“Yes, she was—and I’m thankful that she’s out of the troop. I saw from the beginning that I could never have any influence over her, or Mame either, for that matter.”
“Well, you’re certainly doing wonders with the others,” observed her chum admiringly. “It seems almost like a miracle—in such a short time!”
“If it only lasts!” sighed Marjorie.
“Why shouldn’t it?” demanded Lily. “Look at the enthusiasm over that practice game on Saturday night! Every single scout out, all in uniform, and proud as Punch. I think Jack was tickled to death with them, even though we did get beaten.”
“Oh, he expected us to get beaten,” returned her roommate. “But what pleases me more than the interest in basketball is the actual scout progress we’re making. Four second-class scouts out of eight is pretty promising, and if I’m not mistaken, Sophia Ernsberg is going to pass the test before the first League game, so that we’ll have at least one substitute.”
“I wish that game didn’t come before Christmas,” said Lily. “So many things going on here at college—and I’m actually tired.”
“Yes, but I consider it a good thing for the troop. Remember you and I will be away for ten days, and the girls might lose interest if they didn’t have something like that to think about.”
“You have the schedule, haven’t you, Marj? What team do we play?”
Marjorie frowned, as if the prospect were not quite to her liking.
“That’s the worst of it,” she answered, “we play that out-of-town troop—Number Ninety-seven. I understand that they’ve been playing a good while but by boys’ rules. They just organized into a scout troop this fall, and adopted girls’ rules. We are both new troops, you see, but they are experienced players.”