The Girl Scouts of the Round Table 16

The Girl Scouts of the Round Table 16

“I had about reached the conclusion, girls, that our mistake lately

has been that we have thought too much of our own happiness and

self-development. It is part of the Scout ideal, but certainly not

the whole. Our slogan is sufficient proof, the daily good turn is for

others.”

 

The Scout Captain turned to Tory.

 

“Teresa has just told me of your suggestion; each one of us is to find

an ill person and care for him or her during the winter. If your artist

comes to the evergreen house, Tory, you may look after him. Perhaps we

may be envious of you. As soon as I am well I too shall seek out some

one to aid. This is a hard winter for many people. The Girl Scouts

ought to make themselves an influence for good in Westhaven as never

before.”

 

A little later, on their way home, Tory and Dorothy McClain could think

and talk of nothing but the possibility of their artist’s spending the

winter months in their evergreen house in the beechwoods.

 

They had adopted Mr. Winslow to the extent of speaking of him as “their

artist” to each other.

 

Small doubt in either girl’s mind that the other Scouts in their Troop

would agree to the Troop Captain’s suggestion!

 

If Mr. Winslow accepted their invitation, Dorothy and Tory decided to

do everything in their power to make his stay in Westhaven a success.

They would omit no detail. He should not be bored by their attentions,

but never allowed to feel neglected.

 

“Suppose he should meet some one in Westhaven who would console him for

what he must have suffered in the past?” Dorothy suggested.

 

In amazement Tory stared at her and smiled.

 

She was as surprised as their Troop Captain by Dorothy’s unexpected

romantic attitude. Of all her friends Dorothy was less given to

vicarious romanticism. Most of the girls indulged in dreams for

themselves and their friends. Dorothy was as matter-of-fact as many

boys. Her own family and friends and the daily routine of life so far

satisfied her.

 

But Mr. Winslow had touched her imagination as well as Tory’s. The

truth was that Lance’s absence from home left a vacant place in

Dorothy’s life which she had not known he had so completely filled.

 

She and Donald confessed to each other that always they had had Lance

upon their minds without appreciating the fact. He was so often in

trouble with some one, or not well, or proposing some impossible

suggestion out of which he had to be argued or bullied.

 

Realizing Dorothy’s need, Tory decided to be generous. She would have

preferred Mr. Winslow to be principally known as her friend upon his

arrival. In reality, she had the chief claim upon him. Still, after all

it might be pleasanter if she and Dorothy shared the pleasure.

 

Neither girl apparently doubted the artist’s acceptance of their

suggestion. They were right in their surmise. Before another week he

might be expected. The evergreen cottage appeared to be the one place

in the world most suited to his needs.

 

The arrangements to make it habitable for the winter Dorothy and Tory

gladly undertook. Mr. Winslow insisted upon paying a small rental. Miss

Virginia Fenton agreed to allow Tory to use any old furniture she might

find stored away in the attic of their house.

 

An entire afternoon she and Dorothy spent in fascinated search. They

discovered a battered but beautiful mahogany table, two chairs slightly

uncertain in their legs, but otherwise whole. However, the cabin was

well supplied with tables and chairs. The treasure that pleased them

most was a worn pair of dark blue and gold damask curtains. Drawn

across the windows they would make the cabin room safe from the cold

and full of beautiful color. They were, of course, too long and too

large for the cabin windows, so that odd pieces were cut off for table

covers and scarfs.

 

A piece of oriental embroidery, brought home by one of her early

seafaring Fenton ancestors, Tory hung on the cabin wall to break the

monotony of the exterior. She hoped Mr. Winslow would bring a certain

number of pictures with him, not only to beautify the cabin but to give

the people in Westhaven a knowledge of his ability.

 

If not, Dorothy suggested he would soon have new pictures of the woods

and scenes about Westhaven.

 

Indeed, the two girls became so interested in their work and in their

anticipations they saw nothing of the other Girl Scouts in their Patrol

for the entire week.

 

What they were doing to carry out Tory’s suggestion at the last Scout

meeting they neither knew nor for the time felt any special interest.

The next Scout meeting was to be delayed until the Troop Captain was

well enough to be present.

 

Suddenly Tory Drew found herself having to face the entire

responsibility of Mr. Winslow’s arrival and installation at the

evergreen cottage alone.

 

It was nearly bedtime and she was beginning to make ready to undress

when she heard Donald McClain’s familiar whistle beneath her window.

 

Tory fled down to the front door, calling to Mr. Fenton, who was in his

library, to explain why she had reappeared after saying good-night.

 

Don would only come in for a few moments. He brought a message from

Dorothy saying that her father had received a telegram asking him to

come to New York City at once.

 

The telegram was signed Owen Moore. Lance at last had agreed they

might learn the name of the man who had befriended them. He had told

them nothing of his history, insisting that he himself was in complete

ignorance. Mr. Moore did not seem to care to talk of his own past.

 

Naturally, Dr. McClain believed that Lance had been taken seriously

ill. He did not wish to face the situation alone and was taking Dorothy

with him.

 

Tory received permission to spend a quarter of an hour with Dorothy and

the doctor in order to say good-by and to send a dozen messages through

them to Kara.

 

Her own anxiety over the mysterious summons and its possible reference

to Lance, she did her best to conceal.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XIII

 

OTHER EXPERIENCES

 

 

During the past week Tory and Dorothy had been making happy

preparations for the arrival of Mr. Winslow at the evergreen cabin.

They had secured the consent of the other girls without difficulty. In

the meantime several of the Girl Scouts had been puzzled by the effort

to keep the Scout pledge made to one another at their final meeting.

 

Of necessity, in the village there must be a number of persons who

were ill and would like to be cared for, provided the attentions were

tactfully offered. How to discover the persons specially in need of

sympathy and aid was not so simple an undertaking. Most ill persons

had their own families and friends. Outside attention was scarcely

necessary.

 

One afternoon, under the impression that she had not fulfilled her own

duty in the matter, Margaret Hale decided that she would make a call

upon Edith Linder and ask her advice. Edith lived in a poorer quarter

of Westhaven among the foreign element, many of whom worked in the

factories. To her own embarrassment, Margaret appreciated that she

had never been to call upon Edith before. In the days when Edith had

spent the winter at Memory Frean’s cottage she had gone frequently to

inquire for her. Indeed, she had been one of her advocates when Tory

Drew insisted that Edith was not the type of girl to make a successful

eighth member of their Patrol. Later Tory had completely changed her

viewpoint. Nevertheless, Margaret realized that since her return to

live with her own family, she had relied upon seeing Edith at their

regular Scout meetings and had made no effort to see her at her own

home.

 

This had not been deliberate. Margaret was too well-bred herself to

consider the social inferiority of a girl whom she liked as a personal

friend, and was a member of her Girl Scout Patrol. The truth was that

she had not thought of their possessing any special interests in common

outside their Scout work until this afternoon. Now it occurred to her

that Edith might put her in touch with persons who really were more in

need of help than her own acquaintances.

 

She would stop and ask Louise Miller to accompany her. Rarely did she

call upon Louise! They had a special regard for each other, but with

her school work, her Scout work, music lessons, reading and the desire

to be with her own family whenever it was possible, Margaret could

reasonably plead the excuse of not having time for visiting. Moreover,

Louise was nearly always with Dorothy McClain when she had the leisure.

At present Dorothy and Tory Drew seemed more often in one another’s

society, so it occurred to Margaret that Louise might not only be more

free, but glad to be reminded of the affection and admiration she felt

for her.

 

It was true that Margaret Hale possessed a deep regard and appreciation

of Louise, in spite of the other girl’s clumsiness and lack of social

gifts in contrast to her own graceful manner and appearance.

 

Margaret knew that their circumstances had been altogether different.

Her own father was wealthy and prominent and devoted to his family, her

mother cultivated and charming. They both had done everything in their

power to make their home atmosphere beautiful and serene. Margaret

never remembered anything but sympathy and affection and understanding

surrounding herself and her two younger sisters. They had everything

they could possibly wish, money, position; put into concrete terms,

they owned a lovely home, not one but two motor cars, the services of

three or four maids, a gardener and a chauffeur.