Miss Phillips said that the message was correct. Everyone clapped.
John then asked for another message, and Frances Wright handed him one. With the Scout still at the end of the room, Russell took out a tiny telegraph instrument and tapped out sounds which were meaningless to the girls, but which were evidently intelligible to David Conner, the Scout at the rear, for he read out:
“Girl Scouts want to learn signalling.”
“That is right,” said Frances.
“Now we will show you some First-Aid work.”
All the boys except John took part in this—four acting as doctors, and four serving as patients. They put on the head-cap, the spiral-reverse, the five-finger bandage, and the triangular arm-sling. After they had finished these, they demonstrated resuscitation, fireman’s-lift, and the making of a stretcher. The girls watched breathlessly, and clapped heartily when it was over.
Then two Scouts stepped forward and did what seemed to the girls a truly marvelous thing: they put down a big sheet of tin and made a fire without any matches. They did this by using the method of the Indians: a wooden bow-drill rotated until the friction produced heat sufficient to ignite the fuel. When finally it burst into flames, there was a great shout of applause.
John ended by thanking the girls for their attention, saying that he hoped all the girls present would eventually become Scouts.
Miss Allen thanked the boys, and invited them to the gymnasium to meet the girls who were candidates. The rest of the school were dismissed to return to their rooms.
It was a much envied little group that followed Miss Allen out of the room, and more than one girl resolved to perfect her studies or her athletics in order to be among the favored few in the future.