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.

“Ough! Mis’ James! Heigh, down dere—someone grab hol’ on dis ladder!” shouted Rachel, her eyes almost popping from her head.

“Wait! Hold on, Rachel!” called a chorus of voices below.

The ladder was still quaking uncertainly when Rachel lost courage and began to descend precipitously, without stopping to find a sure footing on the steps. Consequently, she missed the second step from the bottom and sat down unceremoniously in a bushel of ripe ox-hearts.

“Umph!” was the grunt that was forced from her lungs, but the Scouts all howled with dismay when they saw the result to their patient cherry picking.

Janet did not stop to see what was occurring to Rachel. The moment she saw the mammy come down, she ran up the steps and steadied herself by holding to the bough from which Natalie still swung. Miss Mason managed to hold the bottom of the ladder until Janet had guided her friend’s feet to the top step. Then the strain on the suspenders was loosened and it was easy to unbuckle the straps at the back of the overalls.

In a few more moments, Natalie was helped down the ladder and once more stood on terra firma. But such a funny sight was presented her when she breathed in safety once more, that she momentarily forgot the hornet sting and laughed wildly.

Mrs. James had called several of the Scouts to help her in pulling Rachel up out of the bushel basket upon her feet again. This muscular deed was accomplished just as Natalie stepped down on the ground. But Rachel’s percale bungalo-gown was a sight!

The luscious ripe cherries were mashed all over her skirt, and half of the fruit in the basket was crushed as if done by a fruit-press. Rachel was torn between two fires—that of humble apology to the scout-pickers for spoiling their “fruits of labor” and concern over Natalie who was holding her hand over the back of her neck. Mother-instinct that was so deeply rooted in Rachel, although she had never had a child of her own, won the day and she ran over to Natalie to ascertain the extent of the troublesome sting.

“Oh, mah pore Honey! Mah sweet li’l’ chile—did dem nasty bees sting yoh?” Rachel cried, enfolding Natalie in her capacious embrace. Then she added, “Now jus’ you-all wait a minit, chillun, an’ I’ll soon git dat stinger out.”

Consequently she made a soft paste of mud and water, and slapped a handful of it on Natalie’s neck. Then she tied a towel over it to keep it in place.

“Now, Honey, yoh jus’ sit heah wid yoh haid down in front, so’s dat mud won’t run down yoh back,” advised she.

Natalie obeyed, albeit the mud did ooze in trickles down her back and fill up at her belt in a dried lump.

The pain of the sting was soon over, and Natalie tried to gather some more cherries, but she kept away from the top of the tree where the hornets still buzzed angrily about. The other Scouts also kept a safe distance from that nest.

By sundown all the cherries were picked, and the quantity evenly divided into shares. Each girl had made a pile of the fruit she gathered, and so no Scout felt that another was benefiting by her work. But when all was measured out, it was found that the girls had picked about the same quantities, with but little variation.

That evening while enjoying Rachel’s bountiful supper, the Scout girls were told about the new Patrol that Janet and Natalie were hoping to start. That was a very engrossing subject and no one gave a thought to things outside, until it was time for the Scouts to return to camp. Then a plaintive squealing came from a crate placed on the piazza, and Janet suddenly remembered the pigs.

“Oh, horrors! Will little pigs die if they have been left without a thing to eat for a day?” wailed she, as she clasped her hands in shocked concern.

Everyone laughed at her, and Mrs. James said: “Not if you attend to them at once. But they will have to live in the crate overnight, as nothing can be done about housing them now.”

So Rachel mixed a dish of warm milk and corn meal for the wailing squealers, and soon hushed their clamorings. Janet felt guilty of gross neglect on the first night of her business investment, but Natalie tried to condole with her by saying:

“Well, cherries, and pigs, and new Scouts can’t all be gathered in one day, you know.”

This created such a laugh at the quaint combination of the triple interests, that Janet felt relieved in mind. After the Scouts had gone back to camp, Natalie reminded Janet of the eggs they were to give the hen for setting.

“We’ll do that now,” said Janet anxiously.

So the two girls went to the pantry without asking advice of Rachel or Mrs. James, and counted out twelve eggs. These were carefully carried to the hen-coop and after many wild squawkings from the hen, and concerned action by the two farmerettes, seven of the twelve eggs remained unbroken and were placed under the future mother of a family.

“My! I wouldn’t want to experience a skirmish with a hen very often,” said Janet, counting the scratches on her hands and arms after they reëntered the kitchen.

“Neither would I,” agreed Natalie, holding her hands and wrists under the cold water faucet to let the cooling flood wash away the signs of battle with the hen’s sharp bill.

“Well, she’s got seven sound eggs to hatch, anyway. When we get time to spare, we will put a few other eggs under her, so we can have the full dozen chicks as Mr. Ames advised.”

“I never knew it was such a simple matter to raise chicks, did you?” remarked Natalie, as she wiped her hands on the kitchen towel.

“No, and when you think of all the money we pay for roast chicken in New York, it makes you want to live always on a farm, doesn’t it?” added Janet.

But neither girl knew that many store eggs were not suitable for hatching chicks. They had not examined the yolks as chicken farmers do, to see if the egg was fertilized. So they had placed two suitable eggs, and five unfertilized eggs, under the hen. When but two chicks would result from that experiment, what a disappointment there would be. Janet would be sure to declare that stock-raising wasn’t such an easy business, after all!

CHAPTER X—TRIALS OF A FARMER’S LIFE

Farmer Ames acted huffy because the cherries had all been gathered when he drove up to the kitchen door in the morning. So he merely delivered the crate containing the hens and young chicks, and having handed Rachel the basket of eggs for the setting hen, drove away again.

“Dear me! I wanted to ask him how big a pen to build for three pigs!” sighed Janet, when she heard he had gone.

“No ’count why he hes to tell yuh that! I rickon anyone like me, what’s borned and brought up on a farm in Norf Car’liny, kin help dat way, better’n an ole grumpy farmer in Noo York state,” announced Rachel.

“All right, Rach, I’ll be thankful of your advice,” replied Janet, gazing down at the squirming pigs.

So Natalie and Janet occupied themselves most industriously in the building of a pig-pen for the little porkers, and in mending the old hen-house and chicken run. A separate coop was found where the setting hen might brood quietly on the eggs, and the young chicks were given their freedom of the place, because Rachel said they would grow much faster if they could run about and scratch.

But this advice had dire results, as Natalie learned, too late.

By sundown the pigs were nicely housed, and the old hens and rooster found comfortable roosts in a remodelled hen-house. The young chicks clustered together in the chicken yard and were driven inside the house by the persuasive “s-sh’s” and waving hands of the concerned farmerettes.

These important matters disposed of for the day and Rachel not having announced supper, Natalie said: “Come with me to see my garden. I haven’t had a moment’s time to visit it lately.”

“I suppose the lettuce is large enough to pull, now,” laughed Janet teasingly.

“No, but I shouldn’t be surprised if the radishes that were transplanted from Ames’s garden were big enough to use.”

The two girls went arm-in-arm down the pathway and when they reached the old box hedge that divided the vegetable beds from the back lawns, they stood for a moment listening to the echo of merry laughter coming from the woodland down by the river.

Then Natalie came to the first garden bed.

“Oh, oh! Look,—Janet! What has happened to my beans?” cried she shrilly, as she stood gazing in horror at what she saw.

Janet gazed, too. The tiny green things that had looked so fresh and pert a few days before were out of the ground in many places, and the soil was unevenly scattered in small heaps. From this havoc, Natalie quickly looked over at the lettuce bed.

“Oh, oh! How dreadful! Look at that garden bed! Why, all the lettuce is cropped off close to the ground. What could have done it, Janet?” her eyes filled with tears and her voice threatened an imminent howl.

“Goodness me, Nat! I don’t know what has happened!” said Janet, deeply concerned for her friend.

The two then hastily visited the other beds, and found the radishes and potato plants undisturbed, but the corn was dug up in spots and the remaining blades half-eaten.

Without a thought for the tender green still remaining, Natalie suddenly collapsed upon the corn hills and gave vent to a heart-breaking cry. Once the flood-gates were down, she wept and wailed and would not be comforted. Finally Janet ran to the house and summoned relief.

Mrs. James and Rachel hurried after her to soothe the crying damsel in the corn field; but Rachel understood what had taken place in that garden, even as she raced past the half-destroyed vegetable beds.

She knelt down beside Natalie and tried to pacify her by endearing terms, but the amateur farmer was too sorry for herself to pay any attention to Rachel. All she could gasp forth was: “If I ever find out who did this, I’ll kill them!”

Rachel sent Mrs. James a knowing look, and nodded toward the barnyard. Thus the lady gathered that the hens and chicks had feasted on the tender greens and had dug up the soft rich soil in seeking for earthworms when they had been turned loose that day.

Darkness slowly crept up from the river banks and the four finally turned to go in to supper. As they reached the box hedge, Rachel remembered the boiling potatoes that were almost cooked when she was summoned hastily by Janet.

“Oh, laws! I betcher they am all black as cinders by this time!” cried she, making a leap to escape over the hedge and reach the kitchen in a hurry.

A dense smoke was seen issuing from the open door of the kitchen, and Rachel’s three followers forgot their recent troubles in this new disaster.

Just as they reached the steps of the back porch, Rachel rushed the smoking pot out of the door and ran with it to the grass beside the board-walk.

“Dere ain’t no smell on eart’ ner unner de eart’ to beat dis smell o’ burnin’ pertaters!” growled Rachel angrily, as she planked the blackened cooking pot down upon the ground.

“Oh my! The kitchen is full of smoke!” exclaimed Janet, who had poked her head in at the open door.

“Did you’se ’speck it to be sweet an’ free as hebben?” snapped Rachel scornfully.

Mrs. James said nothing but quickly drew the two girls aside to the other door to permit Rachel to calm her perturbed nerves. Then Natalie remembered her beloved garden.

“Jimmy, who could have been so mean as to do that?”

“Of course, I wasn’t present, Natalie, dear. But I have heard that crows love to dig up corn kernels in a newly-planted field, so that farmers have to use scarecrows to keep them off. Maybe some sort of a bird found the toothsome greens and called to all the family to hurry and feast while there was time.”

Natalie pondered this idea for a time, but it never occurred to her to lay the trouble at the heels of the chickens. But she determined to lose no time in dressing up the most frightful scarecrow that was conceivable.

After the unscorched remainder of the supper was served, Rachel came to the dining-room to make a suggestion.

“Ef we-all git up earlier than us’al to-morrer mornin’ we kin git all dem rooted-up plants back in the groun’ afore sun-up. Mebbe it will rain to-morrer, then no harm’ll come of diggin’ up all dem roots.”

The mere possibility of rain made Natalie jump up from the table and, quickly excusing herself, run out on the porch to study the heavens.

“Not a star out, and the sky looks awfully cloudy,” cried she hopefully, as she returned.

“Then we’ll all get up at dawn and begin work in making amends in the garden,” said Mrs. James consolingly.

The little plants were replanted early in the morning and certain spots where the soil had been scratched away were smoothed out again, so that only a close observer would have seen that there were places here and there where no vegetables grew.

About seven o’clock a fine drizzle began, and Natalie welcomed it with sparkling eyes. “Now the roots can have time to get freshened again before a hot sun comes to dry things up.”

A letter came that morning telling Natalie that Norma, Frances, and Belle would soon be ready to leave the city. By counting from the date of the letter, it was found that they would be at Greenville that very day on the noon train. Probably the letter had been delayed in coming, or had been overlooked in some way.

“We had better send word to Amity, by Mr. Ames, that he is to meet the train they come on,” suggested Mrs. James.

But the girls watched for Mr. Ames in vain that morning, and noon hour came and still no word had been sent to Amity. Janet was out feeding the pigs when she heard a shout from the road. She looked up wonderingly and saw the three girls tramping along in the rain and mud, trying to manage suit-cases and umbrellas at the same time, as they jumped puddles or avoided a stretch of mud.

She ran to the house and called Natalie. In another moment, both girls were out on the side-piazza waiting to take the luggage from the bespattered girls.

“My goodness me! Why don’t you move nearer the railroad station, Nat?” complained Norma.

“That horrid hackman wouldn’t give us a lift, although he was sitting at Tompkins’ store toasting his feet at a stove,” added Belle, angrily.

“At a stove! In summer?” cried Natalie, wonderingly.

“Yes, but there was no fire in the thing. He was tilted back in a wooden chair telling stories to some farmers, and his old horse was standing out in the rain, patiently waiting for a bag of oats,” said Frances.

Mrs. James joined the group now, and overheard the last words of complaint. “I don’t see why he could not drive you here, as long as he was not engaged.”

“That’s exactly what Belle asked him, but he said: ‘Can’t you see I am engaged? I must not interrupt this talk on polerticks. It’s mos’ votin’ time and we-all has to get facks afore we cast a ballot,’” laughed Norma imitating Amity.

“Did you entice him with extra pay?” asked Janet laughingly.

“What was the good? He just ignored us, so we had to walk the rest of the way here,” Frances said. “But I made up my mind to one thing: If that is the way the only cab-man of Greenville treats his trade, I’ll cut him out of it all, if I can manage to have my way.”

They were all in the living-room now, and had removed muddy overshoes and wet coats and hats. Rachel was hastily brewing some hot tea to make everyone feel more cheerful, so the girls sat and talked.

Natalie instantly asked Frances what she meant.

“Well, Daddy and mother are going out to Colorado for the summer, and the machine will be put up in a garage, or I will have it out here to use. Now I’ve been thinking over all Nat said about each one of us earning some money this summer, and I couldn’t think of a single thing I could do. But that cranky old hackman gave me a cue: I’ll use the car out here for the people who wish to travel back and forth, or take a drive to certain places. I ought to be able to save quite a sum before fall,” explained Frances eagerly.

“Frans, that will be fine! We will be your best customers,” laughed Janet, while the other girls all approved the plan.

“That seems like Frances’ golden opportunity, but Norma and I haven’t found a thing to do, yet,” added Belle.

“You will, never fear. Janet found her vocation the first day she was here,” laughed Natalie.

Then Janet had to tell about her stock-raising, and her friends laughed heartily when they heard about the first night the piggies arrived at their new home.

“The chickens are doing fine! I had to keep them shut up in the yard to-day to get them thoroughly acquainted with their surroundings, so they won’t run away,” said Janet, but she did not say that they were kept locked up for fear they might wander over to the garden again and create more trouble.

“I should think you would have a cow and sell milk,” suggested Belle laughingly.

“Cows cost a lot of money. I priced one of Ames’s and when I heard the sum, I lost interest in milk,” replied Janet, causing the girls to laugh at her explanation.

“But I am going to buy some ducks as soon as my new allowance is due. There is plenty of water for them to swim in and ducks look so rural, don’t you know,” added she.

“But they are difficult to raise, Janet,” said Mrs. James.

“Why? If you let them swim about and give them enough feed, what more can they want?”

“I don’t know, but they take certain spells of sickness quicker than any other fowl and, in a day or two, the whole flock droops and dies off. Geese are much easier to rear and bring better prices in the market, too.”

“Oh, then I’ll have geese. But I’ve heard they chase one, if they don’t like you,” said Janet.

“They wouldn’t chase you if you fed them; and should they take it into their geese-heads to run anyone else out of the yard, it will be a warning for others to keep away.”

The drizzle stopped after luncheon, so that the girls put on raincoats and oil-skin caps and started to visit the Scout camp. On the way, they visited Natalie’s garden and extolled her work and patience that had brought forth such results.

Natalie beamed like a full moon at the deserved praise and explained how wonderful the vegetables were before the dastardly birds dug everything up.

“Yes, Nat, I know,” remarked Belle. “It’s almost like the wonderful fish one just missed catching, isn’t it?”

Everyone laughed at this, even Natalie joining in at her own expense. “Well, I don’t care! They would have been much better if they had not been interfered with,” said she.

After leaving the garden, Natalie opened the subject of the Scout Patrol that would be an offshoot of Miss Mason’s first Patrol. This would give both Patrols the opportunity to launch the Troop.

“Fine! How soon can we begin?” said Belle.

“Well talk it over with Miss Mason this afternoon. I haven’t had time, yet, to tell her about the Greenville girls who agreed to join us, as Janet and I have had so much to do since then,” explained Natalie.

The girls were now near enough to the woodland to hear the sound of singing. Mrs. James held up a hand for silence and they stood and listened. It sounded very wonderful from the hillside where they were to hear the blending of soprano and alto voices in the national anthem “Our America.” There was a martial impetus in the singing that spoke well for the patriotism of the Girl Scouts.

“What does Miss Mason call her Patrol, Nat?” asked Norma, as they resumed their way to the river.

“Now that you speak of it, Norma, I must confess that I never asked. Isn’t it funny that I never thought of it?” said Natalie.

“But we will ask now, and find out. Of course we will have to use the same name if Miss Mason has already chosen one for a Troop,” said Janet.

The visitors reached the camp site and found the Scouts holding a council meeting. They had just finished the patriotic song and Miss Mason was opening the meeting by an address. The unexpected guests were invited to sit down on a huge log and hear the Leader’s speech.

“The members of this Patrol know the reason for this council, but I will explain to the newcomers, too,” said Miss Mason, turning to Mrs. James and the girls.

“We have decided to send to Headquarters in New York to ask to be enrolled as a Troop, now that we have had more than a year’s experience with the organization. Because you girls wish to start another Patrol and unite with our Troop, we think it urgent to be registered and chartered by the National Headquarters, and be able to own a flag and choose a title and crest for our use.”

The visiting girls exchanged glances with each other, as the question just asked Natalie was about to be answered now. Miss Mason did not see their looks and proceeded with her explanation.

“We chose a name when first we started our Patrol but we have never registered it, and there was a question whether we would care to change it after a time. We called ourselves the ‘Solomon’s Seal Patrol’ as having so much meaning to the name. We think that the reflected glory of Solomon’s wisdom is better than none. So we have decided, now, to christen our Troop by that name. We will vote on this later. At present I wish to mention a few other points.

“I am now about to speak of a new Patrol, or new members, so it is fortunate that our visitors arrived in time to hear all I have to say.

“I suppose every girl present has a manual: ‘Scouting for Girls’?” Everyone nodded in the affirmative, and Miss Mason continued:

“Then you will read on page 44, that every girl who wishes to enroll as a Scout must be at least ten years old and must have attended meetings for a month, during which time she will have passed her Tenderfoot Test. During the first month she is known as a Candidate. When she knows the meaning of the Promise and the Laws, and is sure she understands the meaning of the oath she is about to take, and comprehends the meaning of ‘Honor,’ she is eligible to be a Tenderfoot.

“My Girl Scouts passed the Tenderfoot class last year, and then took the Second Class Test, which was also passed successfully by them. We are all ready to pass the First Class Scout Test, except that each girl must present a Tenderfoot who has been trained by the candidate. This is our opportunity, as you girls all wish to be Scouts, and my girls can train you, thus giving them the privilege of being First Class Scouts.

“I was going to speak of other things, but since our visitors’ arrival, I wish Mrs. James to tell us how many girls she knows on whom we can count for the new Patrol.” Miss Mason turned to Mrs. James and waited.

“Natalie knows more about the matter than I, Miss Mason, as she and Janet went about the Corners securing the candidates. Let her tell us about it,” replied Mrs. James.

Natalie was called upon to address the audience and so she got up and spoke. “Janet and I called on Nancy Sherman and Hester Tompkins and secured their promise to join our Patrol as soon as we were ready for them. Then we went to Dorothy Ames’s house and got her interested. With these girls”—Natalie waved her hand at the four girls sitting on the log,—“we will have eight applicants. Janet has a younger sister Helene, who is not twelve yet, so we are not sure whether we want her to belong to our Patrol. All of us girls are over twelve and it is more fun when girls are nearer an age. I’ve been thinking that Helene might start a Brownie Troop, a younger Patrol than ours. We might allow them to join us, later on.”

As Natalie sat down, the girls of Solomon’s Seal Patrol showed their delight at the progress made in the enlisting, and Miss Mason commended the two who had visited the girls of Four Corners and had interested them in the proposed plan.

“Mrs. James, have you thought of a Leader and Corporal for Natalie’s new Patrol?” asked Miss Mason.

“I fear I am not well enough versed in scouting to take such a responsibility upon myself. I would prefer having you do it,” responded Mrs. James.

“I’d rather not be any officer, Miss Mason,” exclaimed Natalie, “because they always have to work while the others have a good time. I’ll just be an every-day Scout.”

The girls laughed, as there was more reason than rhyme in the statement. But Miss Mason said: “There’s always one girl in a group who has the knack of directing her companions. Such a girl ought to be an officer.”

“Then, for goodness’ sake, choose Janet for our manager,” exclaimed Natalie. “She always runs us and everything concerned with us.”

The Scouts laughed, and Miss Mason nodded her head. “I always thought as much, but you will confess, Natalie, that she makes a pretty good general, eh?”

Janet blushed with pleasure at the teacher’s praise, and Natalie smiled: “Oh, pretty good!” Then she grinned at her friend.

“Janet, will you act as Patrol Leader for your new Scouts?” asked Miss Mason, turning again to Janet.

“I will, if Natalie will be my Corporal,” returned Janet.

“Seeing that there are only two members in our Patrol as yet, I can’t see how I can get out of being either one or the other,” laughed Natalie.

“Oh, but we will have more members shortly, and this office of Corporal must be considered as binding until a new election,” explained Janet.

“Well then, Jan, if you can bear up under the arduous duties of a Patrol Leader, I reckon I can survive the work of acting as your Corporal,” retorted Natalie.

“All right. Then we’ll enroll our Tenderfoot Scouts in a Patrol before the next official meeting here, and begin training them in the path that they should follow,” agreed irrepressible Janet.

After this, many subjects that interest Girl Scouts were taken up and discussed, and the girls from Green Hill Farmhouse were more deeply impressed with the wonders of scouting than they had dreamed possible. Each girl determined to do everything possible to learn as much that summer as those Girl Scouts of Solomon’s Seal knew.

CHAPTER XI—NORMA AND FRANCES LAUNCH THEMSELVES

“Let’s all walk to the store with Frans,” suggested Janet, jumping up to show her readiness to go.

“That will give me the chance to get some slips that Mrs. Tompkins promised us the other day,” added Natalie.

“And we can introduce Norma, Belle, and Frances to Nancy Sherman and Hester Tompkins,” added Janet.

So the girls hastily arranged their hair and started out, with Mrs. James to escort them. The country road was very alluring in the twilight, but there were no gorgeous colors from a flaring sunset that evening, as the grey overcast sky had continued all day.

They tramped along the foot-path that ran beside the road and Norma said jokingly: “When we hiked this from the station we never dreamed we would be retracing our steps so soon.”

“It seems almost as if we had been at Green Hill a month, doesn’t it?” said Frances.

Just at this moment Janet gave a sudden gasp. “Oh me, oh my! I must run right back home, girls!”

“What for? What’s happened?” asked four anxious voices.

“Oh, oh, oh! It isn’t what’s happened,—it’s what I forgot to do!”

“But what? Can’t you confide in us?” urged Natalie.

“I forgot all about those pesky chickens. I never fed them to-night, nor did I give them fresh water. I’ve got to do it before it is too late.”

Everyone laughed, but Mrs. James said: “You’re too late already, Janet. Chickens go to roost before twilight. You will not get them to eat or drink to-night.”

“Dear me! Then they will grow so thin I’ll never be able to enter them in a County Fair!” said Janet whimsically.

“You never hinted that that was your ambition,” laughed Natalie. “You started out to do a thriving business with eggs and broilers.”

“I can do that, too, can’t I? But there is nothing to prevent me from trying for a cash prize in some Poultry Show this fall, either,” explained Janet.

“If I start a business of any kind, you won’t find me neglecting it like that!” bragged Norma.

“Wait until you start one—then talk!” retorted Janet.

“How are your vegetables growing to-night, Nat?” said Belle teasingly. “Almost ready to ship to Washington Market?”

“Instead of laughing at Janet, or my investments, why don’t you do something yourselves?” demanded Natalie scornfully.

“We would love to, but what is there left for us to do?” returned Norma.

“Surely you don’t think vegetables and stock-raising compose all the industries in the world, do you?” laughed Mrs. James.

“No, not in a city; but on a farm, what else can one do?” asked Belle.

“Well, I always thought there was a wonderful opportunity for some ambitious girl to raise flowers and send in bouquets to the city every morning,” suggested Mrs. James.

“Bouquets! Who to?” asked Belle.

The other girls were listening attentively, for they had never thought of such a possibility before.

“Mr. Marvin said the flowers he cut back of the house, the day he came up here, brightened his office for many a day. I am convinced that many hard-working business men downtown would lean back in their swivel chairs and smile at a handful of homely country flowers on their desks, if they but had them. Think of the scores of troubled, rushing men in the financial districts of New York, who would stop a minute in their mad race for success to think of their boyhood home, should a rose give forth its perfume on his desk? Think of the peaceful rural picture a few flowers in a glass on the desk might bring to a jaded man who never takes time to dream of his old home.”

Mrs. James’ words created a vision that was most effective with the girls. After a few moments of silence, Norma said softly: “I’d love to do just that thing, Mrs. James.”

“But you haven’t any flowers to start with,” said Belle.

“Why can’t I start some just as Nat did her vegetables, if I go right at it now?” demanded Norma.

“Norma, Mrs. Tompkins promised me some petunia plants, and asters, and sweet-peas, and other slips, if I wanted to use them in the flower gardens. I really didn’t want them but I hated to refuse her, as she is so fond of flowers she thinks everyone else must be, also. Now, this is your opportunity!” said Mrs. James.

“You take the plants and slips she offers, and by judicious praise you will urge her to talk about her gardens. In this way, you can find out more about raising flowers than if you had a book on the subject. I never saw such gorgeous blossoms as she has,” said Natalie eagerly.

“When she finds she has a really interested florist who intends doing the work properly, she may give Norma more slips than Natalie could draw from her,” suggested Frances.

“At any rate, we need plenty of flowers around the place to make it look attractive, and Norma’s plan will beautify the grounds as well as give her her profession,” said Mrs. James.

When they arrived at the Corners Frances mailed her letter; and Norma, with Mrs. James, stopped in to see Mrs. Tompkins and her flower gardens; but the other girls went to Nancy Sherman’s house to plan about the Patrol meetings.

Mrs. Tompkins was delighted to have visitors who were interested in flowers, and when Norma was ready to join the girls to go home, she carried a huge market basket filled with all sorts of plants,—from a delicate lily to a briar-rose.

As they trudged along the dark road, Norma said: “I suppose it will be too dark when we get home to plant the flowers to-night, Mrs. James?”

“Oh yes; but you can get up before the sun in the morning and have the planting done before the heat of the day,” said Mrs. James.

“Mrs. Tompkins told me to place inverted flower-pots over all the young plants during the middle of the day, until they began to perk up their heads. That would show they had taken new root in the soil to which they had been transplanted. But the rose-bush and lily I must plant in a sheltered spot and shade them with a screen for a week or more. They would always freshen up at night but would droop during the day unless I did this,” explained Norma.

“I wonder how long it will be before those little things have flowers?” said Belle.

“Mrs. Tompkins told me that they would bud in two weeks at least. I mean, the portulaca and heliotrope and other old-fashioned plants she dug up for me. You see, they were already started in her garden, and this transplanting will only set them back a few days, she said.”

“Then you can begin to figure on an income in a month’s time, at the very latest,” teased Belle.

Norma made no reply to this laughing remark, but she was determined to show Belle that perseverance and persistence were great things that made for success.

It was past nine when the girls reached Green Hill Farm. As they entered the side gate they heard strange sounds coming from the barnyard. Everyone glanced at Janet to inquire the cause of the sounds.

“It sounds just like those piggies. What can they be squealing for at this hour?” said Mrs. James.

Janet looked guilty, but she said nothing. However, as soon as they reached the side piazza, she hurried on past the kitchen door and made for the barn.

Rachel heard the arrival and came out on the piazza. “Mis’ James, dem pigs ain’t kep’ still all night. I guv ’em some hot mush at six o’clock ’cause Janet fergot to feed ’em. But I ain’t goin’ to be no nuss-gal to any porkers when I’se got my house-wuk to look affer. Ef I wuz goin’ to raise hogs, I’d raise ’em, but I ain’t goin’ to do it fer no one else, nohow.”

Everyone laughed appreciatively, and Mrs. James added: “Janet told us she had forgotten the chickens to-night. But I told her there was no use in her returning home, then, as fowl went to roost with the sun, and would not want to be bothered again. I was not aware the pigs had been forgotten, too.”

“Wall, I kin tell her what ails ’em, but I jes’ thought I’d let her try to fin’ it out herself. Mebbe she’ll take a little interest in her business if she is left to do the wuk!” declared Rachel.

“What makes them squeal, Rachel? You can tell us, can’t you?” coaxed Natalie.