Elise was the happiest little girl in all the room at the meeting. Everyone fell in love with her at once, her manners were so gentle and pretty and she was so full of life. Her curls danced and her eyes, and her red lips smiled, and it seemed as though her feet wanted to dance instead of going in a humdrum walk. The Scout Captain and the committee on pie decided that Elise had made the most delicious of its kind.
At the close of the business part of the meeting, the Captain asked as usual if anyone had any news of interest to offer or any requests or questions to ask. It was all Rosanna could do to keep from telling them all about Gwenny and asking for advice and help, but she decided to keep it all to herself until she had finished the play. Then if it turned out to be any good (and it would be easy to tell that by showing it to Uncle Bob) she would take it to the Captain, and if she approved, Rosanna would bring the whole thing up before the next meeting.
On the way home, Helen said to Rosanna, “How are you getting on with your play, Rosanna? Did you work on it this afternoon as you expected to?”
“Yes, I did, and it seems to be coming along beautifully,” said Rosanna. “I wanted to ask you about it. Don’t you think it would be nice to put in a couple of songs about the Girl Scouts, and perhaps a dance?”
“Simply splendid!” said Helen. “Oh, Rosanna, do hurry! I can scarcely wait for you to finish it. Girl Scout songs and a Girl Scout dance! Do you know the Webster twins can dance beautifully? Their mother used to be a dancer on the stage before she married their father, and she has taught them the prettiest dances. They do them together. They are awfully poor, and I don’t know if they could afford to get pretty dancing dresses to wear, but I should think we could manage somehow.”
“Oh, we will,” said Rosanna. “I do wish we could have our families help us!”
“Think how surprised they will be if we do this all by ourselves except what Uncle Bob does, and our Scout Captain.”
“I don’t see that Uncle Bob can do very much,” rejoined Rosanna. “But he is real interested and wants to help.”
“We ought to let him do whatever he can,” said Helen. “Father often tells mother that he hopes she notices how much she depends on his superior intellect, but she just laughs and says ‘Nonsense! Helen, don’t listen to that man at all!’ But we must depend on our own superior intellects now.”
“It won’t take me long to finish the play,” said Rosanna. “It is only going to be a one-act play, and if it isn’t long enough to make a whole entertainment, we will have to have some recitations and songs before and after it.”