"Well, this is my suggestion: hold our bazaar just as we have planned, and use the money, first to buy Marjorie a new canoe, and then to bring a nice Christmas to some needy family, in the village, with lots of children."
"Hurray! Good for you, Ruth!" cried several of the girls impulsively when she sat down.
Amid their shouts, however, Marjorie stumbled to her feet. She looked pale, as if she had slept little the previous night; and her eyes bore the traces of tears. But outwardly she was calm.
"It is awfully good of Ruth," she said, seriously, "but I really wouldn't want the troop to replace my canoe. I won't need it much longer this fall, and perhaps father will give me one for my next birthday. And I like Ruth's suggestion about the poor family. But"—she lowered her voice and pronounced each word slowly and very distinctly—"is the troop going to accept this defeat as final?"
"You mean, Marjorie, that you would like to give Frieda another chance?" asked the Captain.
"Yes." The word was little more than a whisper.
Miss Phillips said nothing; she was simply astounded at the girl's generosity. Frieda Hammer had stolen Marjorie's dearest possession, and yet the latter was ready to forgive her!
But Ruth interpreted Marjorie's attitude merely as the usual opposition to her own suggestions.
"Then would you like to put a detective on the case?" she asked.