Roy Lillian Elizabeth
Natalie: A Garden Scout

CHAPTER VIII – MISS MASON’S PATROL ARRIVES

The drive from Green Hill Farm to Mr. Ames’s brother’s farm was enlivened for Mrs. James and Natalie by the driver’s gossip about the neighboring farmers whose places they passed. One farmer made a speciality of raising poultry, another tried to raise flowers, but his greenhouses were not arranged well, and his plants generally froze in cold weather. Still another farmer planned to raise nothing but market-truck, but he kept postponing the attempt and thus never amounted to anything.

All these various plans gave Natalie food for thought, and she had many schemes outlined in her head by the time Mr. Ames drove in at his brother’s farm-gate.

The house and front gardens were as neat as wax, and one could see from the road that the farm itself was well cared for. Mr. Ames spoke the truth when he bragged of it as being a model farm.

Mrs. Ames came to the side door at the sound of wheels crunching the gravel, and smiled a welcome at her brother-in-law.

“I brung the leddies I tol’ you about,” explained Mr. Ames, as he jumped out and turned to help Mrs. James and Natalie.

After introductions were over, Mrs. Ames remarked: “I’ll go call my husband. He’s at the barns tryin’ to coax a few little pigs from the mother.”

“Oh, oh! Are they tiny little pigs!” cried Natalie excitedly.

“Yes, – not much bigger’n a kitten.”

“Oh dear! Can’t I see them?” asked she anxiously.

Everyone laughed. “Of course you can,” returned Mrs. Ames.

“We will all go and see them,” added Mrs. James. “I like to see little creatures, too.”

So they all walked down the box-edged path-way to the neat out-buildings where Mr. Ames was struggling with two squirming little pink pigs that were determined to run away.

Natalie stood and watched while the battle for supremacy continued, and finally she offered to help hold them. But this was not necessary, as the farmer managed to get them in the pen especially built for the larger pigs of the litter.

“They’ve got to be weaned and give the lean ones a chance to grow better,” explained the farmer, mopping his brow after the struggle had ended.

Natalie was so interested in the barnyard cattle, that the host escorted her about and showed her many amusing and instructive things. Mrs. James enjoyed this visit, also. The modern chicken-houses and duck-yards were admired; the pig-pens, with their clean runs and concrete pools for the pigs to bathe in, were inspected by an astonished Natalie who believed pigs to be filthy animals; and all the other devices for the cleanliness and comfort of the stock were commended; and then they all went back to the house.

Mrs. Ames had hurriedly prepared refreshments, although it was not more than ten o’clock. Ice-cold butter-milk, home-made sponge cake, and fruit, was a tempting sight. Natalie was thirsty after the visit to the barns, and the cold drink proved most refreshing.

While Mrs. Ames played hostess and showed her visitors her flower gardens, the two farmers went to the seed-house and sorted the potato seed Natalie wanted for her own garden. Then several tiny plants were added to this bag, – slips that had been weeded out that morning, and thrown out as superfluous in the Ames’s gardens. These could be transplanted at once by Natalie, and would go on growing, thus giving time for the seeds to sprout.

Natalie enjoyed the flowers and the stock-yard, but she was interested in vegetables, and now she was anxious to get home and plant the potato seed and other slips that had been donated. Hence, the three visitors were soon on their way back to Green Hill.

“Mr. Ames,” began Natalie, as they drove away, “your brother said I could save time in growing the corn if I would soak the kernels in lukewarm water for several hours. He says the soil is quite warm enough now for me to do this, so the swollen corn will not get a chill when it is dropped in the hill.”

“Yeh, I know that, too. I was goin’ to suggest it,” returned Mr. Ames.

“He said the lukewarm water would start the corn swelling better, and by the time Natalie wanted to plant it the water would be cold and the kernel would be the same temperature. The soil would be about the same heat, so we would not be running any risk of failure in hastening the seed,” added Mrs. James.

“Yeh – ye kin do that,” agreed the farmer.

“Another thing your brother said – that I thought good, is this: when we plant slips, such as beets, cauliflower, and other vegetables in a garden bed, to keep the seeds of such kinds apart from the plant beds; then when the seeds sprout they won’t confuse us with the older plants,” said Natalie.

“Mr. Ames,” now said Mrs. James, “your brother says he always plants his corn in a rich sandy soil with a mixture of gravel in it, to act as a drain. The more sunshine it gets, the sweeter it tastes, he said.”

Mr. Ames glanced at the speaker with a pitying look. “Diden yuh know that afore he tole you?” was all he said.

Natalie nudged Mrs. James and giggled. But the lady was not silenced by the farmer’s remark. She was enthusiastic about all she had learned and had to debate it with someone.

“He said that he seldom used a compost made of cow-manure, unless it was seasoned with other lighter fertilizer, as it was so heavy it kept all air from permeating to the roots. But he added that it formed a splendid foundation for other mixtures to be added to it.”

“Well, diden I say that same thing to yuh?” demanded Mr. Ames.

“Yes, but it is more satisfactory to hear your advice seconded. Now we know you were right in your suggestions,” said Mrs. James guilelessly.

“Right here, I wanta tell yuh-all that I brung my brother up in his farmin’ knowledge. And what he knows he learned from me when I was votin’ an’ he was onny in knickers!” was Farmer Ames’s scornful reply.

The rest of that day was spent in planting potato seed, Rachel helping, so that the cut sections need not be dried out. At sundown Mr. Ames went for his horse and buckboard, saying,

“Wall, to-morrer yuh won’t need me, Mis’ James. Everything is goin’ on as fine as kin be, an’ you’se know all about th’ seeds.”

“Oh dear, Mr. Ames!” cried Natalie, in distress, “we will feel as if we are at sea without a rudder.”

The remark pleased the farmer, for he was proud of his experience and loved to have others admit it. So he said: “Well, ef I git time I might run in at noon when I drives to the store fer mail and house-goods.”

“Please do! We will need you by that time, I am sure,” replied Natalie.

But the seeds and corn and other vegetable products were planted without further mistakes or delay. Each day saw the work advance and by the time the city school closed the garden was well on its way to producing edibles for that season.

The tiny lettuce slips that Mr. Ames’s brother had given Natalie were growing up fresh and green; the radishes showed three to four sturdy little leaves, evidence that tiny red balls were forming under the ground. The cabbages and cauliflowers began to present funny little button-like heads above the soil; and the seeds were showing slender little spears of green where the soft earth was cleft by their protruding points. The tomato vines and other plants started from slips that had been weeded out from the Ames’s farms were doing well; so that Natalie felt a righteous pride in her garden.

A letter from Miss Mason came the last Friday of school:

Dear Natalie:

Almost before you will have time to digest the contents of this letter we will have descended upon Green Hill Farm. The Girl Scouts in my Patrol packed and shipped the tents and other camping outfit, by express, the first of the week. I wrote the man at the Corner Store to hold them until we called there for them. If Mrs. James, and Rachel and you, have nothing better to do on Sunday, we will be pleased to have you come to our camp and dine with us. We hope to have everything in order and be ready for guests by Sunday noon, as we will arrive at Greenville about noon on Saturday. Until then, I will wish you all rest and peace, as you will need to draw heavily upon the reserve fund of it after we arrive. My Girl Scouts are an active, energetic patrol, and few of them ever stop to sit down or sleep while in camp.

Lovingly your teacher,

Anna Mason.

“Jimmy, Miss Mason says her girls will be here Saturday – that’s to-morrow. But I haven’t heard a word from the other girls about when they will arrive! If only they could come up and be with us all on Sunday. Don’t you suppose we could telephone Janet and let her arrange it?” asked Natalie anxiously, after reading the letter from Miss Mason.

“Perhaps the girls are planning to pack up and get away from the city for all summer when they do come here. In that case, I don’t see how they could manage to get away on Saturday. But we can telephone and find out,” returned Mrs. James.

So Janet was called over the ’phone, and Natalie heard to her great delight that Janet was coming Saturday evening even though other girls in the group would not leave the city until the middle of the following week.

That afternoon at sundown Natalie inspected her garden critically, trying to judge it from another’s point of view. When she returned to the house she sat down on the piazza beside Mrs. James and sighed.

“I suppose everyone will laugh at my garden. The seeds aren’t big yet, – only the lettuce and other things that I transplanted from the Ames’s farms. Do you think they really will grow up, Jimmy?”

“Of course they will. Does the sun shine or do we succeed in growing anything from the ground?” laughed Mrs. James.

“But this is different. I am not an experienced farmer and maybe the vegetables won’t grow for me.”

“The poor little seeds never stop to wonder whether you are a farmer or not. They have no partiality. It is their business to grow and bring forth results, so they get busy and attend to their business the moment they are planted. But all things take time to develop, – so with seeds. They do not give you a full-grown head of lettuce or cauliflower in a night.”

This encouraged Natalie so much that she went to sleep with the assurance that her garden would thrive just as well as any farmer’s in the county.

At noon on Saturday Natalie heard the laughter and confused talking of many girls. She ran to the side porch and saw Tompkins’ large spring-wagon approaching the house. Seated in the back of the wagon was a bevy of happy girls, and Miss Mason sat beside the driver.

“Here comes the Patrol, Jimmy!” shouted Natalie, eagerly beckoning to Mrs. James, who was in the living-room.

The wagon drove in the side gate and Si Tompkins halted his horses while Miss Mason called to Natalie:

“Want to jump in and go with us down to the woodland?”

“Run along, Natalie, and I will come down later,” said Mrs. James, smiling a welcome at the merry party in the wagon.

In a few moments Natalie was up beside the teacher, and the wagon moved on down the hill to the river land.

Introductions were not given until the girls had jumped out of the wagon and stood about Miss Mason waiting for orders. Then Natalie found the Girl Scout Patrol consisted of nine happy, bright, intelligent girls, who felt very grateful to her for the privilege extended them to camp in her woodland that summer.

The camping outfit had been packed in the front end of the wagon, and when it was all removed, the girls started immediately to pitch their tents and do other necessary work for an extended camping-time.

Natalie watched with interest and saw that these girls knew exactly what to do. Miss Mason selected a site where a cold water spring bubbled up under a huge rock and formed a small pool. The overflow ran down the woodland bank into the stream. Quite close to this spring the Patrol would camp, using the water for all needs, and being far enough away from it to keep camp débris from being blown, or thrown, into the pool.

“Girls,” called Miss Mason to her Scouts, “we will use this nice level spot up on the slight elevation for the tents. Here we have natural drainage away from our spring, and there is no possibility of the river seeping up into the ground under the tents. Even the hill back of us will not drain down upon our site, as there is that shallow valley between our knoll and the further hill.”

So the tents were raised where the Patrol Leader designated, and here they found all the advantages so desired by a group of campers: plenty of sunshine part of the day, breezes whenever the wind blew across the hills, privacy because of the surrounding woods, plenty of dry wood for camp-fires, water from the spring, and the stream farther down to bathe and swim in.

Natalie watched the girls trench about each tent, and she also saw that each tent was placed about twenty-five feet from the next one. There were four tents in all, – two large ones for the girls and a smaller one for Miss Mason, while a tiny one was for a pantry.

While five girls were engaged in completing the tent arrangements, Miss Mason and the other girls in the Patrol sought a suitable spot for the latrine. Here they began to dig a trench and build a shelter. Natalie went with them and learned that a latrine must be away from the water-supply and in the opposite direction from which the prevailing winds blew toward camp. Miss Mason was most particular about this work.

“That trench is not deep enough, Amy,” said she to one Scout who was leaving the work. “Every trench must be at least two feet deep, one wide, and four feet long. Your pit is only a foot deep, and you have not excavated the dirt from either end. Dig it out clean and pile it alongside so it can be thrown in again to cover over any waste. This latrine is for summer use – not for a week-end camp, you know.”

When the tents were up and ready for use, Miss Mason called the Girl Scouts together.

“Now, girls, let us decide at once what shall be the tasks assigned to each Scout for the coming week. We will have a similar gathering every Saturday afternoon while at camp, and exchange duties so that every Scout in turn will have the pleasure of doing certain duties for a week all summer through.

“First, we will choose a Corporal to assist me for the summer. We may vote for a new Corporal, or allow Helen Marshall to hold her post. Here are nine slips of paper to vote upon. Each girl can cast a vote for Helen, or for another girl in the Patrol, and no one shall know who writes the vote. Sign no name to the paper, but we will soon know what the general wish of the group is.”

Eight girls voted for Helen to continue in the Patrol as Corporal, and it turned out that Helen herself voted for Mary Howe as Corporal.

“Well, Helen is our Corporal still. Now, girls, form ranks so we can designate to each one the duties of the week.”

The eight girls formed in two rows, four in each row, with Helen at the front with the Leader. Then Miss Mason began: “Mary, you shall be camp cook for the first week. Amy is water-scout. Mildred, you are camp-cleaner, – you have all the baggage and tents to look after. Lillian will look after the pantry and dishwashing. Peggy must take full charge of the wood and fire. Elizabeth will be the baker for this week; Alice will see that the camp-grounds and latrine are kept clean and in order; and Dorothy will have to be shopper and table-worker. Helen, of course, is responsible for all work being done properly, and I must supervise the Patrol and advise each one on any problem. Now, are there any questions to ask about the duties assigned?”

Each Scout knew what was expected of her, so there were no remarks at the time. Miss Mason resumed her talk, to Natalie’s great delight.

“The fire-maker will immediately build a luncheon fire, and the cook will begin preparations for the midday meal, as we are hungry and will lunch before planning further tasks.”

“Miss Mason, where shall I find any food for luncheon?” now asked the camp cook of the Leader.

“In the soap box that the storekeeper placed with the luggage. We have everything there necessary to keep us in food over Sunday. The edibles must be kept under shelter, girls, so reserve the small tent for our pantry for a few days.”

The wood-gatherer ran away to collect such fire-wood as was needed for a slight fire to cook luncheon, the table-scout selected a flat place to spread out the table-cloth, and soon everyone in the Patrol was working industriously. Natalie had nothing to do, and Miss Mason came over to her and entertained.

“Well, Natalie, in the life you’ve led since you left New York, have you any reason to regret coming to Green Hill Farm?”

“I should say not! Why, Miss Mason, these two weeks have simply flown by, – I have had so much to do, and have had so much fun doing it,” exclaimed Natalie enthusiastically.

Miss Mason smiled. “If you continue improving in looks and health as you have in two weeks, Natalie, no one will ever accuse you of being delicate, or pessimistic. I should say you can compete with Janet for health and vivacity now.”

“Did you know Janet is coming this afternoon?” asked Natalie eagerly.

“Yes, she told me the other day that she was ready to run away from the city the moment school closed. She would have started from home last night, but the expressman had not called for her trunk and she had not left out anything to use in case the trunk did not arrive here on time. So they are checking it on her ticket to insure its arrival to-day.”

“I’ll be so glad to see Janet, – she always inspires me with a desire to do more than I want to when I am left to myself,” remarked Natalie.

“That is the effect of her natural energy and activity,” added Miss Mason.

“I was thinking, as I watched you call a meeting of the Scouts, what a corking assistant Janet would make in a Scout Troop. I don’t know what name you give her in a Troop, but in this Patrol you called her a Corporal,” said Natalie.

“In a Troop she would be called a Lieutenant, but she would have to be eighteen years of age, or over, and Janet is not that. So she would have to be a Corporal for a time.”

“Miss Mason, if we five girls want to form a Patrol, can we do so and choose Janet for our Corporal?” asked Natalie.

“If you had eight girls to form a Patrol you could do so, but until you had that number you would have to enlist with an already-formed Patrol. You five girls might join us for a time and, perhaps, secure enough girls living at Greenville to complete the necessary number to start a second Patrol. We have not applied at Headquarters yet for a Charter to form a Troop, but we hope to do so this year, if you girls can found another Patrol and make our membership claim two individual Patrols. I saw a number of girls of your age on our way from the station to Green Hill. I am sure those girls would hail an invitation to join a Scout Patrol.”

“Maybe they would, but I never thought of any girls in Greenville, Miss Mason. I rather thought they would be too busy with home work, or their own pleasures, to bother about Scouts.”

“There is where you wrong them. Not a girl in the country but would love to join such an organization. They can always find enough time to do the necessary requirements of a good Scout, and the pleasure and benefit they get out of a Troop more than repays them for the time used. I expect to interest all the girls of a membership age around Greenville before we return to the city this fall.”

“I’ll talk it over with Jimmy, Miss Mason, and see what she thinks of this idea. I believe the Ames girl would join us, if we told her about the plan,” said Natalie.

“And once the Ames girl was a Scout, she would tell her friends and they all would want to join us, – see?”

“Yes, if they thought it was going to be any fun.”

At this point in the discussion the cook came up and asked Miss Mason to show her certain matters in connection with the soup-kettle. Natalie laughed at the girl’s anxious expression. But when Miss Mason invited her to come, too, and tell them what was wrong with the pot, Natalie hastened to say she would have to go back to the house and get ready to go to the station for Janet!