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“These Girl Scouts became interested last spring, but not one of them attends my school, so I see little of them excepting when they call on me, or I attend one of their gatherings. Now that we are started on founding a Troop, we shall have weekly meetings and all the rest of the programme.”
Miss Mason waited to hear if Mrs. James had anything to say about her suggestion, and the latter asked: “Do you think these seven – or eight – Scouts are on the same social plane as Natalie and her friends?”
“Yes, I do, or I would never have suggested their coming into contact with our five girls. They are not wealthy girls, and each one will have to support herself in a short time, but they are fine, – morally, mentally, and spiritually. A few of them are not perfect physically, and that is why I wish to give them another long summer out in the open. It is the best thing a young girl can do to build up her strength and health.”
“That is a great relief – to hear they are good girls. I have been very careful of my girl’s associations, you know, and now that her father is not present to protect her, I will have to use more precaution and better judgment than ever. This is one of the main reasons I have for urging her to live out of the city for a time.”
“My Girl Scouts can be of great assistance to Natalie, if she will show a genuine interest in us. For instance, one of the members of my newly-fledged Patrol lived on a farm all her life before she moved to New York two years ago. She knows everything necessary for light gardening and barnyard stock. If you had any idea of planting the vegetable garden, or keeping chickens, Alice Hastings can show you how to do it.”
“I had not thought so far as that – gardening and poultry – but there is a splendid lucrative business for a girl, I should say!” declared Mrs. James.
“Of course!” agreed Miss Mason. “And with a little care and good selection, a garden can be made to keep a houseful of people. Rachel is a good cook, and you are a thorough housekeeper, so what is there to interfere with Natalie having a few good boarders stay at the house during the summer?”
“That was my idea, when I first saw the farm. I told Mr. Marvin that we could ask very good prices and fill the spare-rooms, if Natalie would consent to it. We will need some money for repairs and necessary furniture for the extra chambers, but that is all. We have our housekeeping things, and quantities of linen for all purposes, besides bedroom furniture for five good rooms. I figure that the amount realized on the sale of the Oriental rugs and draperies, the pictures and antiques, would pay for all extras we may need, and give us capital with which to launch a boarding-house for the summer,” explained Mrs. James.
“If you could find a number of girls of Natalie’s own age to spend the summer with you, would you not feel more at ease about the responsibility of the undertaking?”
“Oh, of course! I am perfectly at home with girls, you know. And they would not demand such attention as adult guests, either,” said Mrs. James.
“True! Then why not offer to chaperone a number of paying girls of Natalie’s age for the season? There are so many parents who would like their girls to benefit by a summer in the country, but neither mother nor father can leave home, so the girl has to remain also, because of no suitable guardian to chaperone her!” declared Miss Mason.
“I’m sure your idea is practical. And I will speak to Mr. Marvin about it. If only Natalie would think favorably of the farm plan.” Mrs. James sighed as she thought of the protests and tears she had to contend with whenever the subject was broached to Natalie.
“I’ll tell you what I proposed to the girls just before I left them, then I must run along. I invited them to go out and see Green Hill Farm on Saturday. I said I would get my brother’s car and motor out, so they could judge of the place, – whether it would make a pleasant home for the season or not.”
“How very kind of you, Miss Mason!” exclaimed Mrs. James. “Mr. Marvin’s automobile is too small to carry more than three of us, and then we are squeezed close together. He said he wanted an extra seat added, but everything is so backward this year, the company would not promise to deliver the car at all, if a seat had to be attached. Now this invitation of taking Natalie with her friends is far better than driving her over there alone. It will seem much more desirable to her if her chums praise the farm and house.”
“That was my idea! And while they are roaming about the place, you and I might look over the chambers and other rooms indoors, and average up what might be the income from a number of paying girls,” added Miss Mason.
“What a fairy-godmother you are, Miss Mason!” declared the elder woman. “Natalie always said you were a dear, but I find you a most valuable adviser, too.”
“Mrs. James, who would not move heaven and earth to help a poor little child like Natalie, in her loss and forlorn state? Were it not for you being with her, I think she would have followed her father from sheer lack of interest in life. That is often the case, you know.”
“Yes, I know; but I am sure we have passed the worst phase in her sad experience, and will now turn our backs on the morbid sorrow and face the gladsome light,” said Mrs. James.
“That is one reason she ought to be in the country – where she is free from all memories and can find a new interest in life. But young companions are necessary, too, to suggest daily fun and work to each other.”
“Did the girls seem pleased with your proposal to take them to the farm on Saturday?” asked Mrs. James, anxiously.
“Oh yes, indeed! They were all delighted, so I left them with a date for ten o’clock in the morning. The girls can assemble here and I will call promptly with the car. Now I must really be going.” Miss Mason rose as she spoke, and held out her hand to her hostess.
“All I can say is, you’ll be laying up treasures in heaven for yourself if you give your summer vacation to girls who need the outing. Their gratitude and love will be a crown in the future, that you may well be proud of.”
“I will enjoy myself, too, never fear!” laughed the teacher.
“I wish there were more like you, then!”
“Perhaps we had best not speak to Natalie of our talk this afternoon,” ventured Miss Mason.
“No, I won’t mention your call. And we will let all other things work out naturally, – even the plan of taking girls to board this summer. We will wait and see if Natalie has any plans of her own,” returned Mrs. James.
So the teacher said good-by and left. Both women felt happy and confident that Natalie’s problems were being solved after this confidential chat. And when Natalie came home late that evening she was gayer than she had been for many weeks.
“What do you think, Jimmy!” cried she, as she ran in to kiss Mrs. James.
“I’m thinking it is something good, Honey,” returned the lady.
“Why, Helene’s and Janet’s mother said to-night that if I went to Green Hill Farm to stay this summer she would like to send them with me to board! Isn’t that interesting – to get an income out of my friends that way, while they feel that it will be a great favor on your part if the girls can come!”
“I should be very glad to take care of them, Natalie, if you think you would like to have them live with us this season,” replied Mrs. James, wisely refraining from mentioning a word about her talk with Miss Mason.
“And the moment Frances heard of the idea, she said she would coax and coax until her mother said she could come, too! That started Norma, naturally! And Belle declared that she would never stay home alone in New York if we all were having fun on the farm. In the end, Jimmy, all five girls were ready to leave home to-night, and start for the farm!” Natalie laughed merrily at remembrance of the eagerness of her friends to go and live on the farm. And Mrs. James was made happy at hearing that care-free laugh, – the first one the girl had given since her father was taken away.
“When Mrs. Wardell heard that I didn’t want to go to the farm, she said I was ‘cutting off my nose to spite my face.’ And she said I wouldn’t act so set against it if I would use a little wisdom and common sense in my thinking over the whole affair. Then Mr. Wardell told me what wonderful times every one has in the summer on a good farm. He said that any Westchester farm in that locality was most desirable. So I need not feel that I was going to live on a poverty-stricken patch of land, because I would be, most likely, within arm’s reach (metaphorically speaking, he said) of plenty of millionaires who loved quiet country life, and found it in the Westchester Hills. So now I am as curious to see my only home as you could want me to be.”
“I’m thankful for it,” sighed Mrs. James. “And I’m thankful to the Wardells for changing your opinions about Green Hill.”
CHAPTER III – GREEN HILL FARM
Saturday morning Miss Mason drove her brother’s car up to the curb before the elegant apartment house where Natalie lived, and motioned the door-man to come out.
“Please telephone to the Averills’ apartment and say Miss Mason is waiting in the car. Let me know if they are ready.”
The uniformed attendant bowed politely and hurried in to obey the order. In a few moments Miss Mason heard a happy voice calling from the window in one of the upper apartments. She leaned out and tried to look up, but all she could see was a fluttering of several handkerchiefs waved from several hands.
Then the porter came out and smilingly said: “Mrs. James says they will be right down, Miss.”
“Thank you,” was Miss Mason’s reply, and she sat back to wait. But she had not very long for that, as a bevy of merry girls hurried out of the front door and ran across the walk.
“Oh, Miss Mason! Isn’t it a glorious day?” called Janet.
“Couldn’t be finer if we had ordered it for our trip!” added Belle joyously.
“And what do you think, Miss Mason?” cried Natalie, as happy as the others. “Jimmy had Rachel pack us a lovely picnic lunch so we could spend some time at the farm this noon. Won’t it be fun?”
“Indeed it will – especially if that famous cook of yours prepared the goodies, Natalie,” laughed Miss Mason.
“Jimmy will be down with us in a minute, Miss Mason,” added Natalie; “she just stopped to telephone Mr. Marvin that we were all going to motor out to the farm. Maybe he can come out, too, and join us there.”
“That will be splendid, as he can explain matters we may not understand,” returned Miss Mason.
“I’m sure there’s nothing to understand about a farm,” ventured Natalie, laughingly.
“You say that because you never lived on one. But once you do, you will find out that the soil on your garden will have a great deal to do with the success of your vegetables. Even flowers need certain grades of soil before they grow to perfection. If you have a pasture lot on the farm, the quality of the grass will control the grade and amount of milk from the cows; it will prove valuable, or otherwise, to your horses, to the sheep, or other stock. Even the chickens that scratch over the field will show results in the good or poor soil they feed in.”
“Why! How very interesting!” exclaimed Janet, wonderingly.
“But that need not bother us, Miss Mason, as vegetables and stock will not come into our lives,” laughed Natalie.
Mrs. James had come out of the house and now she heard what Natalie said. “My dear child, one of the main reasons for our going to live on the farm is to offset the high cost of living in the city. By raising our own vegetables and eggs and chickens, we can live for one-tenth of the cost in the city.”
“But, Jimmy, not one of us knows a thing about farming!” chuckled Natalie, amused at the very idea.
“Perhaps you don’t know anything, but I do, Natalie.” Mrs. James spoke gently. “I spent a few years of my early married life on a lovely farm near Philadelphia, dear, and there is not very much that I did not learn while there. To make a success of the investment, I found I had to take hold, personally, and not only supervise the work, but know how to do it, and to do it if occasion demanded it of me.”
“Now it will just come in fine for Nat, won’t it?” declared Janet, enthusiastically. Mrs. James and the teacher laughed appreciatively at the remark.
“Do tell us, Jimmy, – did Mr. Marvin say he would try to meet us at Green Hill?” asked Natalie, as the car started.
“Yes, he said he would try to get an old friend to accompany him. He was not sure that she could get away, but he proposed trying to coax her to do so.”
“Is it an old friend of his?” asked Natalie.
“Yes, a friend of many years’ standing,” replied Mrs. James, smiling down at her idle hands.
“Do you know her?” continued Natalie, seeing the smile.
“Oh yes, – very well indeed!”
“Do I know her, too?”
“Yes, you know her.”
“Maybe we all know her, – do we?” asked Janet suddenly.
“Yes, – you all know her,” laughed Mrs. James.
“Who can it be?” exclaimed several voices, but Janet tossed her head and smiled knowingly at Mrs. James. The latter placed a finger on her lips for secrecy, and Janet nodded.
Many guesses were given but no one thought of the right name, and Mrs. James refused to divulge the secret. Then so many interesting sights were seen, as they drove swiftly along the Boulevard that runs through the Bronx Parkway and northwards through the pretty country section of Westchester, that the old friend who was to join them later at Green Hill Farm was eclipsed.
After a pleasant drive of less than an hour, Miss Mason turned off the Central Avenue road and followed a cross-country road that ran through the village where the farmers of that part of the country did their shopping and got their mail.
“If this is a village, where are the stores?” asked Natalie.
“I see it!” exclaimed Mrs. James.
“Oh, I see a little house with a few brooms standing on the front stoop. A sign swinging over the door says ‘Post Office,’ – but you don’t mean to say that is our only shop?” laughed Natalie, as she jeered at the general country store.
“That is the ‘Emporium’ for Green Hill,” said Mrs. James.
“No wonder, then, that we’ll have to raise our own food and other necessities,” retorted Natalie humorously.
The girls laughed, for truly the small store had amused them. New York stores were so different!
A mile further on, Mrs. James called to Miss Mason: “We are almost there now. It is the first house on the right-hand side of the road. You can see the towering trees of the front lawn from here.”
Instantly every pair of eyes looked eagerly down the road and saw the fine big trees mentioned by Mrs. James. In a few minutes more the car was near enough to permit everyone to glimpse the house.
“Jimmy was right! It is an old peach of a place!” declared Natalie delightedly, as she took in the picture at a glance.
“Oh!” exclaimed Miss Mason. “What a treasure, Natalie! Genuine old Colonial, Mrs. James. I shouldn’t wonder if it stood when Washington led his army across this land to reach Dobb’s Ferry. Even the old hand-made shingles are still siding the house.”
“Yes, I heard it was a Revolutionary relic that was as well preserved as any house around here. You see the fine old front entrance? With its half-moon window over the door and the hood for protection from storms? Even the old stoop and the two seats flanking the door, on each side, are the old ones.”
“Dear me! To think this gem has been Natalie’s right along, and no one knew of it!” cried Belle, who loved antiques and vowed she was going to be a collector some day.
“Not that alone, Belle, but think how Nat balked at coming here to spend this summer!” laughed Janet.
“Well, but – I hadn’t an idea of what it was like,” said Natalie apologetically.
“The Law that is the basis of all national laws, says ‘Ignorance of the Law is no excuse for a criminal,’” quoted Miss Mason, smiling at Natalie.
“But, now, once I’ve seen it, I will confess I like it,” Natalie admitted.
Miss Mason now drove the car through the gate which Norma had opened, and the automobile drew up to the side door where a long piazza ran the length of the wing. The moment the car stopped the girls sprang out in haste, to run about and see the place. But Natalie stood still on the lowest step of the piazza and gazed in at an open door.
“Someone’s here!” whispered she to her friends.
Before anyone could reply, a buxom form filled the doorway and a wide grin almost cleft Rachel’s face in half. She held out both hands to Natalie, and her expression signified a welcome to her “Honey-Chile.”
“Why! Rachie! How did you get here? I left you at home!” exclaimed Natalie, not certain whether it was flesh and blood she saw, or a phantom.
“Diden I come by a short cut, Honey, an’ wa’n’t it a good joke on you-all to beat you to dis fahm!” laughed Rachel, delighting in the mystery.
“Oh, now I know! It was Rachel who is our friend, eh?” shouted Natalie, clapping her hands.
“Shore! Mr. Marwin done brung me in his speeder by d’ Hudson Riber Turnpike. We turned offen d’ main road afore we come t’ Dobb’s Ferry. Jus’ d’ udder side f’om Yonkers. Dat’s how we come so quick,” explained Rachel.
“Where is he? I want to thank him, Rachel!” cried Natalie, gratitude uppermost in her thought just then.
“You won’t have far to go to find me,” laughed a genial voice, and everyone turned to see Mr. Marvin standing behind them.
Then followed a visit indoors, with Mr. Marvin acting as guide from attic to cellar, and his party stringing out behind. Some loitered in a room, and then ran to catch up with the main guard. Or some lingered to admire a view or interesting object in the house, and hurried after the others later, for fear of missing something worth while.
The main hall ran from front to rear of the house, cutting it in half. On one side of the wide hallway was a “front parlor,” and back of it the back-parlor, or “settin’-room,” as the farmers called it. Across the hall was the dining-room and pantry, and leading from the pantry was the kitchen. These rooms were so spacious that Janet laughingly remarked: “Our entire apartment would go in one room.”
“Look at the wonderful fireplaces!” exclaimed Belle.
“My! One can throw a log three feet long on the fire and not strike either side of the chimney,” added Frances.
“Girls! Just see the funny little cupboards built in on each side of the chimney-facing,” called Norma, opening one of the panels that fitted snugly to the bricks.
Everyone called attention to a different discovery. Janet laughed at the small wavy-glass window panes, that twisted the scene outdoors into grotesque views. Natalie marvelled at the great dark beams overhead that were not only hand-hewn from the timber, but also hand-planed. Mr. Marvin drew attention to the wooden pegs used in the corners of these beams, and the crude nails that a Colonial blacksmith had beaten into a form that could be used by the home-builder of the house.
“It is all so wonderful, Natalie, it seems like a dream!” exclaimed Miss Mason, delighted beyond words.
“Look at the heavy planks in the floors!” said Belle.
