“Dear me! Do you suppose Mr. Ames will work in the rain?” asked Norma impatiently when she saw the steady downpour.
“He worked in the water up to his knees all day yesterday so I shouldn’t think the rain would frighten him away,” said Janet.
“But he had on hip boots that kept his feet dry. If he works in the rain he will be drenched in no time,” explained Belle.
“Besides, this rain will fill up the hollow so that the marsh will be very unpleasant to dig in,” added Mrs. James.
“I don’t see why the horrid old rain couldn’t stay away for a few days, until we got the lake finished,” grumbled Norma.
“The farmers will be so glad for this rain. We haven’t had any in so long they feared their crops would suffer from the drought,” ventured Mrs. James mildly.
“Oou-ch! Oo-oh!” came from Natalie, at this moment, and every one turned to ask what was the matter.
“Oooh—a stitch in my back that cramped me all up!” sighed the girl, bending over in order to crawl to the couch by the window.
That started a comparison of aches and cramps and pains that lasted until Rachel served the nice hot breakfast. She always had some remark to make on the progress of work at the farm, and now she said: “I declare! You scouts ain’t done any more experimentin’ on dat new churn we got, and I ain’t got no moh time to make your butter dan I’se got to fly! Seems to me you-all can work dat churn on a day like dis.”
“Rachel is right, girls! This is the sort of weather to make scouts look after house work. Now some of you can play with the churn while I experiment with a cake recipe I got from a farmer’s wife last week,” said Belle.