Kitabı oku: «Natalie: A Garden Scout», sayfa 7
CHAPTER IX – JANET FORMS A SECOND PATROL
Mrs. James and Natalie had engaged Amity to call for them and drive them to the station to meet Janet, and when the expected visitor arrived there was a great display of delight on Natalie’s part. All the way from the train to the farm the two girls were eagerly exchanging personal experiences since they had parted in the city.
“Say, Nat,” began Janet, when a lull in confidences gave her time to remember other things, “Mr. Marvin told Dad that you had started a vegetable garden all by yourself! Is that so?”
Natalie smiled joyously. “Yes, and this morning I found my first tiny green spears above ground, Janet! It is lettuce!”
Janet laughed. “You are the last one on earth that I expected to take to truck-farming.”
“But it is the most fun, Janet! I wouldn’t get half as much entertainment out of travelling or motoring as I am having from my garden.”
The moment the girls arrived at the house, therefore, Natalie insisted upon Janet’s going to her garden to see the tiny greens that were the result of the seed-planting.
“Why, look at the fine things growing in those other beds!” exclaimed Janet, allowing her gaze to wander from the place where the almost imperceptible green was showing above the ground.
“Oh yes, – those are tomatoes, potatoes, radishes, cabbages, and other things. But these particular beds are my very own work, so I feel a great joy in them.”
“Aren’t the others yours, too?” asked Janet.
“Yes, but the plants were given me by Farmer Ames. He threw some out of his own gardens because they were too crowded for the best results. I planted them, but I did not raise them from seeds. My baby plants here are all my very own!”
Janet laughed. She understood just how Natalie felt. It was the result of all her own endeavor – these tiny seedlings.
“Well,” said she, after admiring the garden beds to Natalie’s utmost expectations, “I can’t see what there is left for me to do, if you have succeeded in your farming so soon.”
“I have been thinking of something for you to do, Janet. We’ve got all those barn buildings, but they are empty. If only you could keep chickens and a pig, – wouldn’t that be great?” said Natalie eagerly.
Janet laughed aloud. “Turn me into a stock farmer? I never thought of it, but now that you present the idea, it surely sounds fascinating. Can’t you see me currying the horses, and milking cows, or chasing a pig around the farm?”
“I am in earnest, Jan! You can easily keep chickens and sell eggs. As for a pig – why, Mr. Ames’s brother wants to sell a few of a litter he has at his farm. They are the cutest little things I ever saw. You’ll want to own one when you see them.”
Janet laughed again, as Natalie’s suggestion was so foreign to anything she had thought of. Not that it was unacceptable, however. The more she thought of the plan, the more it appealed to her as being worth while trying out.
That evening Mrs. James sat with the two girls talking over the plan of keeping chickens and other farmyard stock.
“I can manage the initial investment all right, from my allowance that I have saved up, but how do I know that the poor creatures will not die or get sick under my management?” said Janet laughingly.
“We’ve got Mr. Ames near at hand, if a chicken gets the pip, – that is what they get more than anything else, I’ve learned,” said Natalie.
Both her hearers laughed hilariously at her remark, and Janet finally said: “Well, I just think I’ll experiment for fun! Where can I buy some chickens?”
“Oh, any farmer will sell you a hen,” returned Natalie.
“But I want more than one hen,” said Janet.
“You’ll have to raise them yourself, just as I am raising vegetables from seeds. You get a hen, put some eggs in a nest and make her sit upon them. In three weeks you’ll have all the young chicks you want to start with,” explained Natalie.
“It’s too bad to-morrow is Sunday, or I’d go over to Farmer Ames in the morning and see about hens and a pig,” said Janet regretfully.
“We’re all invited to go to the Scout camp to spend the day to-morrow. But you and I will start for Ames’s early Monday,” replied Natalie eagerly.
So it was decided, after several hours’ serious talk, that Janet should venture to raise chickens and keep a pig.
The next day was very pleasant, and being Sunday, Mrs. James permitted the two girls to sleep an hour longer than was the daily custom. When they were through with breakfast, and had visited the gardens to see if any fresh spears of green had made an appearance since the previous evening, they all started for the Scout camp.
“Yoh-all go on ahead, an’ I’ll be along affer-while. I’se goin’ to tote along a pan of hot biskits fer the club,” said Rachel.
“All right, then we’ll warn the cook that she need not worry about Scout bread for dinner,” laughed Mrs. James.
Janet was curious to visit the camp and see what a lot of Girl Scouts did with themselves. Natalie had told her about Miss Mason’s proposal to interest some of the Greenville girls, that, with the five who would live on the farm that summer, they might organize a second Patrol, and the two Patrols could then apply for a Troop charter.
The Sunday visit proved to be very interesting and satisfactory, for both girls saw how much the Scouts could do that they had never dreamed of before. The Sunday dinner that was prepared and served by these girls was delicious, and everything in camp was conducted according to Scout rules. When Mrs. James and her two charges were ready to start for the house, both Natalie and Janet were enthused with the ambition to launch a campaign for a second Patrol without delay.
On the walk back home Natalie said: “We ought to write the girls to get a Scout book for themselves, and then come to Green Hill as soon as possible. We need them to go around and talk up the Scout idea with girls about here.”
“I wish to goodness Helene was old enough to be a Girl Scout. That would give us six girls, instead of five,” said Janet.
“Helene can be a Scoutlet – because she is under twelve – but I am not sure that that would count in our Patrol,” said Mrs. James.
That night a letter was written to each of the three girls remaining in New York, telling them to go straightway to Headquarters and secure a copy of “Scouting for Girls,” the handbook that is necessary for a Scout to read and apply. Also the three girls were urged to pack up and come to the farm without losing any more valuable time. But no mention was made of the reason why this request was urged.
Natalie was up an hour before breakfast on Monday and hurried to her garden to see what had grown since the day before. To her great surprise and joy, she found the corn had sprung up an inch above ground since she had visited her beloved gardens the day previous. So excited was she that she raced back to the house, shouting as soon as she came within call:
“Jimmy! Jimmy! My corn’s all up! Way up, so’se you can see the blades!”
Rachel hurried out of the door to learn what had happened, and when she heard the corn had sprouted and caused all the commotion, she laughed and shook her fat form in amusement.
Mrs. James and Janet were most sympathetic, and hurried with Natalie to the bed. Sure enough! The green blades were bravely holding up their pointed green heads as if to bless their young planter.
“That’s because yesterday was such a hot day, and the night was damp and dewy,” remarked Mrs. James.
By this time Natalie had gone to her other vegetable beds, and now called out: “Oh, oh! The beets and beans are up, too!”
To the great delight of the farmerette, it was found that all the shoots had now broken through the soil and tiny green heads were showing in neat rows wherever Natalie had planted seeds. This was very encouraging, and the three returned to the house for breakfast in an exalted frame of mind.
“I don’t s’pose there is anything more I can do to-day to hurry them along, is there?” Natalie wondered aloud, as they finished breakfast and were discussing the wonders of a vegetable garden.
Mrs. James laughed. “No, I should advise you to start out as Janet and you planned, to interest girls in a Scout Patrol to-day. By permitting the vegetables to grow unwatched, they will surprise you the more. Perhaps the corn found courage to come out of the ground when it heard you were not around to annoy it. Had we been about the place yesterday, instead of at camp, the corn may never have dared come out of hiding.”
Natalie glanced at the speaker to see if she was in earnest, but Janet laughed merrily at the words.
“Well,” ventured Natalie, “as we ought really to find enough girls to fill our quota for a Patrol, I think we will visit some of the families to-day, and then attend to our farm work later.”
“How shall we manage to get around to the different houses, Nat, if they are so far apart?” asked Janet.
“I’m going to sit on the steps and watch for Mr. Ames to go by. When he comes in sight I shall ask him to drive us to the Corners. He will stop at Tompkins’ for an hour, most likely, and by that time we can be ready to come back. I want to call on Nancy Sherman and Hester Tompkins. They are both about our age. On our way back from the store, we will ask Mr. Ames to tell us when he can drive us to his brother’s farm to buy the pig. He may say we can go this afternoon, and if he does, we’ll go!”
“We’ll buy the pig, all right, but we’ll also get the Ames girl to say whether she wants to be a Girl Scout with us,” laughed Janet, admiring Natalie’s clever plan.
“Janet,” remarked Mrs. James, “don’t you see a great improvement in Natalie’s ambitions? In the city she never gave a thought to planning anything. Now she is all plans for the future.”
“Yes, I see Nat blossoming out into a regular organizer,” laughed Janet. “If I don’t watch out she will usurp my throne. I was always the leader in the crowd of girls at school, but Nat is fast getting ahead of me.”
The very idea of Natalie advancing ahead of Janet made the girl laugh. But it pleased her, too, to hear her friends praise her. She knew, as well as anyone, that she was lazy and procrastinating in the city. But now she was eager to do things and to do them at once!
While she sat on the side piazza waiting for Mr. Ames, she watched the robins alight on the trees beyond the fence that divided the lawn from the field. They called to others, and chirruped at a great rate, as they fluttered in and out among the green branches.
“What do you suppose makes them gather in those trees? They have been there all day yesterday and to-day. Can they be building community nests?” wondered Natalie aloud to Mrs. James.
“I rather think they are after the cherries. The fruit seems to have ripened quickly these last two days, and robins are very fond of ripe cherries.”
“Whose cherry trees are they, Jimmy?”
“I don’t know, Natty, but the field is said to belong to this farm, so I am going to ask Mr. Ames if the cherries are on our property. You see, they grow on the line with the fence, so I cannot tell what the land-law says about them.”
Mr. Ames was now seen driving leisurely along the dusty road, and the three who were awaiting him walked down to the gate and stood under the great elm tree watching his approach.
“Good-mornin’,” called he, when within hearing.
“Good-morning,” chorused the waiting group.
“I be’n thinkin’ sence yistiddy, when I druv past them churry trees, there, that you’se oughter pick ’em right off! Ef you don’t the durned robins’ll spile all the fruit fer youh,” announced the farmer, not waiting to draw up to the gate.
“Oh, we wanted to ask you if the trees belonged to us,” returned Mrs. James.
“Why, sure! Who else kin claim ’em?” said he.
“They stand on the fence-line, so we were not sure,” explained Natalie, showing off her newly-acquired land-learning.
“It ain’t that they’re standin’ on the survey line, but that the last farmer here used them trees fer fence-posts to nail the wire on. That saved him three hull chestnut posts, see?”
“Oh, I see!” returned Mrs. James. “But how far off the line is his fence? Are the trees inside or outside the wire fence?”
“Well, as fur as I remember now, he ran the fence about a foot this side the line-path. Your proppity ackchully goes out a foot furder on the road, but runnin’ the wire where he did, he managed to get the use outen all them trees what grow along the road. He saved ’most fifteen dollars in posts by doin’ that.”
Mrs. James studied the situation for a few moments and then said: “When was the wire fence stretched on this line?”
“Why, lemme see!” and Farmer Ames shoved his hat over one ear while he scratched his head for the necessary intelligence to beam forth. “That was the last year, before one, that he lived here.”
“Then the fence has stood on that line about three years?” persisted Mrs. James.
“Yeh, about that.”
“Well, then, I’ll tell Mr. Marvin to order you to change it. When you get time you can plan to put up posts on the right property line and remove the old wire fence.”
Natalie and Janet wondered why anyone should bother over such a little matter, but Mr. Ames understood, and smiled.
“I reckon you knows somethin’ about proppity law, eh?”
“I know this much – that if that fence is allowed to stand without protest for a certain time the land becomes public property, and Natalie would have a lawsuit on her hands if she ever sold it or wished to claim it again. The fence should never have been placed back from the line, even if it saved fifteen dollars. Those three cherry trees are worth ten times that sum, and once they become public property we can never regain rights in them.”
Thus the two girls learned a bit of amazing real estate law while they stood by the wagon. When Mrs. James concluded, Natalie told Mr. Ames they wished to go to the store, so he gladly made room for them on the seat beside him.
Janet and Natalie had no difficulty in enlisting Nancy Sherman and Hester Tompkins in a proposed membership of the new Patrol, and these two girls promised to interest Mabel Holmes and Sue Harper. So there were already four girls, each about fourteen years old.
“I’m sure Dorothy Ames will join right off, ’cause she knows a girl at White Plains who is a Scout, and Dot wanted to start something like it here. But we didn’t know how to begin,” explained Nancy Sherman.
When Mr. Ames was ready to drive home, his two companions were ready also. Soon after they had left the Corners Natalie spoke of their desire to visit his brother’s to buy a pig.
Janet instantly added: “And I want some chickens, too. Must I have a hen set on eggs to raise them?”
“You kin do as you like about that! I kin sell you’se some young chicks cheap, and you kin raise ’em. Then you kin buy a settin’ hen and raise a brood that way, too. An’ you’se kin keep some old fowl fer layin’ aigs to use in the cookin’.”
“Dear me, how much would all that cost me?” worried Janet.
“Wall, the aigs fer settin’ ain’t more’n other kinds. Th’ old hen’ll cost yuh about two dollars. Layin’ hens cost about one-fifty each, an’ a good rooster’ll cost near abouts two-fifty. The leetle chicks won’t cost no more’n twenty-five cents each.”
“Oh, that is fine! I can do that, all right!” cried Janet delightedly.
“How much will the pig cost her?” asked Natalie.
“Not much. When my brother has such a big litter as this one is, I’ve known him to give away a few of the little porkers before they cost him anything fer feed.”
Natalie and Janet exchanged looks! Plainly they said: “Oh, if only those pigs haven’t cost him anything for feed!”
“How about keepin’ right on to my brother’s farm, now?” asked Mr. Ames, as they drew near the Green Hill house.
“That will be all right! We’ll just let Jimmy know,” replied Natalie delightedly.
Farmer Ames was a kindly soul, but he had a keen sense of business as well. When he heard the two girls talk of buying a pig and chickens, he wished to close the bargain without delay for his brother and himself. If they had time to think it over, they might change their minds, and he would lose a sale. So he proposed that they go right on then and conclude the business.
“How about paying for them, now, Mr. Ames?” asked Janet. “I have to write home for my money, and that will take a few days.”
“Oh, don’t let that worry you any. Let my brother do the worryin’ about his pay,” laughed Mr. Ames jokingly.
Mrs. James consented to their going to the stock-farm then and there, but reminded the girls that the chicken-coops and pig-pens were not ready to receive any living creatures yet.
“Oh, we’ll fix all that when we get back,” called Janet as they drove away.
Janet found the stock-farm so interesting that she almost forgot the real cause of their visit – the enlisting of Dorothy in the new Patrol. The little pink pigs were so alluring in their antics that Janet decided to buy the three which had been separated from the mother and had been weaned.
The price asked seemed ridiculously cheap, compared to what butchers in the city charged for a pound of pork. So the three pigs were placed in a small box and the top was slatted down to keep the lively little things in bounds.
When this thrilling business matter had been concluded, Natalie told Dorothy about the new Patrol they wished to launch. They had no trouble whatever in gaining Dorothy’s eager consent to become a member, as she had long wanted to be a Scout. So the two girls started homeward about noontime, feeling that they had accomplished a wonderful day’s business in many ways.
“We’ll jest stop at my house to let you choose some hens an’ chicks, an’ I’ll deliver ’em in the mornin’, when I drive by.”
“Why can’t we take them along with us to-night?” asked Janet.
“Cuz it is hard work to ketch hens in the daytime whiles they are scratchin’ around. But onct they go to roost at night, it is easy to get hold of ’em without excitin’ ’em too much.”
Natalie and Janet gazed at the various chickens they found about the place, and Natalie whispered to her companion when the farmer was not near by:
“Janet, choose the biggest ones you see, because Mr. Ames said they were all the same price. Some of these are awfully small while some are great heavy hens. You won’t be taking advantage of him, you know, if he said we could take any we liked.”
“That’s so! I might take those big white hens with the yellow legs,” replied Janet.
“Yes, they’re nice-looking, too. Those dappled ones are not a bit picturesque; nor are those smaller hens with red-brown plumage. The white ones will look so nice walking around our lawn.”
So Janet selected six of the largest white hens she could find in the entire flock of several hundred chickens. Mr. Ames remonstrated in vain that she had better take Rhode Island Reds, or some of the guinea hens instead. She wanted the big white ones.
“And we’ll take that lovely rooster with the wonderful tail,” added Janet, selecting one with marvellous hues in his cock-plumes when the sun changed its colors to variegated beauty.
“He ain’t no good fer a rooster, Miss,” said Mr. Ames.
Natalie whispered advice again. “Janet, I believe he wants to keep him for himself. Don’t let him do it.”
“Mr. Ames, I’ll take the one with those pretty feathers, or I won’t buy any!” declared Janet firmly.
“Oh, all right, Miss. I don’t care what you choose as long as you want them. But I’m tellin’ you-all, them hens is old and that rooster is sickly,” explained Mr. Ames, in a tone that said plainly: “I wash my hands of all your future complaints.”
“Now how about the young chicks you told us about? Can I buy some of them?” asked Janet, when hens and rooster were noted on a paper.
“Yeh; come with me and I’ll show you the kind you’d best get to start with. They’re about three to four weeks old and kin scratch fer themselves and eat whatever they find. You kin let them run wild, and they’ll get stronger that way.”
Then the chicks were selected and Mr. Ames found a hen that was wanting to set on a nest of eggs. So he picked up the hen and put her in a feed-bag. Both Natalie and Janet cried in fear lest she smother before they reached home.
“Nah, she’s ust to such ways. I’ll set her when we git over to Green Hill, and you gals kin pick out the eggs and slip ’em under her to-night when it is dark. Then she won’t bother you.”
All this was very interesting to the two girls who had never heard a word about raising chickens, or setting hens, before. So Mr. Ames drove them home in high spirits. The crate holding the pigs was left by the kitchen steps, and the hen placed in the coop on some china eggs, until Janet could select other eggs.
On his way past the house again, Mr. Ames called to Mrs. James: “Them churries oughter be picked soon. Ef you want me and my man to do it, we kin come this afternoon, likely.”
Rachel overheard and said: “Mis’ James, pickin’ ox-hearts is fun fer gals. Dem trees is jus’ bustin’ wid fruit a-waitin’ a lot of young gals’ hands to pick ’em. Ef I wuz you, Honey, I’d give Mr. Ames an answer in th’ mawnin’. One night moh won’t hurt the fruit, nohow.”
The farmer sent an angry glance at Rachel, but she met it with effrontery. When Mrs. James said, “I think I will wait until to-morrow before deciding,” Rachel grinned at the discomfited man.
He drove away without loss of time, and merely said: “I’ll bring them chickens over to-morrer.”
The moment he was out of hearing, Rachel said eagerly: “Why, Mis’ James, them Girl Scouts down at camp’ll give their haids to climb them trees and pick cherries on shares fer you. Charity begins to home, so let our gals get the benefit, says I!”
“Oh yes, Jimmy! Then Janet and I can help them, too. It will be heaps of fun, I think. We have a good ladder in the barn, and another shorter one in the cellar, so some of us can pick the outside boughs while the others climb up and do the inside branches,” planned Natalie.
Mrs. James studied the blue sky seriously. Then said: “I suppose we ought to pick them at once, then, while the weather is good. Once a rain sets in, cherries will rot. The birds, too, are ruining the ripe fruit with their pickings, so we ought to begin work immediately after luncheon.”
“I’ll tell you, then!” exclaimed Natalie. “While you and Rachel get the luncheon out, Janet and I will hurry to camp and ask Miss Mason if her girls want to do the work.”
“I’m sure they will be crazy to do it,” added Janet.
So the two friends ran down to the woodland camp where a bevy of merry Girl Scouts were just finishing their dinner. Natalie told what brought her there, and added: “We ought to be able to pick all the cherries before sundown, don’t you think so, Miss Mason?”
“Why, yes, if so many of us work. But we might break down the branches if we all climb in the trees,” said she.
“Some of us will use ladders, and some climb the trees. There are three, you know, so we can plan to be on different boughs to pick,” explained Natalie.
The Scouts donned their overalls which they generally used in outdoor work about camp, and started back with Natalie. At the house they were told that the fruit was to be gathered on shares, and each girl could sell her cherries to Mrs. James, or keep them, as she chose. Then the pickers were given baskets, or pails, and sent to the trees, where Natalie and Janet joined them after luncheon.
The step-ladder found in the attic was brought down and placed under the tree with the low boughs. One girl mounted this and began to pick from its top step. The long ladder from the barn was placed against another tree so that the topmost branches could be reached by careful work, and a short ladder was put against the lower boughs.
Natalie eagerly climbed up in the branches of one of the trees and began to pick quickly. She had a two-quart tin pail that was hung over a short branch near her hands, and as she began to pick the cherries, she sang or called to her companions. Rachel smiled approvingly as she heard her “Honey-Chile” so happy, then she turned to go back to her kitchen and start a big supper for so many Girl Scouts that night.
After a time, Janet called to Natalie: “Say, aren’t a lot of the cherries bad from the pecking the birds gave them?”
“Yes, and it’s a shame, too! I pick what seems to be a luscious cherry, and when it is in my hand, it turns out to have a great rotted spot on the other side,” added one of the Scouts.
“If the birds would only keep at the same cherry and finish it, instead of flying from one to another and taking a nip out of each,” said Natalie.
“Well, you see, they bite the ripe spot out of the cherry, and then fly to another good ripe mouthful. It is easier that way than trying to turn their heads around the cherry to eat the opposite side,” laughed Janet.
“Girls!” now shouted Natalie, making a quick dash at something about her head. “Do these horrid little yellow-jackets annoy you, too?”
“They are after the decayed cherries,” called a Scout.
“They are not yellow-jackets, are they? I thought they were hornets,” said another Scout.
“They’re both – there is a hornet, now – buzzing about my ear!” cried Janet.
At that very moment, a sharp scream from Natalie caused every girl to turn her head and see what had happened. In another moment a crash of branches and a flash of a body falling down through the leaves made several of the Scouts cry out in fright.
Natalie had been picking the cherries from the topmost branches, as she liked to sit up high and pelt the stones from the fruit she ate, down at the girls’ heads, to tease them. The hornets had a small nest in the top of the tree, but Natalie was not aware of that. As she called and laughed at her friends, the hornets began to grow excited, and when they found the annoyance failed to go away but came ever nearer their nest, they buzzed about and threatened in angry terms. Still Natalie paid no attention to what they said to her. She thought they wanted to feed on the rotten fruit, whereas they merely wished her to go and leave them in peace.
At last the disturbance was too much for one of the old hornets. He flew in circles about her head and scolded until his exasperation took form in the offensive. Natalie’s neck was a very advantageous spot and she could not see him when he lit on her collar and quickly crept up to the soft smooth skin in the nape of the neck.
Without further warning he drove in his dagger-point and Natalie screamed with pain. Forgetting that she was up in a tree, and must cling fast to the boughs, she suddenly put both hands to her neck. The natural result was, she fell down so quickly that her friends could not get to her assistance in time to do a thing.
Smaller twigs and branches had given way with her weight and she would have fallen to the ground, had not a friendly bough caught her under the arms and suspended her momentarily. Then the smaller bough that grew from the friendly one snapped short off under the girl’s weight, and the sharp up-thrusting section left on the tree ran right through the suspender-straps at the back of her overalls. There she hung, like a toy doll on a Christmas Tree, – her feet dangling and her head and hands helplessly held out to be taken down by some kind friend.
The terrifying scream brought Rachel running from the kitchen and Mrs. James up from the cellar, where she had gone to hunt for more containers for the cherries. When Rachel saw what had happened she wrung her fat hands in agony.
“Oh, m’ Honey! My li’l’ chile – hang on t’ dat limb fer all you’se wuth!” yelled she. Then she rushed over the grass to the rescue, – but Natalie dangled just out of reach above her head.
Janet slid down the rough trunk of the cherry-tree the moment she heard her friend shriek. Her thin stockings hung in strips when she reached the ground, and her legs were skinned from knees to ankles, but she felt no pain, as she was so excited over the outcome of this accident.
“Quick! Someone get that step-ladder we had here!” cried she, jumping up and down in her fear that Natalie would let go and fall; yet she was too excited to run for the ladder herself.
Rachel instantly comprehended and jumped across the intervening space between the two trees and caught a firm hold of the lower part of the step-ladder. She never stopped to see if anyone was on the top step. But one of the Scouts had been standing on it with her form hidden in the foliage of the tree. As Rachel whirled the ladder out from under her, the Scout was left in mid-air, instinctively clutching the branches to save herself.
The other Scouts had descended the trees by this time, and some ran over to help save Natalie, while others stopped under the tree where the new accident threatened to take place.
“Help! Help!” yelled the girl who was dangling from a bough.
Miss Mason had been measuring the cherries impartially, half for the individual pickers and half for Mrs. James, when the first accident happened. She was out of the house and crossing the grass when the second scream reached her ears. She saw an old hemp hammock hanging from a clothes pole on the drying-place, and had a sudden idea.
The hammock was snatched and carried over to the tree where the Scout hung. “Here, girls! Spread it out quickly! We will have a life-saving net and win a reward for our presence of mind!” ordered the teacher.
The Scouts instantly obeyed and the net was spread even as May wailed: “I have to let go! My hands won’t hold on longer!”
“All right! Drop!” commanded Miss Mason. “We’ll save you.”
May yelled and let go. She was caught in the meshes of the old hammock, but the hemp was so rotten that in another moment it separated and let May down on the grass. However, it had answered its purpose, for the time, and had broken her fall.
While this “first-aid” was being given, Rachel ran, in great excitement, back to assist Natalie. She had hastily placed the extra-high step-ladder under the tree and, without taking time to see that the braces that hold back and front sections firmly apart were not taut, she began to mount the steps to reach her “Honey.”
Half-way up, the now overbalanced ladder started to sway uncertainly, and Rachel gasped as she wildly tried to clutch something to steady herself. Natalie’s feet were the only available things in sight.
