“You’re certainly right about that, Bessie. And it makes you think of how much hard luck people have, and how easy it would be for people who are better off to help them, doesn’t it?”
“It is easy, Dolly. You know, I think Miss Eleanor must help an awful lot of people. It seems to be the first thing she thinks of when she sees any trouble.”
“She makes one understand what Wo-he-lo really means,” said Dolly. “She’s often explained that work means service—doing things for other people, and not just working for yourself.”
“That’s one of the things I like best about the Camp Fire,” said Bessie, thoughtfully. “Everyone in it seems to be unselfish and to think about helping others, and yet there isn’t someone to preach to you all the time—they just do it themselves, and make you see that it’s the way to be really happy.”
“I wouldn’t have believed that I could enjoy this sort of work if anyone had told me so a year ago. But I do. I haven’t had such a good time since I can remember. Of course, I feel awfully sorry for the Pratts, but I’m glad that, if it had to happen to them, we came along in time to help them.”
They hadn’t stopped working while they talked, and now they had brought as many boards as Margery wanted.
“There are lots more boards, Margery,” said Dolly. “Why shouldn’t we make a sort of floor for the lean-to? If we put up a couple of planks for them to rest on, every so often, we could have a real floor, and then, even if the ground got damp, it would be dry inside.”
“Good idea! We’ll do that,” said Margery, who was busy herself, flying here, there, and everywhere to direct the work. “Go ahead!”
And so, when the sound of wheels in the road heralded the return of Miss Eleanor in the buggy, the work was done, and the lean-to was completed, a rough-and-ready shelter that was practical in the extreme, though perhaps it was not ornamental.
“Splendid!” cried Eleanor. “But I knew you girls would do well. And I’ve got the good news I hoped to bring, too!”