“I agree with you for once, Jerry,” chimed in Ted. “The grass was knitted with cobwebs, the sun came up grey, and besides all that the jelly jelled. Now Vita, you see you are completely left. It is not going to rain.”
Vita laughed good naturedly. “Then I say it is goin’ to shine,” she added, and Nora now felt certain her talk had been made to interrupt the comment on the night before.
Breakfast passed off in a gale of pleasantries. The home of the Mantons seemed jollier every moment, to Nora.
“How about the woods?” asked Jerry, while they lingered over the coffee.
“I’m ready,” replied Ted, “and I’m sure Nora will want to come.”
“Oh yes,” with a glance at her inadequate costume. “Will this dress be all right?”
“If it’s the strongest you have with you,” replied Ted. “But we have some very saucy briars and brush. We must see about a real woodsy outfit for you.” She paused a moment, then continued, “I am sure you will like the Girl Scouts when you get to know more about them. I know a group of the girls and to my thinking they are the real thing in girls.”
Nora flushed slightly. One point she had made up her mind on. She was not going to lose her identity by joining in with a group of girls who, she imagined, just did as they were told, and apparently had no ideas of their own. Nora had seen some of the Girl Scout literature and it had not impressed her favorably. It was plain and practical, while she longed for novelty.
“Well, Bob is going to be my scout, at any rate,” chimed in Jerry, quick to sense possible embarrassment. The shade of Nora’s cheeks gave him his cue. “We won’t talk about the regular Scouts until—well, until later,” he finished, in the foolish way he had of making a boy of himself. It was rather foolish, but so jolly. He would wind up everything in just the way Nora never expected, as if his words said themselves.
The visitor was conscious now of something unpleasant stealing in upon her. Would Mrs. Manton oblige her to be different? Couldn’t she dream and play and fancy all the wonderful things she had been storing up for so long? Wasn’t this her dream vacation?