“We promise,” murmured Frances and Marjorie, and two or three others; and the girls adjourned.
CHAPTER XII
THE BOY SCOUTS’ DEMONSTRATION
During the next few days, the excitement which usually preceded pledge-day was felt over the school, and in this instance, it was even more intense; for almost every girl at Miss Allen’s felt that she had a chance to become a Girl Scout,—if not right away, at least at some future date. Ruth had sent for more handbooks; the copies went the rounds, and were read and re-read. The uniform proved to be a constant topic of interest, and more than one girl wrote home to ask for the money to buy it, in case she was chosen.
Miss Landis noticed a decided improvement in the girls’ lessons, and remarked about it to Miss Allen. Miss Phillips, too, appreciated the added zeal with which the girls attended unrequired practices.
At last Ruth was happy. She had started something worth while; no doubt the whole student body, as well as the teachers, would look to her constantly as a benefactor. She realized, too, that she had dealt the most decided blow to the sorority that it had ever received. She dreamed of its annihilation, and pictured herself always as the leader of its more popular successor.
Marjorie, too, was happy. For weeks she had felt a sort of unrest, as if she were standing still while the rest of the world progressed. Lily’s accounts of the Friday evenings in Miss Phillips’s room had deepened this feeling. But now that she had made her decision, the outlook before her seemed brighter.
On Wednesday evening, during dinner, it was whispered that Miss Allen was going to read the list of candidates for the troop very soon; and one of the seniors told Ruth that she had seen her carry a paper into the dining-room.
The girl was correct in her supposition; for as soon as dessert had been served, Miss Allen rose from her chair. The girls stopped eating, and waited in breathless attention.
“First of all,” she began, “I want to tell you that on Friday evening the Senior Patrol of the Boy Scouts from Episcopal Academy are coming over to give us a demonstration of Scouting. We will hold the meeting in the assembly room, and everybody is invited. But only the candidates whose names I read will be invited over to the gymnasium afterwards to serve refreshments with Miss Phillips.”