“All the way in the bottom of the bag, I’m afraid,” came the sleepy reply. “Why not wait till tomorrow, Marj?”
“And there may be no stream near!” returned the other. “No indeed, I’m going into every single fish-pond I can find here in the east, because I understand that we don’t come across them so frequently west of the Mississippi.”
The argument was conclusive, and, with the exception of Mrs. Remington, who offered to start breakfast, the girls all took advantage of their opportunity and plunged in. They found the water cool and delightful, and, as they swam about, they almost imagined themselves at one of the scout camps again. At first they tried to keep their hair from getting wet, but at last they abandoned the effort in favor of having a really good time—and incidentally washing their hair as well.
“The only thing that bothers me,” remarked Ethel, “is that I spent a perfectly good dollar for a shampoo day before yesterday, and here I could have a free one today!”
“Too bad about you!” laughed Florence. “But don’t you remember, Ethel, that we are so rich now that we don’t need to let mere money cares worry us?”
“Very true—I had forgotten,” admitted Ethel. “It’s a sort of shock to become fabulously rich over night, isn’t it?”
“How about when we become fabulously poor again?” asked Alice. “Won’t that be a jolt?”
“I guess we’ll survive,” observed Marjorie, making her way towards the bank of the stream. “Well, girls, I’m through—I want my breakfast! I’m going back to dress, so that I can help Mrs. Remington.”
Half an hour later, when they gathered for the second time around the camp-fire, and smelled the delicious odors arising from bacon and hot coffee, they were subtly conscious of the return of that old spirit of comradeship which meant so much to them all. It was so pleasant to be together again—and under such happy circumstances.
“If everything goes as well as it has begun,” remarked Lily, “we certainly will have a lovely trip.”