Helen and Elise were Rosanna’s guests for the night. A couch had been prepared so the three girls could sleep in the same room. They rolled themselves up in bathrobes, and sat on the edge of the couch just as they had sat on the top step so many months ago, only this time Elise did not knit. She too sat with her chin in her hands, staring out of the window. Rosanna had snapped off the light. A million stars in a deep frosty sky looked down on them. The night sparkled. It was very, very late, but Mrs. Horton with surpassing wisdom had not asked them to go right to bed. She too was awake, dreaming long dreams.
Presently Elise spoke. “So much of happiness makes me sad,” she said.
“Well, it is all over,” sighed Rosanna.
“Not at all!” cried Elise. “What could be over? Not Meeses Horton, who is just beginning. Not us, who have so many, many works to do. Not Gwenny who steps into a new life. Just see all those stars. They shine and sparkle always, no matter what goes on down here.”
“You sound like a little sermon, Elise dear,” said Helen, smiling.
“I don’t know just yet what it is you call sermon, but I hope it is nice,” replied Elise.
“Yours is, anyway,” said Rosanna, kissing the fair face beside her.
“All I meant was that this is over, the wedding and all that. Oh, of course I didn’t mean that everything was over. It is just as though a beautiful day had ended, as it has,” Rosanna continued. “Others will come, many, many other busy, beautiful days, and on my honor, I will try to do my duty to God and my country, to help other people at all times and to obey the Scout laws,” said Rosanna softly, lifting her eyes to the eternal stars.
THE END