Norma: A Flower Scout

by Lillian Elizabeth Roy

“He never balks when I drive. He seems to know the minute a female gets hold of the reins and then he balks,” explained Ames.

So the scouts started for the sand pit again, but Ben was on his good behavior that day, and no one needed to use the oats bag under his nose to induce him to run. In fact, he was over-eager to reach the farm when the girls were ready to return, and all the sand piled up high on the cart was thrown off before the horse turned in at the side gate of Green Hill.

When Mrs. James took account of stock of sand, she said: “We will save time and labor by leaving Ben to mow the grass on the lawns, and use the baskets and the empty cement bags to bring in the sand in the automobile.” So another load was brought in that fashion, always carefully protecting the inside of the car by covering it well with old sheets and newspapers to keep it clean.

The concrete work of the dam was now finished and left to harden within the side walls of timber. Farmer Ames had made a door opening at the bottom of the wall so the water could be drained out of the lake at any time. Now he devoted all of his time, and thought, to the building of a good stout door for this opening, and had Sam help him build two grooves in which it was to slide. When this particular kind of work was finished, Sam was sent to the store at Four Corners for a heavy chain and rings, such as were generally used to hold a bull in the pasture lot. Ring bolts and screws and nuts had been brought from Ames’ own tool house that day. So that afternoon the sliding door of the dam was completed and hung so that it was readily raised and lowered at will. The heavy chain was secured to a sturdy chestnut post set in concrete at one side of the dam, and Mrs. James was shown just how to use the outfit that worked the door at the bottom of the dam.

While Ames and Sam had been making the door of the dam, the scouts had dug up various shrubs and plants in the woods and had planted them in groups about the lake shore. Mrs. James and Miss Mason had turned their attention to finding and digging up small pines, spruce and cedars, and bringing them to the garden where they were planted in the heavy metal pails and sunken in between the rocks on the islands, and at various places on shore.

Most of the planting and arrangement of rocks and other picturesque details was now completed, and all the following day was to be devoted to the construction of the bridges. For this purpose, the heavy planks that had been used in the molds for the concrete, were to be utilized for the flooring of the bridges. The largest planks for the longest bridge and the other shorter boards for the smaller and shorter bridges.

The rustic rails and decorative brackets for the bridges were to be made of knotty pine or cedar trees found in the woods.

As the next day would be Saturday, the enthusiastic lake gardeners were very anxious to have the work all completed and the water diverted into the lake proper, so it might fill up by Sunday, when Mr. Marvin and their parents were expected to motor to the farm for a short visit.

It was dark on Friday night, before the scouts could be persuaded to stop work and come in for supper. Rachel had called many times, that everything was being ruined by waiting so long for someone to eat supper, but such warning had no effect until night virtually halted all further work.

While talking eagerly, as they all sat about being served by the attentive Rachel, one of the scouts spoke of the time it would need to find proper trees and then cut them down and lop off the branches to leave a rustic effect on the trunks.