“Who's Ruth Campbell? and what was she saying?”
“Why, the Campbells live in that house that you can just see the top of from our barn. Ruth's as old as our Almiry, but she knows a heap more, for she went to school in Johnsburgh. She taught our school last winter, and is going to again next. She told us about something they have in Johnsburgh, and it sounds very much like yours, so it must be a mission-band. She said she wished we could have one here, but none of us paid much attention to it.”
“Oh, I think you would like it ever so much,” said Marty; “only maybe there wouldn't be enough children round here to make a band,” she added doubtfully.
“How many does it take?” asked Evaline.
“Oh, bands are of different sizes. I s'pose you could make one of four or five.”
“There's a sight more children than that on the mountain,” said Evaline with some contempt. “But then some of 'em mightn't want to send their money away to the heathen; and anyhow, I don't know where they'd get any money to send. Folks up here, 'specially children, don't have much.”
“Why, I thought the country was just the place to make money for missions,” cried Marty. “There's 'first-fruits' and such things that are a great deal easier got at in the country than in town. And I have heard of children raising missionary corn and potatoes, and having missionary hens that laid the very best kind of eggs regularly every day, that brought a high price.”
“Yes, but who's going to buy the things up here? Folks all have their own corn and potatoes and hens. And how'd we children get a few little things miles and miles to market?”
Marty was rather taken aback by this view of the subject. “The children I read about got somebody to buy their things,” she said.
She was rather discouraged because Evaline was not more enthusiastic about missions, and thought there was no use trying to further the cause in this region; but fortunately she happened to tell Almira what they had been talking of, and she took up the subject as warmly as Marty could wish, saying she thought it would be very nice to have a missionary circle of some sort.