Edna solemnly drew it from the small bag she carried, and handed it to Esther Ann.
"Read it, Esther Ann, read it," clamored the girls. And Esther Ann read it aloud.
"How in the world did you know about such a thing," said Milly Somers.
"Oh, I didn't think of it," she answered; "it was my mother."
"She must be awfully smart," said Esther Ann admiringly. "I wish she were here to tell us just what to do, if you won't do it."
"Maybe she would come for just a little while," said Edna, feeling assured that if her mother were there to tell of her own ideas about the club that there would be no doubt of its being "The Elderflowers." "Suppose I go and ask her," she added.
"All right," agreed the girls. "Tell her if she will stay just long enough to tell us how to get started, it is all we ask."
Edna rushed back to the house and upstairs, where she breathlessly explained her errand. "You will go? won't you, mother, just for a few minutes," she begged. "You won't have to change your dress, or even put a hat on if you don't want to. We need you so very, very much. Nobody knows what to do, and they all talk at once, and giggle and say silly things. It ought to be real serious, oughtn't it?"
"Not too serious, I should say," returned her mother. "Very well, dear, I will come." She threw on a long coat and followed the little girl across the street to where the prospective club members waited expectantly.
It did not take long to set the ball in motion, and in less than half an hour Esther Ann was made president pro tem., Milly Somers was appointed secretary, and the business of choosing came up. There were not very many original ideas offered. Few of the girls had any. Mrs. Conway listened to them all, and at last explained her own plan so clearly and with such earnestness that it was a matter of only a few minutes before it was decided that "The Elderflower Club" should start its existence at once.