“When that day arrives, Kara, I presume I also shall wish to resign from the Girl Scouts. It is hard to imagine when we both care so deeply. Has anyone or anything offended you? Do you feel I am responsible for your accident? If you realized how many times during the past week I have wondered if this were true. I did ask Miss Mason for permission to allow us to go for the day alone. I told her that I could sketch so much better without any companion save you. She reproaches herself now as much as I do and says as our Troop Captain the mistake was hers. But we promised not to go far from camp and were accustomed to the neighborhood.”
“Don’t be stupid, Tory. I have not forgotten that I first suggested the plan to you. We wanted a day to ourselves.”
Kara had spoken. At least this much had been accomplished, although her tone remained hard and uninterested.
Suddenly her head went down until her face was hidden.
“Don’t you know, Tory, darling? Has no one told you or the other Girl Scouts of our Troop? Dr. McClain promised me that he would tell you. I can’t come back to our camp in Beechwood Forest, I cannot be a Girl Scout. I may never be able to walk again. No, I do not suffer, I never have suffered, that is the dreadful part of it.”
Kara’s hands now clutched the other girl’s shoulders.
“Tory, don’t look at me like that. It may not be true always.”
See “Girl Scouts of the Eagle’s Wing.”