were not up at the house with their tenderfoot scouts, the members of the young patrol were over at the camp, engaged in scout pursuits.
Each scout had started a small garden patch for herself, accepting Natalie’s superior experience in such matters to win success and a badge as a garden scout. And then each scout decided to raise enough stock, besides the cow and bees they owned jointly, to enable them to take the test as farmer scout and win a badge for that, too. They were well along on the way to winning the badges for Dairy Scout and Bee Scout, by this time, and everyone seemed happy and eager to come out highest in the tests. All but Frances. She began to act discontented. Finally Mrs. James asked her if anything was wrong.
“Yes, lots of things are!” admitted Frances.
“Can’t you tell me what it is and maybe I can straighten matters out for you.”
“Well, I’m sorry I ever selected jitney driving for a profession, Jimmy. I see Natalie planting and harvesting the results of her garden—and we, too, enjoy the lettuce every day since it has been big enough to pull.”
Frances caught the glimmer of a smile at this remark, and questioned Mrs. James concerning her amusement. “I was thinking when you mentioned lettuce, Frances, that you can scarcely say we enjoy it so often as we have to eat it. Natalie planted so many seeds, besides the plants given her, that I fear we shall ‘go on’ as the brook in the poem ‘forever’—eating lettuce.”
“Well, it’s better to have too much of a good thing than not enough,” declared Frances, and Mrs. James agreed silently with that statement by nodding her head. “Then I see Janet’s kingdom doing so fine! the pigs expanding like a gas-filled balloon ever since Sue came to the farm. Susy growing stronger and more mischievous every day. The hens laying eggs as if for dear life. The chicks and goslings fast outgrowing their coops and associating with the older chickens when the corn is scattered in the yard. Even the pigeons are teaching their squabs how to fly, and Janet’s days are one long dream of success. But me—ah me!”
“What is wrong with you, Frances?” was Mrs. James’s astonished query.
“Even Norma! Look at quiet, poetical little Norma! She can offer us sweet posies, sniff at newly opened buds every morning, hoe, rake, and pat down the soil about the plants she has raised, and realize that she, as well as Natalie and Janet, is enjoying the fruits of her own labor. Then look at me!
“A conductor of a jitney! Not even my own motorman. I have to have Sam drive the car and he gets all the fun out of my life! No, I am going to strike and resign from business!”
Mrs. James could hardly control her face at such a ludicrous complaint, but Frances was in earnest and a laugh would end all further confidences from Frances, so she managed to say: “Don’t you think you have been as useful, if not more so, than Janet in her stock work, Natalie with the gardens, and Norma with flowers? What would we have done, Frances, were it not for your idea of running the car for us all this summer?”
“It was dad’s plan to leave it here anyway. I really am only a figure head in the matter,” grumbled Frances.
“But you have been the one always on hand to run errands and carry anyone who wanted to reach a place in a short time. Just think of the swarm, Frances. Without you that Sunday, we never would have captured that wonderful swarm from Babcock.”
Frances laughed at this memory. It was a high light in the otherwise dun colored days of her jitney life. But only dun to her after several weeks of driving about the country. Mrs. James understood, perfectly, that it was merely a case of dissatisfaction from satiation with her special work for a time being. If she had a change for a week, or so, everything would appear rosy and bright again.
“I was talking things over with Belle this morning and she agrees with me that our professions are not crowded as full of thrills as Janet’s, or Natalie’s, are. Belle says that all the worm-eaten antique furniture in New York State cannot measure up to the wonderment of seeking and finding for yourself a strange forest tree, and then classify it according to scout rules.”
“There is nothing to hinder Belle from taking a test in forestry,” murmured Mrs. James.
“She’s going to do it!” declared Frances. “But with me—I told Belle this morning, that speaking of thrills, the only real exciting drive I have had since I’ve been at Green Hill Farm was the Sunday we rode for the swarm of bees. In comparison to Janet’s thrills of hatching chicks from water-glass eggs, and Natalie’s way of killing potato bugs by killing the plants, too, my infantile thrill is weak!”
Mrs. James could no longer restrain her laughter but she apologized for it by saying: “I had to laugh at the pictures you brought up by your remarks.”
“Even the scouts of Patrol Number One have more fun in life than I get. Look at them; they cook, they build, they do all sorts of stunts in testing and winning badges for lines of work, then they hike, or swim, or drill and have other recreations, that I do not share because I am forever a car conductor!”
“Now, Frances, that is not so!” declared Mrs. James, seriously. “Patrol Number Two is hardly two weeks old and its members have had so many things to attend to that they had no time to devote exclusively to studying the scout customs and work. But once we get affairs running smoothly and orderly, we will forge ahead in our scout life, also. Patrol Number Two will cook, and build, and do all sorts of stunts, too, for tests and badges. And between times we will hike, swim, or drill, and enjoy other recreations with the scouts of Patrol Number One so that not even a car conductor will be able to complain about her dun-colored days.”
Frances smiled appreciatively, but was not silenced.
Mrs. James understood this and said: “What do you want to do beside the helpful profession you are now following?”
“Well, I have been reading the girl scouts’ handbook very carefully and I find several things I might group for my work. Nat would say I was consolidating and merging several lines into one,” laughed Frances, imitating Natalie’s voice and manner.
Mrs. James smiled too, but silently waited to hear more.
“I have planned to try for the test of motorist as given in ‘Scouting for Girls.’ When I have that badge, I will begin to study the birds because I find scores of beautiful and interesting varieties of birds in Westchester. And a man I know down near the village of Bronxville, where Belle and I went last week, told me that one can find rare birds which come North for a short time in summer and stop in the woods about there, but never travel beyond that section. When I heard that I wanted to start finding them and photographing each one I could see.
“Driving about the country so much with Belle on her quests for antiques, I have seen such beautiful bits of scenery and such gorgeous flowers and ferns, as well as birds, that I feel as if I were neglecting a wonderful opportunity when I fail to get pictures of them and study each interesting subject well enough to write it up afterward.”
“Frances you are quite right! I am so glad you think this way, as it shows that you have actually found the great thing your so-called jitney service has done for you. Do you not see that all these discoveries made by you would never have been made if you stayed at Green Hill and raised vegetables or stock? You can strive for and win badges in lines the other girls have not given a thought to. But you can interest them in these pursuits, just as they have interested you in stock and vegetables so that you actually wanted to give up motoring for their studies. Do you see?”
“I think I begin to see a glimmer of the truth,” admitted Frances, her face lighting up with relief.
“And let me add this bit of advice: If every one in this world wanted to do the same thing, what an interesting old place it would be. If every one looked exactly like everyone else, or if all had the same desires and tastes in everything, can you picture a more tiresome place to live on than our earth? But, because everyone has an individual appearance and individual ways and desires, the world is individual, also.”
Belle had crept up behind Mrs. James as she spoke the last words, and now she smiled as she said: “You’re right, Jimmy! I’ve told Frances about the different farm houses I’ve visited in these quests for furniture, and not only the homes, but the furnishings and owners of them are so different from each other!”
Frances then explained to Belle what Mrs. James had just said about selecting lines of work, and Belle nodded and added: “I have found a number of things I can add to my work of finding antiques, just as Frances can add those studies she mentioned to her motoring work.
“I come in contact with housewives who can cook and preserve the most delicious things! Frances has tasted many of them herself. I have been given recipes of viands that I’d love to try out, not only for the sake of winning a badge in cooking, but to be able to give others the benefit of the tests.
“Then I would like to try for a badge as needle-woman, after seeing girls no older than myself, making dresses and trimming hats for themselves and their mothers. I believe I can use a paper pattern and cut a gown out as carefully as those girls do. And I am sure I can stick a feather in my hat, or tie a ribbon about the crown, with as much deftness as those girls. But I never stopped to think of these things in the city where one can go to the shop and try on a ready-made suit, or buy a hat all made to wear, at once.”
“Ah, these are a few of the things city girls never can find in the city—the ways and means the country girls have of making two ends meet,” remarked Mrs. James.
“Another line I should like to study since hearing you mention that thing about foolish mothers giving their babies a rubber ‘mother’s comfort’ to suck upon to keep them quiet. I’d like to read up on that subject of child training, and learn all I can about the proper care and training of babies, then write a book to help ignorant and lazy or careless young mothers with their families. Think of all the trouble and suffering that can be avoided if mothers will use common sense and better judgment in rearing their children!”
“Bravo! Belle, I’m proud of you for that ambition,” exclaimed Mrs. James, and Frances smilingly added her applause. “If you will continue that line of study and work I’m sure that you will not only secure the badge for child nursing but also win success with a book if it is sensibly and carefully compiled.”
“I’m glad you agree with us in our wishes to add more studies to our present one,” said Frances.
“I’d like every scout in our troop to keep on adding to their knowledge just as long as they live. And even after they fancy their days of usefulness are past, I should want them to think—and then keep on working and adding to their understanding, for we have all eternity before us, and nothing ought to stop our progress and growth once we remove the limitation to Life.”
That earnest talk with Mrs. James inspired Frances and Belle with the desires to add to their storehouses of knowledge and intelligence whatsoever they could find worth while, but the experiences and successes of the two scouts in their individual works must be told in separate volumes of this series, as this book deals with Janet and her stock venture.
The scout members of Patrol Number One had been invited by the girls of Patrol Number Two, to a knot-tying contest to be held on the side lawn of the farm house. A post script added the most important item of the invitation, as is usually the case: “Refreshments served after the contest.”
At the appointed time the three scouts from Four Corners arrived at the house and busied themselves in helping the other girl scouts prepare the refreshments they planned to serve. Rachel was then left in charge of the goodies and the girls went out to welcome their guests who could be heard laughing and talking as they approached the house.
“Are we too early, girls?” asked Miss Mason, of the scouts of Patrol Number Two.
“Mercy no! We’ve been waiting an hour,” replied Natalie.
Having argued this difference in time to a finish, the two patrols were called to order by the captain. Then the usual ceremony took place. Having ended this the scouts waited eagerly for Miss Mason to announce the rules for the contest.
She addressed the new members of Solomon’s Seal Troop: “Scouts, you will soon end the second week of probation as Tenderfeet and from reports as well as demonstrations, I think you will successfully qualify when the period of probation is over. If you have read and studied carefully the rules given in the handbook for the tying of knots, there is no reason why you should not win this contest with the older members of the troop. But I wish to offer this opportunity for you to watch my girls in Patrol One demonstrate their ways of tying knots before the contest takes place. Those in favor of seeing this work first, rise.”
Of course, every girl stood up and thus voted for a display of ability in knot tying by the other scouts. And Miss Mason smiled as she asked them to be seated again while she read from the book:
“On page 484 we learn the uses for knots and the need for every one to understand how to tie knots.” Then she read aloud the introductory paragraphs to this chapter. Having finished it she called up her scouts of Patrol One to come forward.
“Members of Patrol Two will take notice: each one of my camp scouts has a piece of Manila rope five feet long and about one-quarter of an inch thick. You see that both ends of the rope are whipped to keep them from fraying. Have you scouts done the same with your lengths of rope?”
The scouts of Patrol Number Two replied that they had, so Miss Mason continued: “Scouts of Patrol One will now demonstrate the different kinds of knots mentioned in the book and show these Tenderfeet how quickly and precisely these knots can be made.”
The visiting scouts went through the various forms of knot tying, and when it ended with vociferous applause from the hostesses, Miss Mason said:
“Scouts, make a blanket-roll and tie a rope as taught in handbook for hiking and carrying over mountains, or cross-country.”
In an incredibly short time the scouts had rolled their blankets and bound the ropes about them, ready to sling over their shoulders for a march.
“Now pair off and make reef knots of each two lengths of rope, to demonstrate the way to lengthen a rope which may be too short for the need it has to be put to.”
The visitors deftly tied these knots, and Miss Mason said: “Now show the scouts how to make sure it is reliable when put to the test where safety and security of the knot is necessary.”
When this was proven, the captain said: “Show how a rope must be adjusted when a victim of accident has to be drawn up or lowered to or from a height.”
This performance needed a lightweight scout who could climb a tree or ladder and be saved from fancied danger. So the lightest member of Patrol One climbed the maple tree on the lawn and was soon sitting astride the bough. The life-line was flung over the limb and the girl managed to get into the loop and sit therein while she held to the rope above her head. The line was then lowered to the ground to show the efficiency of the knot that held the loop from slipping.
“Some day when Patrol Two visits us at Camp, we will show them how quickly one can be rescued from the waves. We’ll throw a line to one of our girls out in the stream and save her life,” said Miss Mason, after the last trial of the loop-knot.
Miss Mason then asked the members of Patrol Two to reply: “What would you do if you saw someone drowning, or fallen from a cliff, and the only way to save him was by means of a rope?”
Janet stood up and answered for the other girls: “We’d make the loop for the needy one to sit in, or we would tie knots in the length of rope so he could get a grip hold on the rope until he was drawn up, or could climb up, hand over hand.”
“That is correct. I suppose you all read the account given in our book of those people who went over the Lesser Falls of Niagara, who might have been saved had the rescuers known how to tie these knots. But the rope that was thrown stripped through the hold of the poor folks. Again the handbook says that had a bowline been tied in the rope, the victims of the disaster could have been raised in safety, for each one could have been seated in the loop and lifted without any struggle.”
After showing the approved methods of tying the bowline, the sheepshank knot, and other kinds in common use but not so commonly known to most people, Miss Mason declared the field was free for the contestants.
Although the scouts of Patrol Two were not as experienced as their competitors in knot-tying, Miss Mason and Mrs. James were delighted with their ability and speed in tying the knots.
A tug-of-war was suggested by Janet after the contest was over, and in this the scouts of Patrol Two showed their muscular development and strength over the members of the camp patrol. This success cheered the girls of the house patrol and made up for losing in the knot-tying contest.
It was now suggested that refreshments would be most acceptable because the girls were warm and breathless. So the three women, Mrs. James, the captain, and Rachel, offered their services as waitresses while the scouts relaxed and visited together.
When the wild-berry tarts and fresh-baked cakes, also the glasses of birch beer, were passed, the scouts smacked their lips in appreciation. One of the camp scouts remarked: “What delicious nut cakes. I love chopped almonds.”
But Belle laughed gayly. “They are not nut cakes, but I made them according to a recipe a girl gave me one day when I was out hunting antiques.”
“If they are not nut cakes, what are they?” asked several of the scouts.
“I used rolled oats such as we get for cereal, and toasted them brown in a pan sprinkled with sugar and butter. I stirred this in the cake batter which I had flavored with the meat taken from the cherry stones found under the trees. This meat was soaked in a teaspoonful of alcohol for an hour and made the cake taste like almonds.”
“Well, it proves positively that one can find all sorts of counterfeits,” said one of the camp scouts.
“‘All that glitters is not gold’ is hereby verified,” laughed Janet. “But the cakes taste good enough to be tried a second time.” This comment started the cakes around another time.
When one of the camp scouts asked how Belle came to do the baking, it was learned that not only Belle had added various pursuits to her chosen line of work that summer, but that Frances also, had decided to win a badge in several studies mentioned in the handbook.
After the visit was ended, the camp scouts invited the house patrol to visit them, soon, and try a contest that they would plan. The house scouts then accompanied their visitors down the road that ran to the woodland, but stopped at the pathway that crossed it, to go to the gardens.
Mrs. James and her house scouts watched the camp girls pass out of sight in the woods, then they walked over to see how Natalie’s new potato plants which had been given her by Si Tompkins, were growing.