“Gray flannel,” she replied enigmatically. “Four yards double width. Short sleeves, low neck, skirt and waist joined together, and bloomers. All trimmed up cute with wash turkey red braid. I bought a pattern, and Aunty Welcome and I made it our own selves. She says it’s too pretty to get all wet. Ruth made hers too from my pattern. Why don’t you buy the kind of flannel you want, and let her cut it out for you, and we’ll all help.”
“Why not hold a sewing bee, and get everything all done up at once?” Sue’s eyes sparkled at the notion. “I’ll tell the rest, and we’ll all come over to-morrow.”
“Go ahead,” agreed Polly. “I don’t care, so long as we get all through this week. It won’t be any fun finding ourselves in the middle of July, with only a month and a half for vacation.”
So the following day, the entire delegation waited upon its commodore, with raw materials for bathing suits and caps. Polly turned the big upper spare chamber into a sewing-room, and with Kate at the helm, they started out in earnest. Ruth cut and fitted, under Kate’s directions, and Kate ran the sewing machine. At about four o’clock they finished, and on the bed lay the rest of the suits completed.
“That’s what I call getting swift results from good intentions,” said Kate, with a sigh of relief. “Polly, can’t we have some jumbles?”
“Aunty’s fixing something, but I don’t know what it is, and I wouldn’t dare disturb her till it’s all ready,” answered Polly. “Come down into the library, and let’s look at the time-tables again.”
There was no one in sight, as they trooped down the broad staircase, and the library was shady and still. They pored over time-tables of steamers and connecting trains for a while, and, as Polly said, made the trip twenty times before they had started.
“But we really must be serious, and look after all these points,” she added. “We’ve had fun all winter with the Hungry Six. This club has a real reason for its existence, a purpose, and we must make it worth while. It always seems to me as if girls could do so much better if they would hold hands, and work in unison—”
“Co-operate,” suggested Ruth.
“Yes, that’s just the right word,” Polly agreed, earnestly. “Boys always co-operate in their clubs. They seem to have the real feeling of fellowship. You know what I mean, Kate? Where all work together for the honor and glory of the whole, not just for yourself as a member.”