Lillian Elizabeth Roy

“ If your father was as rich as all that, why would you care about wasting a doughnut? And look at your mother making her own butter and helping in housework! Anne says she even spins her own linen towels and knits your stockings. What under the sun would she work like that for, if she could afford to live better'n we do?" cried Eleanor, incredulously.
"My mother doesn't have to do a thing, unless she wants to. She just likes to do it for us, and it sure does make a home!" declared Polly, fondly, as she looked across the Pit to her home. ”

“ Hester understood perfectly, so Julie rushed over to the crooked, leaning pine, half-dead, but draped as the scout had said, with long swinging tendrils of vines.
“Isn’t this going to be a thriller of a picture, Verny?” called Julie, waving a hand at the wide canyon and the shimmering falls.
“For goodness’ sake, Julie! don’t go so close to the edge,” warned Joan. But she was too late.
In turning to address the Captain, Julie had inadvertently stepped back one pace too far. With the wave of her hand at the ravine she lost her balance. ”

“ She shopped as if she expected to visit an Emperor and attend Court instead of going on board her father’s private Yacht for a pleasure trip to South America.
Everybody felt it necessary to advise everybody else about what to take and what not to take. It seemed to Polly that the days fairly crept by, instead of galloping past as they had been wont to do in the last three years. But everything comes to an end—even long, tedious waiting for a certain day to arrive. And then the day came—a day of unusual sunshine and balmy breezes: a perfect day for a sea voyage to begin. ”

“ I haven't the slightest doubt but that you will wonder at your present attitude, the moment John and Tom have gone. Once let every young person leave us here all alone for the long solitary winter, and you will eat your heart out to think that you could have been so mistaken as to refuse this wonderful opportunity to make something of yourself and your wealth."
Polly knew in her heart that her mother spoke the truth, but she never dreamed what it cost that mother to speak cheerily as she did about her only girl's going—in fact, almost persuading her to go. ”

“ I wish to goodness I had never seen May Randall and her Woodcraft box!” cried Eleanor, as if driven to desperation.
Miss Miller was as surprised now as the girl had been a few moments before, but she rallied much quicker than the guilty one. The truth flashed over her quick mind and she changed her query accordingly.
“It is a pity that you ever gave in to temptation. You certainly can’t blame your covert acts on May or any other being. The evil we do is absolutely our own fault, for every man is a free agent to choose what he will do. ”

“ We can build a dandy bonfire for Charlestown,” said Anne.
“Umm! Never again! We had a fire once when Washington’s homestead burned down, and Jim’s just raisin’ a new crop of wool since then. My hair was frizzled to the roots, too, and our eyebrows were all gone. We looked awfully funny without winkers on our eyes or brows over them,” laughed George, the memory of his burns too fresh to attempt a second fire even in play.
“Then we can’t do it! We may as well go home and wait for the automobile to come back,” said Martha resignedly. ”

“ Aunt Selina, we all have new names at home; even mother is now called Mother Wings and I am Fluff. The other Blue Birds have names they chose for themselves, and Ned is an Owl, and prints our weekly paper called the Chirp. Now, instead of Aunt Selina, I want to call you a bird-name, too. May I?”
Aunt Selina smiled sympathetically at Ruth’s words, but, recalled to her condition by a twinge of pain, she moaned, “Child, poor old Aunt Selina would make a wretched specimen of a bird nowadays. The only kind I feel that I could represent truly is a raven—for it always croaks.” ”

“ Near the confines of this forest, Polly suddenly reined in Noddy and held out a warning hand. Right across their pathway sped a young deer. It paused by the side of a sheltering pine-trunk, with head erect and fore-foot poised gracefully, gazing steadily at the strange creatures who dared intrude upon those sacred precincts!
It as suddenly vanished again, and the girls breathed deeply.
"Oh, for our camera!" cried Eleanor.
"How stupid of us to leave it home," added Barbara.
"It's always the way. Who remembers a kodak until it is needed," laughed Anne. ”

“ Straight on for Brooklyn Heights the awful explosive went, and all George could see was General Howe giving the sign to hang Nathan Hale to a telegraph pole, when the torpedo struck and blew all of Long Island into the air. George rose with it, and while he tried to catch his breath, the great American eagle flew over his head and stretched out a claw. He was firmly held in this clutch, and carried dangling over the East River and right up to the cupola of City Hall, where the eagle had built a nest, all unknown to the citizens. ”

“ But he unwrapped each covering himself, and when the last dazzling wrapper was revealed, no human being durst gaze upon that Light. But he who was born of Light looked upon what was hidden in that covering and flung all up through the smoke-hole to take its place in the Firmament of Heaven, where it shines like unto a Sun—to-day, as in those days. And it was given the world to shed its rays of Light upon the earth by day, even as the Moon shines for Light by night, and the Stars sing for joy and gladness that Light came to the world. ”

“ I love all flowers so that I would fight to protect them. In my own home garden, I am ruler and no one tells me to strive for a prize, or sell my blossoms for money. And my flowers know I love them, so they really race with each other to see which one can offer me the finest blossoms.”
Norma laughed delightedly at this explanation, and Mrs. James nodded her head understandingly, as she murmured: “That is the way I could love the flowers if I allowed myself to specialize with them. And because I think Norma is much the same, I wanted her to try the flower gardening and then come and meet you.” ”

“ Polly was fully recovered again, with no signs of the shock or soaking she had received; so, when Tom was announced by the telephone girl in the hotel office, she felt no undue nervousness.
“Anne, you are going to help entertain Tom, aren’t you?” said she, casually patting her hair down neatly.
Anne looked at her sister-in-law with an amused smile. “If you think you will need a chaperone when such an old friend calls. Tom always seems more like a brother than a young man who might turn out to be a beau, some day.” ”

“ There’s that awful ‘if’ in the way!” sighed Eleanor.
“Well, anyway, Nolla, we ought to be able to find out one of two things on this western trip—whether she does love him, or whether she doesn’t! I’m not so sure but that daily companionship on board a private yacht is coma to spontaneous love. You can always tell, from day to day, just what is about to happen, and who will be in the party. Now, out here, where great things occur frequently, these two may discover how dear each is to the other. ”

“ The sweep downward from the Falls to the bridge had been cleared of undergrowth so that the view presented—fields of buttercups and daisies in the foreground and Bill Sherwood's farm-land and cottage by the road that ran over the Big Bridge—was a most decided contrast to the wild beauty of the woods and cliffs.
"Well!" sighed some of the girls, "No wonder Zan wanted to camp here!"
"Isn't it beautiful! It is more like an artist's ideal than actuality!" added Miss Miller.
"Daddy purchased the place from a well-known American artist," explained Zan, enjoying the appreciation of her friends. ”

“ Then a suite of furniture was placed upon the dais and the auctioneer began to point out its especial claims to beauty.
“Girls, is anything wrong with that furniture? Who would use it in a home, and what style of house does it belong in?” said Mr. Fabian.
Again Dodo was the first with her criticism. “Who wants doleful furniture, in a bed-room, to make you weep just as you lose consciousness in sleep? One needs cheerful objects to close one’s eyes upon, and also to bid you good-morning when you wake up.” ”

“ Eleanor laughed teasingly. “That’s what a young girl gets for having a beau who is daffy over her!”
“But, Nolla,” complained Polly, “it isn’t my fault that Tom won’t take a broad hint to mind his own business!”
“Perhaps he thinks this is his business—the business of getting the girl he has made up his mind to marry,” declared Eleanor.
“Well, then! You can just tell him from me, Nolla, that he is going about it in exactly the wrong way to interest me in himself. A girl hates to be tagged, just as a man loses interest in a girl who is forever putting herself in his way to be noticed.” ”

“ But how do we carry a swarm home?” asked Natalie.
“In your farmer’s hat!” retorted Janet, laughingly.
“Oh, you won’t have to worry over that. I’ll hive the swarm and send the hive right to the farm,” replied Mrs. Tompkins. “But you must be careful to locate them pleasantly, or they may wander off. Bees like plenty of flowers nearby, and the freedom of the fields, yet they want to hear human voices and be able to see their master going about, even if they seldom come in contact with him. ”

“ In Woodcraft, it is not the grass mat we weave that counts for the coup or honour, it is the general improvement in one’s moral and spiritual life that really counts. And the uplift in mental and characteristic desires brings about the higher basis for the next step.
“You mistake, Eleanor, when you think you are weaving grass mats or willow beds—you are weaving qualities of thought, good or bad, and each pattern produced only shows what thoughts, upbuilding or destructive, you are allowing yourself to weave into the warp and woof of your future life. ”

“ Natalie was so tired by the time she reached the house that she dropped wearily upon the steps and sighed.
Mrs. James came out upon the piazza when she saw her approaching the house, and at the sigh she said: “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, that horrid old garden is such a care! I wish to goodness I had chosen stock-raising instead. Then I could have had the pleasure of watching the little things run about and show their gratitude when one feeds them. But lifeless old seeds and expressionless vegetables are such uninteresting things to work for!” ”

“ Having seen everything and taken photographs of the Enchanted Mesa from every point of view, as well as of the pueblo of Acoma, the scouts voted to return to Laguna. It would be dark long before they could expect to reach camp, but the road was excellent throughout the trip and there was no danger in following it even at night. Perhaps that return trip under the dazzling brightness of the stars, and the shooting of meteors across the heavens, was as enjoyable to the scouts as the eager watching for mirages on the way up in the morning. ”

“ When there are too many men about to talk to at once, the force of our arguments will be scattered," declared Eleanor, nodding her head wisely.
Every one laughed—the first hearty laugh since the accident on the shale-fields. And every one felt much better for that laugh.
"I tell you what, boys, isn't this girl of mine a born business-brain?" added Mr. Maynard fondly patting Eleanor on the head.
"Sure! That's why I am going to run the business end of Polly's and my company, while she supplies all the ideals and plans for the work," asserted Eleanor. ”

“ The Clouds will rain down refreshing drink upon all lands on the earth, that all things may replenish themselves and so live eternally, in one grand bond of Brotherhood, loving and helping each other, from the Great to the Small, and from Small to Great.'
"And it was as Raven desired. So to this day, the Sun and Moon and all the Stars work together in harmony to keep the Rivers and Lakes, and Seas, and Ocean within their bounds and to replenish all things. ”

“ Hot Springs was an ideal resort for resting, and Dalky wished he might remain there a month. The golf and tennis, the open air swimming pools, the delightful horseback rides to points of interest, brought a sense of peace to the three men who had raced here and there in Illinois, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona ever since they met together at Chicago. The week spent at the Springs did more, perhaps, to stimulate Mr. Dalken’s keen and ever alert brain than anything he could have done. ”

“ That's why I was in such a hurry to get back to camp," sobbed Nita.
"Is he all you would choose in a friend or brother?"
"Mercy, no! Oh, Miss Miller, he is horrid, but he seems to make me do just as he says when he looks at me with a queer glint in his eyes. He has money, and when his grand-mother dies he will inherit all of her fortune, too. Mother says I must marry a rich man when I grow up—she says it will never do for me to be as poor as father is. And I don't want to be poor, either!" cried Nita. ”

“ But the ram was not pacified by this one encounter. It was as if the taste of combat made him thirst for more. He made a dash for Janet.
She was too quick for him, however, for she had started to crawl under the fence the moment she saw the farmer coming so unceremoniously through the air. The other astonished and frightened scouts turned as if with one thought, and scrambled to get over to the safe side of the fence. But this simultaneous action overturned the loose toprail in its still looser sockets, and all the girls were rolled into the tall grass on the roadside—the safety line. ”

“ In the kitchen, with steam, working utensils, and crowed sense of room, everything takes on a sordid look and feeling. But out in God's sunshine and fresh air, everything looks and feels better. That is why sun and air are the best physician for any ill," explained Anne.
Mrs. Brewster heard, and watched Anne with a bright smile, as the sentiment of the words were exactly what she ofttimes thought. When the three returned to the kitchen to take the biscuits and other breakfast food out, Sary stood with head thrown back and body rocking back and forth as she laughed immoderately. ”

“ You know, Tom, that we all favor you immensely, as a future husband for Polly, but we certainly would discountenance any advances you might make right now, to turn Polly’s thoughts from sensible work and endeavor, to a state of discontent caused by the dreams of young love. If you are not willing to be a good friend to the girl, now, and wait until she is older, before you show your intentions, then I will certainly do my utmost to keep Polly out of your way. ”

“ No guns or cannon on hand, you see, and the men at close quarters," said George.
So, making their fortifications of the tables and chairs waiting to be removed to the storehouse of the hotel, and then taking their places as American and British armies, the two sides opened warfare over the possession of New York City.
The battle waged furiously in the semi-light of the electric brilliancy which reflected from the dazzling advertising signs of the city. Both sides tried to capture each other and make them prisoners, which would end the war, but all five were agile and experienced warriors. ”

“ Jimmy was too amazed to answer, but he stared at Polly and her blazing eyes, as if she were an apparition.
“Well, I’ll tell you something that ought to do you good!” continued Polly, cracking her fingers under Jimmy’s nose. “There isn’t a man outside of Colorado, who can ever touch Eleanor Maynard’s heart, because she left it out there long ago! And what’s more—there isn’t a man like you, that can get one cent of American money from any girl who has sense to know what you’re after! Now take yourself and your love-making off, to a girl who doesn’t know better!” ”

“ Polly said, wonderingly.
"I was right in saying so. I do not believe in having anything so perishable as dress occupying anybody's mind. But that does not mean that you should become careless of your appearance nor wear cheap and vulgar apparel. I always felt that an individual expresses his own position in life by the clothes he selects and wears. It is generally a key to one's character. You will find that any one who has slip-shod apparel, is careless in everything else in life, and one who dons gaudy attire—cheap and destructible—will soon show you how small a nature he has. ”

“ I have no intention of harbouring mutiny in the circle,” added Zan, angrily.
“No one asked you to! If the other snobbish girls want to be walked over just because your father has a car in which they can take a ride now and then, it’s none of my affair. I for one will not act the hypocrite for the sake of an automobile drive!” snapped Eleanor.
“Hypocrite! Good gracious! You’re the biggest——”
What it was was not heard, for Miss Miller entered and, frowning, remarked: “Ladies! Ladies! are we Woodcrafters or are we irresponsible tramps with no education or refinement!” ”

“ Why spoil such a lovely compliment with the truth,” remonstrated Mrs. Courtney.
The constant teasing and darts of wit between Jack and Ray on the one side and Polly and Eleanor on the other, had been one source of amusement and perpetual fun for the tourists in Mr. Dalken’s party, and now that Bill and Bob had joined the others on deck that night, the quick repartee seemed tossed back and forth like a tennis ball between clever players. ”

“ Mrs. Alexander received the first genuine shock in many moons, and she acted like the old-time Maggie whom Mr. Alexander remembered with regret. “My goodness, Ebeneezer!” cried she, forgetting the expensive cane in her fear for Algy’s life, and using it to hold down for him to hold to. “Jump in and save him quick!”
“That ain’t the ocean, Maggie,” retorted her husband. “A little warm water won’t hurt his head.”
“Oh, you cruel man. Won’t some one save the boy?” pleaded she.
“Jack!” shouted Mr. Dalken, “swim up and give him help to climb up on the steps.” ”

“ Gilroy concluded his story of the Petrified Forests, the scouts realized that they were almost there—at the Inland Lake of primeval times which had left such marvelous records of the Great Storm.
That day the tourists visited everything worth seeing in the two Petrified Forests, the second one covering an area of over two thousand acres. The girls marveled at the huge fallen tree trunks, the old giants of that long-ago mountainside, now transformed into agate and onyx with beautiful marblings of rich crimson, pastel greens, royal purples, dazzling gold—all woven and twisted together. ”

“ I thought we were going to take a test in star-gazing!" reminded the Guide.
"Oh, pshaw! What time is it? Isn't it most nine o'clock?" yawned Zan.
"No, it isn't! It's only seven-thirty!" laughed Miss Miller.
"Well, girls, let's go to it!" retorted Zan, where-upon she drew upon her criminal head the laughter of the Band.
"There goes Zan's merit for camera hunting!" shouted Elena.
Zan good-naturedly accepted her doom and turned her face toward the sky to find the first star.
"Hah! there's a star!" cried she, in a short time.
"Where, where? It can't be, it's too light to see stars!" ”

“ Then Eleanor hung over the back of her father's chair twisting the iron-gray hair into ridiculous points while her mother and Barbara forgot her presence and planned many fetching gowns for the summer campaign. Both were fair examples of modern society and its aims, and they sacrificed many worth-while plans and pleasures upon the altar of their fickle goddess. So it followed that the fashionable tailors, the modiste and the lingerie-maker stitched and fitted and clipped, on beautiful materials and trimmings, until everything was ready for Barbara's summer victory. ”

“ Eleanor laughed. “You speak as if you believed the young men to be egotistical enough to think they were charming.”
“They do, Nolla!” retorted Mrs. Fabian. “Every Adam’s son firmly believes he is more alluring and attractive to a girl, than his friends. That is why they all follow tamely after a girl who has no time for them: they cannot believe it possible that she is not overcome with their fascinations.”
Eleanor smiled as she listened, then she remarked: “I guess I’ll try Polly’s strategy and see if the beaus line up for me.” ”

“ As the reckless driver flew downtown, George held his breath in constant fear of being smashed to atoms by colliding with a trolley or automobile crossing one of the many streets.
Down the densely-thronged thoroughfare flew the cab, the police whistling signals for it to stop, and shooting revolvers at the tires to cause a puncture, but, strange to say, the cab escaped without a single damage to windows or tires.
By the time the runaways reached Union Square, a long mob of people were tearing after them, all in hot pursuit of the villains. ”

“ That we are killing the frail child of a weak but higher aspiration. If we train our thoughts to consider the motives and yearnings for a more harmonious life that the girl must have, we will not condemn and criticise her acts. It is the human judgment of things that makes obstacles in the road of one’s advancement, she told me.”
“Dear me, I wish I was as good and wise as Miss Miller,” sighed Jane, gazing skyward. ”

“ Maynard smiled indulgently as if to concede any proposition to this child, and Eleanor continued with more assurance:
"And Polly, having all her hopes of attending school in Denver blasted by Anne and her mother going on to New York, now has decided that the only thing for her to do is to go with us to New York. It is a wonderful opportunity for her, too, as she is as determined to take up Interior Decorating for a profession, as I am. And where on earth can one find such store-houses of valuable lore on the subject, as right in New York!" ”

“ After crossing the log-bridge, Polly led the way towards what seemed to be a veritable wilderness of forest. Giant pines thrust their green tops far above trees that would have been considered landmarks in the East, but were deemed quite ordinary in the West. Next in height to the commonly-sized pines came gigantic oaks and then the still shorter aspens and lodge-pole pine.
"You never intend breaking through that tangle of trees, I hope, Polly!" cried Barbara, who had never seen such a bewildering growth of forest in her life. ”

“ It works away down in the darkness all its life, and furnishes flowers for new carrots, and then dies, without ever having enjoyed the world," sighed Zan.
"But it did its work well, and that is all we are expected to do here," said Miss Miller.
"Well, I think I'd like a bit more beauty in my life than the carrot gets, or I'd rebel," laughed Elena.
As the Band walked through the garden, first noting one vegetable, then another, they arrived at some fruit trees. "There's a prune, girls," said Miss Miller, pointing to a plum that hung in the sunshine from a slender tree-branch. ”

“ Noddy and Choko now reached the trail leading up the pine-tipped crest of the mountain back of Pebbly Pit, and were soon climbing through a veritable wilderness of sage-brush and aspens.
"My, what a place to live in!" said Eleanor, surprised.
"It's not far, now," returned Polly.
Shortly after this, Polly turned Noddy from the old trail and plunged into a thicket of aspens.
"Good gracious! How can they ever find their own home?" wondered Eleanor, gazing at the closely growing aspen trees.
"They know everything! And Noddy knows the way by this time, too, as I like to come here and spend the day. ”

“ Now you see what comes of your petting Nolla whenever she says or does anything dreadful!" exclaimed Mrs. Maynard.
"Is business so dreadful, then? Anne Stewart seems all right, and she is earning her living," ventured Eleanor.
"I wash my hands of you, after this, Eleanor! If you do anything so unheard of as you threaten, no one will keep up with you," declared Barbara, sternly.
"They'll have to travel mighty fast to keep up with me, Bob, once I am of age and start in business," laughed Eleanor.
"That will do, young lady! Remember you are only fourteen, and business is a long time off for you!" ”

“ As long as all of you have voted against me, I shall have to accept your verdict," whined Nita.
"You don't have to do anything of the sort! You can join a crowd of girls who all want to do just what you do—fool away the whole summer on dancing or flirting. We're not going in for that kind of a riot, and you can just make up your mind to having a good old rest and all-round country life, if you chum with us!" came from Zan, in emphatic tones. ”

“ The hurricane was now screaming about the peak and howling horribly through the fissures in the ice. As the blizzard gathered fury and strength, the clouds, like rags torn from the sky, raged past the riders, every now and then sweeping the snow completely over them. Still the full fury of the gale had not yet appeared.
Polly stopped momentarily and yelled back her orders: "Every one grab hold on the tail of the horse in front of you!" ”

“ Nita said nothing but she must have felt as lame as the other beginners; as all seemed to long for bed, Miss Miller rose and smothered the few red coals by covering them with dead grey ashes.
"Never leave a camp-fire with a spark of fire in it. At early dawn, or at least past midnight, fire always revives and, unless its flame has been choked by outside means, it flares up and consumes anything in its reach."
"Miss Miller, I wonder why it is that, without apparent fuel or fanning, fire will renew itself during the wee hours of the night!" exclaimed Zan. ”