“What a pity we don’t know of a rustic furniture maker where we might be able to buy our material ready trimmed,” said Norma, thoughtfully.
At this suggestion, Mrs. James sprang up and ran over to her desk. She hastily scanned the pages of a Business Directory for White Plains, and then laughed joyfully. “I’ve found it!”
The girls waited eagerly for her to explain. “I’ve found the name and address of a man who builds rustic lawn furniture to order. He is located at North White Plains, and his shop is back of his home, so that I can telephone him now and find out if he can supply us with any such material as we want for our bridges. If he can, Frances can drive me over there early in the morning and we can carry back as much as will go in the car.”
“I’ll see to it that all we may have need of will go in the car, all right!” declared Frances, to the satisfaction of her audience.
Mrs. James soon had the man on the wire and told him what was needed at once, for the bridges. He replied that he had had a new supply of rustic wood delivered the day before, and he was sure that everything she desired in the way of posts for the hand-rails, large brackets to fasten to the supporting posts underneath the foot-bridge, and also all kinds of trim for the edges and ends of the bridge, could be found in the carload which came from the pine forests in Middle New York State.
This was such encouraging news that the scouts could not restrain themselves, and such a babel followed that Rachel ran from the room with both hands placed over her ears. When she reached the kitchen where Sam sat eating his supper, she said: “My sakes! Them scouts is enough to make me deef!”
CHAPTER XI
THE JOY OF GOOD CONSTRUCTION.
Mrs. James and Frances drove away from Green Hill early on Saturday morning and reached the manufacturer of rustic garden furniture before eight o’clock. The materials needed were quickly selected and purchased, and the man had his men carry it to a small auto truck and load it. He had expected to deliver it at the farm without delay, so Mrs. James said nothing about taking any with her in the touring car.
The man supplied the right kind of nails to be used on the wood, because he said: “You will find it difficult to drive ordinary nails through the resinous wood. But this kind of nail is made on purpose for such work.”
It took all day with every one working breathlessly, to complete the bridges and other work that remained to be done. But once the picturesque bridges were finished, and a few tubs of hydrangeas placed at each end of the bridges, they added so much to the beauty of the picture that no one begrudged the work they had caused.