"Oh! oh!" groaned Jennie. "How ungrateful."
"Of course you have something to suggest?" Nettie said.
"No, not a thing. My idea is, merely, that we start something that every girl in the school can have her share in. Of course, that does not cut out contributions from those who have money to spare; but the new building must be erected by the efforts of the girls of Briarwood Hall as——"
"As a bunch of briars," chuckled Jennie. "Isn't that a sharp one?"
"Just as sharp as you are, my dear," said Helen.
"You know what that means, Heavy," said Mary Cox. "You're all curves."
"Oh! ouch! I know that hurt me," declared the plump girl, altogether too good-natured to be offended by anything her mates said to her.
"So that's how it is," Ruth finished "Call the girls together. Put the idea before them. Let's hear from everybody, and see which girl has the best thought along this line. We want a way of making money in which everyone can join."
"I—don't—see," complained Nettie, "how you are going to do it."
"Never mind. Don't worry," said Mercy. "'Great oaks from little acorns grow,' and a fine idea will sprout from the germ of Ruth's suggestion, I have no doubt."