“I’m sure I have no objection to these offers of help,” retorted Mrs. James.
“Well, then, we’ll mention the contract to Patrol One, as soon as we arrive in camp,” was Belle’s remark. And she did it, too, the moment welcomes were over. The scouts of Patrol One were very glad to accept the contract on shares, and they agreed to start seeking for healthy young trees and bushes without delay.
Then Norma exclaimed: “And what do you think, girls? I told Mrs. Tompkins about the geraniums I wanted to plant all along the fence-bed, and she said that geraniums meant ‘envy.’ Did you ever know that every flower means something?”
The scouts admitted that they did not know it, but they also wanted to know all about the various meanings of well-known flowers. Mrs. James interrupted, however, with the question: “There are many different kinds of geranium, Mrs. Tompkins, so the meaning ‘envy’ cannot apply to them all.”
“No, because we do not classify the flowers correctly. We call several flowers ‘geraniums’ which have no right to the name. In the Far East the geranium is the size of a small tree, but the plants we call by the same name are nothing like that. Then, too, the spiced flower, and the rose-geranium are not really proper names for the plants.
“The tree that really is a geranium in the Far East stood for envy until Mahomet washed his shirt one day and hung it on the limb of the geranium tree to dry. In a marvelously short time the garment was dry, so Mahomet took it from the bush but where the shirt had hung now blossomed forth a brilliant crimson crown of flowers. And from that day, the tree was no longer green with envy of its flowering neighbors, but proud in its own beauty.”
The two Patrols applauded this unexpected story and Miss Mason added: “I see our Welcome Entertainer lost no time in beginning her work. This deserves a badge of honor from us, I say.”
“We agree, but where is the badge?” asked Janet.
“We’ll make one and invite Mrs. Tompkins to be our guest, on the day we present it to her,” returned Miss Mason, smilingly. So the scouts surmised she had a nice little plan in mind with which to thank Mrs. Tompkins.
“I vote that we give Mrs. Tompkins the seat of honor and lose no time in hearing all the valuable things she can tell us,” suggested Mrs. James, waving her girls to the grass to seat themselves.