Mr. Marvin could not take his eyes from Natalie, she was so different from the girl he had always known in the city. As she told of the adventures she and the girls had with their “professions” and the funny experiences with the old garden hose, her face was so alive with healthy interest and her eyes sparkled with such fun, that everyone saw the benefit the country life had been to her.
Later, as they all started for Solomon’s Seal Camp, Mr. Marvin confided to Mrs. James: “She is so changed that I do not dread her return to the city again. She hasn’t spoken one morbid word, nor seemed pessimistic once, since I’ve been here.”
“She isn’t, either,” admitted Mrs. James. “Ever since she started work on that garden she has mentioned nothing that has happened in the past to cause her sorrow. I sometimes wonder if she has forgotten it all.”
“Let’s hope so. These mournful remembrances never do anyone the slightest good. Don’t revive them in her memory.”
CHAPTER XIV—VISITORS AND WELCOME ORDERS
That afternoon at the Scout Camp taught the city visitors many things about the outdoor life that now interested their girls. Then when it was time for Mr. Marvin to drive home, he suddenly remembered something most important.
“How could it have slipped my mind?” said he, as he took several folded papers from his breast pocket.
He adjusted his glasses and read: “Miss Norma Evaston, Floriculturist, Green Hill, Greenville, New York.”
This long paper was handed to Norma who opened it with much curiosity. She glanced at it and then exclaimed in surprise,
“Oh, splendid! What does it mean?”