Soon the other girls were weeding, too, and vied with one another in thinking of some wonderful camp sports or plan they could talk about. Soon, to Ruth’s great amazement, each girl had rooted out the required number of dandelions for the day.
“Now then, didn’t I tell you we could work better if we thought of pleasant things and plans?” exulted Betty.
“We certainly did our stint this afternoon without the usual complaints and delays,” admitted Joan. “Let’s root some more.”
The rest of the afternoon passed quickly, and by the time the girls carried their baskets of weeds to Mrs. Vernon to be paid for, they found they had earned twice as much money, for they had each rooted out 200 plants instead of their usual 100.
As they sat on the cool verandah enjoying ice-cream and cakes, they told their hostess how it was they had weeded so many dandelions. Then they told her about their discouragement when they had heard how expensive a trip it would be to go to camp in the Adirondacks. But in reply to all their talking, Mrs. Vernon smiled and nodded her head.
They began to say “good-by” for the day, when Mrs. Vernon said: “I’ll have pleasant news for you to-morrow.”
“Oh, can’t we be told just a word about it now?” cried Ruth.
“Is it about a camp in the mountains?” added Joan.
But Mrs. Vernon shook her head in mild reproof of their curiosity, and refused to be beguiled into sharing her secret.
The Dandelion Girls, as they now styled themselves, lost no time after school was dismissed, the next afternoon, in running to the Vernon’s house. They found Mrs. Vernon on the side porch waiting for them.