Rena I. Halsey

“ The next moment the girl was hard at work picking up Lucille’s disordered room, humming cheerily as she went about her task, for, after all, her cousin was independent—she paid her board—and now they would need every penny.
A resolute will and deft fingers can accomplish much in this workaday world, and so Nathalie soon finished her new job, as she called it, and sat on the veranda watching the robins as they hopped nimbly over the lawn, ducking their heads every minute or so to reappear with fat, dangling worms in their beaks. ”

“ Nathalie’s eyes, big in the flaming redness of the firelight, were riveted on the seething flames as if she saw in the twist and curl of their darting tongues the enactment of the story she was telling. The girls all bent forward eagerly, for the fagots were getting ready to burst apart as she told of the imprisonment of the bride, the making of a big bonfire, the tying of the bride to the stake, the lighting of the underbrush at her feet, and the whirling flames as they leaped up and greedily licked the terror-stricken face. ”

“ It had been turned into a good sized bedroom with two bureaus, a center-table, a few odd chairs, and four little white cots, looking so restful that the Sport declared she wanted to go to bed that very second.
But their rhapsodies came to an abrupt end as Lillie Bell suddenly spied the Lake from one of the windows. In a moment the girls were crowding about her, gazing in hushed silence at the silver sheet of water—three miles round Peter informed them—with its enticing little inlets, or coves, and tiny islands running like a series of stepping-stones through the center. ”

“ Lulled by the mossy dell and the fragrance of the 226 woodland posies, the girls loitered, and did not realize that the afternoon was waning until they reached the Bluff. They raced to the top, where Nathalie’s joy at being the fleetest was forgotten, as with stilled eyes she gazed upon the fertile strip of valley below, its green specked by tiny white cottages and washed by the waters of the bay that shone in the glow of the setting sun like a sheet of brass. ”

“ No, she was not jealous of Nathalie, for she was willing to have her know and be liked by the other girls, but as she had been the first one to know her, she wanted to be her special friend. But then if she had always had so many high-toned schoolmates, perhaps she would not care to be a friend to a girl who was learning to be a wage-earner. Helen had always felt proud to think that some day she could be ranked among that class of highly regarded women, but would Nathalie think as she did? ”

“ Nathalie, with sparkling eyes, told how she had dreamed and longed to go to college, and then the golden lights in her eyes shadowed as she said that since the death of her father she had decided to stop dreaming about what was impossible for her, and to do something worth while, so she had become a Pioneer.
“But don’t you think it worth while to go to college?” was Fred’s puzzled query, “for surely there is nothing that will help a girl more in life than to have—what is it—the higher education?” ”

“ Nathalie stood still and gazed with suppressed excitement at this new development of the fire-crazed people. It seemed to her as if every one in Westport must have owned a bucket from the number of people that sped—as if magic swept—towards the pond, where a long line of human beings, with a deftness and quickness that amazed her, were already passing buckets from one to the other and then on to the firemen who formed a line across the road in front of the church. ”

“ The principles upon which the organization is founded are not simply taught as precepts, they are found and practiced in all the delightful activities of the movement. Outdoor life with its limitless avenues of interest: camping, trailing, woodcraft, learning to know the wild life of the open, its plants, its flowers, birds, common wild animals and insects; the stars and the meaning of the shadows, the use of nature’s material in handicraft; all these and many more are opened to the Girl Pioneer, and by actual contact she is finding the beauty of truth and the wonder of reality. ”

“ Standish—who was no other than Fred Tyson—marched valiantly down the street towards the garden.
It was the Sport after all who saved the day for the Pioneers, for as they stood in dazed laughter wondering how to greet these unexpected guests, the Sport’s hand shot up, and two seconds later the girls had joined her in saluting their brother organization, as with one accord they gave the Pioneer cheer.
In quick response to a signal from their leader, the Scouts came to a halt, and as one man each Scout’s hand went up to his forehead in the salute of three ringers held upright. ”

“ When they finally grew tired of flower-hunting they pushed their way to a level space in the open on the edge of the woods, where knapsacks, frying-pans, pots, and all such camping utensils were hastily thrown on the grass, and the girls hied themselves to the spring to wash their heated cheeks and rearrange their tangled tresses. Some, more venturesome than the others, took off their shoes and stockings and waded in the brook’s cooling flow, while the older ones, summoned by a series of bird calls, hurried back to camp to prepare dinner. ”

“ From being deemed an aristocrat of whom the girls stood slightly in awe, thinking her proud and exclusive, she had proved to be most democratic, entirely devoid of the many airs and graces they feared. In fact she had become, as Nathalie said, a favorite with every one, and had nearly as many adorers as Miss Camphelia, who at that moment was having a most beautiful time eating bread and milk in the lap of Ellen, gurgling and winking with baby joy at the gay colors and lights that held her eye. ”

“ To vary the adventure it had been decided to name it a salmagundi hike, which meant a tramp of 398 observation, each girl aiming to see how many things she could observe, birds, animals, flowers, or leaves, in fact, anything that was to be seen in the field or woods.
Nathalie had prepared for the expedition in glad anticipation, being particularly anxious to get in touch with so many things that she lacked of nature’s many lores, but when she caught sight of the disappointed face of Nita, who was not, as yet, equal to a hike her spirits sank to zero. ”

“ By her indoor life, lived as truly in the pioneer spirit as her life in the open, she is bringing into play the faculties of resourcefulness, of adaptability, of thoroughness, and the virtue of helpful kindness. She learns to do all household tasks, to do them well, and to be interested in them. She is taught in charming ways the use of her five senses, and is delighted to find that she can develop them and consciously enjoy them. She learns to care for the sick and the young children; she is proud of being able to render “first aid” according to the latest and best methods ”

“ But curios pall in time, and so the girls were not at all reluctant to follow their hostesses into the quaint old kitchen, gayly decorated with the orange and blue of the Dutch Republic. Here, many exclamations of admiration escaped them when they saw the long table in the center of the room, with its bloom of hyacinths, 363 gillyflowers, narcissus, daffodils, and tulips, all reminders of the little beau-pots that adorned the window sills, or peeped from the flower patches in front of the gable-roofed houses in the days of the first settlers. ”

“ We should be poor Pioneers indeed if we saw a man drowning and then stood and argued as to whether it was our place to save him or not. Nathalie, I commend you not only for your kind suggestion, but for having the real pioneer courage in maintaining what you believed to be right. You have shown yourself a true Blue Robin and I am proud of you. Now, girls, we will put it to a vote. Those of you who want to go on the hike, up with their hands. ”

“ It was this sacrifice of the things that made life endurable, and their strict adherence to duty that gave rise to the sterling qualities of unflinching determination, hardy courage, stern endurance, unrepining cheerfulness, untiring loyalty, patient industry, and quick resourcefulness that has gained the name of the Pioneer spirit, and made these early women founders of our nation models of all that is pure and best in womanhood. ”

“ As we round our fire’s cheer
We wish you luck in camp so fine
Sweet with birch and wooded pine.
Pleasure and joy attend each day,
As by the Lake you make your stay!”
“Oh, isn’t that just dandy?” “If we could only tell who they were!” But these exclamations came to an end as Nathalie cried, “Girls, let’s shout our new call, don’t you know the one we made up so as to salute the scouts? Now, ready!” and with a “One! two! three!” the girls’ voices rang out over the water as they chorused:
“Ragglety! Pagglety! Rah! Rah! Rah!
You’re welcome scouts with a Ha! Ha! Ha! ”

“ Ellen, the old Scotch nurse who adored her invalid charge, and who had always taken care of her from the time she was a wee tot, was deeply stirred as she saw how Nita entered into the new life that had suddenly been opened up to her, and her face fairly beamed with gratified pride as she heard her repeat the songs and speeches of the girls in the playlet. ”

“ Poor fellow! she had felt like crying the other day when she heard him telling how he had written to a law firm in the city in the hope that he could get some copying to do so that he could earn some money.
“Happiness does not always mean having what we want; it is being contented with what we have,” that was another of Mrs. Morrow’s interpretations of the Pioneer laws. “Cheerful,” here Nathalie broke into a laugh, quite sure she was always cheerful when she had the things she wanted. ”

“ She smiled in a way that made Nathalie, whose intuitions were keen, exclaim hastily, “Oh, indeed, Mrs. 91 Morrow, we did not imagine it at all. I am sure if you could have heard that terrible shriek—and that laugh! Oh, I can hear it still!” Her brown eyes emphasized her words as they darkened with the haunting terror that caused her to rush pell-mell after Grace.
“But I do hope,” remarked Mrs. Morrow, “that Mrs. Van Vorst will never know that the young girls who took such sudden flight from her house were Pioneers, as Pioneers are supposed to be very courageous.” ”

“ But on they came, the Pioneer Girls, as Dutch matrons or maidens, impersonating those famous pioneer women, who not only were the bone and sinew of old New York, but who were the progenitors of some of its most distinguished men in the days that followed. ”

“ Some of the unduly imaginative girls turned away, declaring that the effigy looked like some one of the girls in that suit in the reddened glare of the flames. But the rest joined hands with the scouts and leaped merrily about the blazing pyre, executing weird and strange gyrations, which they termed a fire dance, as a last farewell to their enemy, who finally, done to the death, tumbled to the ground a fiery mass of scarlet embers. A pail of water soon quenched the last of the spirits, when the ashes were gathered into a big pail and carried in a procession to the shores of the lake. ”

“ This created no end of laughter among the girls, and their surprise and amusement increased as they recognized that their friends on the other side of the Lake laughed when they laughed, as if in mockery.
“I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” suggested Kitty, “let’s give the Pioneer yell and see if they answer.” This was no sooner suggested than it was done, but not a sound was heard, no, not even an echo in reply.
“Well, they can’t be scouts,” said an Oriole, “or they would answer in some way.” ”

“ If Nathalie’s color had been going and coming, it now flooded her face as she laughingly held out her 44 hand to each one in turn, giving a soft little squeeze that made each girl vote her a comrade.
Grace and Helen now led Nathalie back to her chair, somewhat solicitous as to the sprained foot; but she laughingly assured them that she was all right. Then with animated eyes she bowed and smiled as Helen, who was spokesman for the group, began to introduce each one of the Pioneers in turn, in an offhand, half quizzing way that relieved the formality of the ceremony. ”

“ Nathalie could not help feeling encouraged after this comforting talk with her mother; she felt as if she had conquered the whole world, that there was nothing she could not overcome. But the next morning such a big overcome, or try-out, as her mother had expressed it, appeared, that it sufficed to lessen the glory of her former victories.
Lucille was ill; she had retired to her bed with a fit of indigestion, and the planning for the Pioneer Stunt, the survey work that Nathalie and her committee were to do, all had to be laid aside as she was instituted head nurse in her cousin’s room. ”

“ As it ages, the rattles increase in numbers, which meant that it was the fervent desire of the people that the colonies should increase in numbers with the years.”
As Nathalie finished her little lecture, Helen, with a sudden movement, shouldered her flag like a musket, and parting the group of girls, marched jubilantly 305 down the center, crying, “Oh, girls, you have had the floor long enough to tell of the beauties and glories of your paltry banners, but let me tell you, not a flag has won the honors and glories that mine has. Hurrah, girls, for Old Glory!” ”