I. T. Thurston

“ Olga, sitting under a big oak, was embroidering her ceremonial dress, and, as usual, Elizabeth sat near, watching her as she worked. Olga did it as she did most things, with taste and skill, but she listened indifferently when Laura Haven, stopping beside her, spoke admiringly of the work.
“I wouldn’t waste time over it if I hadn’t promised Miss Grandis to embroider it. She gave us all the stuff, you know,” Olga explained.
“It isn’t wasting time to make things beautiful,” Laura replied. “That is part of our law, you know, to seek beauty, and wherever possible, create it.” ”

“ Olga was waiting at the corner for them, Miss Laura having told her that Elizabeth was to go. Her scathing glance would have had a subduing effect on most girls, but not on Sadie! Sadie did most of the talking as the three walked on together, but the other two did not care. It was enough for Elizabeth to be with Olga again, and as for Olga, she was half frightened and half glad to find a little glow of happiness deep down in her heart. She was afraid to let herself be even a little happy. ”

“ Laura, too interested and excited to sleep at once, lay in her cot looking out across the open space now flooded with light from the late-risen moon, and thought of the girls sleeping around her. Herself an only child, she had a great desire—almost a passion—for girls; girls who were lonely like herself—girls who had to struggle with ill-health, poverty, and hard work as she did not. ”

“ Laura said; but the Poor Thing made no reply; she only gulped down a sob as she looked after the straight young figure in the dripping bathing suit marching down the beach.
“She notices no one but Olga,” Laura said as she walked back to camp with her friend. “If Olga would only take an interest in her!”
“If only she would!” Anne agreed. “But she seems to have no more feeling than a fish!”
Many of the girls did their best to draw the Poor Thing out of her shell of scared silence, but they all failed. And Olga would do nothing. Yet Elizabeth followed Olga like her shadow day after day. ”

“ Olga retorted in her grimmest voice. Then her conscience forced her to add, “But she is more endurable. She treats Elizabeth some better than she did.”
“Yes, Elizabeth seems so happy now.”
Laura went on thoughtfully, “You are a Fire Maker. Olga, I want you for a Torch Bearer.”
Olga stared in blank amazement, then her face darkened. “But I don’t want to be a Torch Bearer,” 183she cried. “A Torch Bearer is a leader. I don’t want to be a leader.”
“But I need your help, and some of the girls need you. You can be a splendid leader, if you will. Have you any right to refuse?” ”

“ Miss Grandis continued, “You have superb health—this girl has perhaps never been really well for a single day. You have a brain and hands that enable you to accomplish almost what you will. Poor Elizabeth can do so few things well that she has no confidence in herself: yet I believe she might do many things if only she could be made to believe in herself a little. She needs—O, everything that the Camp Fire can do for a girl. Olga, won’t you help us to help her?” ”

“ Anne replied. “You see it incites the girls to work for honours when they see that their Guardians have worked and won them. The red beads show that the wearer has won health honours by keeping free from colds, headaches, etc., for a number of months, or by sleeping out of doors, or doing some sort of athletics—walking, swimming, rowing, and the like. The blue ones are for nature study, the black and gold for business, and so on. Each bead has a meaning for the girl—it tells a story—and the more she wins, the finer her record, of course.” ”

“ Laura looked straight into the sombre angry eyes, “you must not interfere in this matter. Two wrongs will never make a right. If there is anything that can be done for Elizabeth, be sure that I will do it. And if not—it is only seven months to April.”
“Seven months!” echoed Olga passionately. “Miss Laura, how would you live through seven months without ever getting out anywhere?”
Laura shook her head. “We will hope that Elizabeth will not have to do that,” she said gently. “But I hear some of the girls. Come.” ”

“ I should take her down to the dock some night and drown her,” said Louise Johnson with her inevitable giggle.
“I think Olga deserves all the honours there are for the way she endures that—jellyfish,” said Edith Rue.
“I never saw any one thaw out the way Olga has lately though. She really deigns to speak amiably now—sometimes,” Annie Pearson put in with a sniff.
“She ‘deigns’ to do anything under the sun that will help that Poor Thing to be a bit like other girls,” cried Mary. “Olga is splendid, girls! She makes me ashamed of myself twenty times a day. ”

“ Royall spoke of the Camp Fire symbolism—of fire as the living, renewing, all-pervading element—“Our brother the fire, bright and pleasant, and very mighty and strong,” as being the underlying spirit—the heart of this new order of the girls of America, as the hearth-fire is the heart of the home. ”

“ Lizette declared.
With a question now and then, Olga drew her on to tell of her life at Miss Rankin’s, and her work at the store. After a little she talked freely, glad to pour the tale of her troubles into a sympathetic ear.
“I hate it all—that boarding-house, where nothing and nobody is really clean, and the store where only the pretty girls or the extra smart ones ever get on. The pretty girls always have chances, but me—I’m homely as sin, and I know it; and I’m not smart, and I know that, too. ”

“ The love of man for man,
The love of man for God.’”
As the young earnest voices repeated the beautiful words, Laura Haven’s heart thrilled again with the solemn beauty of it all, and tears crowded to her eyes in the silence that followed—a silence broken only by the whispering of the night wind high in the treetops. ”

“ Anne nodded gravely. “I am sure you are right about Olga. It has always seemed to me that to her ‘Wohelo means work’ and only that.”
“And to Elizabeth it means—or will mean—service and that means, underneath—love,” said Laura, her voice full of deep feeling. “O Anne, I so long to help 68that poor child to get some of the beauty and joy of life into her little neglected soul!”
“If she has love, she has the best thing in life already,” Anne reminded. “The rest will come—in time.” ”

“ Miss Laura had begged them to give her no gift, and hers to each of them was only a little water-colour sketch with “Love is the joy of service,” beautifully lettered, beneath it.
Sadie’s baskets of crêpe paper were really very pretty, and these filled with Elizabeth’s holly cakes were one of the “successes” of the evening. They were praised so highly that Elizabeth was quite, quite happy and Sadie “almost too proud to live,” as she confided to Olga in an excited whisper. ”

“ Lena shook her head. “I guess I’m your sort,” she said. She had never before met an old woman at all like this one, and her heart went out to her. In spite of wrinkles and gray hairs, the spirit of youth nodded to her from Nancy Rextrew’s little black eyes, and something in Lena answered as if in spite of herself.
Nancy hitched her chair closer, and with her elbows on her knees, rested her shrivelled chin on her old hands, wrinkled and swollen at the joints. “Now tell me,” she commanded, “all about yourself. You ain’t no High School girl, I’m thinkin’.” ”

“ He rose, and looking down at her, laid a kindly hand on her shoulder.
“That camp’s a good place for you. Stay there as long as you can,” he said. “But don’t lug a three-year-old a mile and a half again. You are hardly strong enough yet for that kind of athletics.”
They all filed out then, and Elizabeth put little Polly John into the soapbox wagon, kissed the small face, dirty and tear-stained as it was, and stood for a moment looking after the three children as they set off towards Slabtown.
As they went on to the camp, Olga kept glancing at Elizabeth in silent wonder. ”

“ Then with a long happy breath he turned to Laura and said, half apologetically, half appealingly, “You see a fellow gets kind o’ hungry for boys, sometimes. You don’t mind, do you, Miss Laura?”
“No, indeed, Jim. I get hungry for girls the same way—it’s all right,” she assured him. But she made up her mind that Jim should not get so hungry for boys again—she would see to that.
After a moment he asked thoughtfully, “Why can’t boys be Scouts till they’re twelve, Miss Laura?” ”

“ Royall had spoken at one of the Council meetings—“Seek beauty in everything—appreciate it, create it, for yourself and for others.” Sadie was seeking beauty, even though for her it meant as yet merely personal adornment, and she—Olga—deep down in her heart had been cherishing a scorn for all such beauty. She put the thought aside for future consideration as she said, “Then, Sadie, you and Elizabeth will be at Miss Laura’s next Saturday?” ”

“ With a frown, Olga obeyed. “But it’s nonsense—I never mind wet feet,” she grumbled.
“You ought to mind them. Your health is a gift. You have no right to throw it away—no right, Olga. It is yours—only to use—like everything else you have.”
182Olga paused, one slipper in her hand, pondering that.
“Don’t you see, Olga,” Laura urged gently, “we are only stewards. Everything we have—health, time, money, intellect—all are ours only to use the little while we are in this world, and not to use for ourselves alone.”
“It makes life harder if you believe that,” Olga flung back defiantly. ”

“ Lena observed.
“It does. Jim is forever saluting it when he is out with me,” Laura replied, “but he never seems to tire of it, and I like to see him do it.”
“The girls salute it in the schools—you know we have Flag Day every year,” Frances added.
“Yes, and it is a good thing. There is no danger of any of us caring too much for our country or the flag that represents it. When I catch sight of our flag in a foreign land I always want to kiss it.”
“Can’t we have one in our Camp Fire room when we go back?” Lena asked.
“We surely will. I’m really quite ashamed of myself for not having one long ago. ”

“ Then from all over the camp arose frightened shrieks and wails and cries, but Annie Pearson now was too terrified to utter a word. The next moment there was a loud, ripping tearing sound, and as fresh cries broke out, Mrs. Royall’s voice, clear and steady, rose above the tumult.
“Be quiet, girls,” she called. “One tent has gone over, but nobody’s hurt. Mary Hastings, slip on your coat and rubbers, and come and help us—quick!” ”

“ On brass hooks hung blue and white saucepans and kettles and spoons, and a triangular corner closet with leaded doors revealed blue and white china and glass.
“All for the Camp Fire Girls,” Laura said, “and it means fudge, and popcorn, and toasted marshmallows and bacon-bats and anything else you like. You can come here yourselves every Wednesday evening, and if you wish, you can bring a friend with you to share your good times.” ”

“ The clear, musical call, rising from the green tangle of the forest that fringed the bay, seemed to float lingeringly above the treetops and out over the wide stretch of gleaming water, to a girl in a green canoe, who listened intently until the last faint echo died away, then began paddling rapidly towards the wooded slope. The sun, just dropping below the horizon, flooded the western sky with a blaze of colour that turned the wide waters into a sea of gold, through which the little craft glided swiftly, scattering from its slender prow showers of shining drops. ”

“ We girls don’t care for it that way—honest we don’t.”
“Maybe not just for the flag,” Elsie admitted, “but we care just as much as boys do for our country. Don’t you think we do, Miss Laura?”
“I’m not sure, Elsie. You see many boys look forward to a soldier’s life, and most of them feel that they may some time have to fight for their flag—their country—and so perhaps they think more about it than girls do. And patriotism is made prominent among the Scouts.” ”

“ Olga agreed, “I didn’t believe that I could get sick—I was so strong. And down in my heart I really half believed that people need not be sick—that it was mostly imagination. I shall not be so uncharitable after this.”
“Girls need not be sick many times when they are,” Laura said, “if they would be more careful and reasonable.” ”

“ At night she was given a cot next to Olga’s. When Laura showed her her place at bedtime, she pointed to the adjoining tent.
“I sleep right there, Elizabeth,” she said, “and if you want anything in the night, just speak, and I shall hear you. But I hope you will sleep so soundly that you won’t know anything till morning. It’s lovely sleeping out of doors like this!”
Elizabeth said nothing, but she shivered as she cast a fearful glance into the shadowy spaces beyond the tents, and Laura hastened to add, “You needn’t be a bit afraid. Nothing but birds and squirrels ever come around here.” ”

“ But now one of the High School girls was speaking. “We have most of our good times at the school. There is always something going on—lunches or concerts or socials or dances—and once a year we get up a play. Some girl in the class generally writes the play. It’s great fun.”
Laura brightened at that. Here were three at least who cared for something besides picture shows. For half an hour longer she let the talk run on, and that half-hour gave her sidelights on many of the girls. Except Olga—she had not opened her lips during the discussion. ”

“ Cheesecloth curtains at the windows, a green crex rug on the dull stained floor, two red geraniums, and on the mantelpiece three brass candlesticks holding red candles. These and a few pretty dishes were all, but she was amazed at the difference they made. At six o’clock she set her door ajar, and when Lizette came, called her in.
“You are to have supper with me to-night,” she said.
“But I’ve had my supper. I——” Lizette began—then stopped short with a little cry, “O, how pretty! Why, your room is lovely now, Olga.”
“You see the influence of example,” replied Olga. ”

“ I suppose I ought not to long so for a way out, if I am going to be a faithful Torch Bearer.” She made a brave attempt to smile.
“There is a way out—I am sure of it, but we may not find it just at once. Meantime you have a great opportunity, Olga. Don’t you see? It is easy to be happy as you were in August at the camp, when you were growing stronger every day, and had just begun to realise what Camp Fire might mean to you in your service for and with the girls, and their love for you. Once you had opened your heart, you could not help being happy. ”

“ She hurried on, her heart beating hard, her hands tight-clenched, her eyes fearfully searching the long sunny road before her and the woods or fields that bordered it. It was not so bad the first part of the way—the mile and a half to the little village of East Bassett. To be sure, she had never before been even that far alone, but she had been many times with other girls. She passed slowly and lingeringly through the village. ”

“ I think we—I mean our own Camp Fire—have not given as much thought to patriotism as we ought. There have been so many things for us to talk about and work for! But we’ll learn the flag to-day, and when we go home, it may be well for us to arrange a sort of ‘course’ in patriotism for the coming year. Of all girls in America, those who live in Washington ought to be the most interested in their own country. We will all be more patriotic—better Americans—a year from now.”
Jim came running back with a small silk flag. ”

“ I know my father won’t mind the expense, but he may object to having the boy live with us. Of course, if he does I shall find a good home for him elsewhere.”
“But, Miss Laura, why can’t we all ‘adopt’ him?” Frances pleaded. “I’d so much rather have him than any baby. And there are always people ready to adopt pretty blue-eyed baby girls, but they don’t want just boys—like Jim.”
“That’s true,” Alice Reynolds agreed. “My mother is a director at the Orphan Asylum, and she says nine out of ten who go there for a child to adopt, want a pretty baby girl.” ”