CHAPTER IV
THE LIBERTY GARDEN
Nathalie stared in amazement, and then, recovering her usual poise, shecried, "Oh, Mrs. Morrow, please come right in, for I want you to meet myLiberty Girls." As the girl spoke she advanced towards her unexpectedguest, who was coming slowly forward, as if not assured of her welcome.But the cordiality expressed in the tones of Nathalie's voice and thefact that the girls had all risen on their feet,--her own girls atattention in the Pioneer salute,--with their faces aglow with pleasure,quickly assured her that her welcome was a hearty one.
With a sudden movement she turned to Nathalie and asked, "May I have thefloor a moment, Miss President?" As the girl assented, although somewhatmystified, Mrs. Morrow took her place behind the small table, and with aquick nod of greeting to the faces upturned to hers, cried: "Girls, I amgreatly pleased to see you here to-day, and to know that our PioneerBlue Robin's little plan to make you all work with a keener zest forliberty, has succeeded so well. I also want to assure you of my heartycooperation, and my wish that all of you, those who are Pioneers, andthose who belong to other clubs, will be inspired to better work in yourown organizations by the fact that you have banded together to standunitedly as Daughters of Liberty, in order to show that you are all_loyal Americans_. In proof of my good wishes I am going to present theclub with a bell. It is needless to say that it is not _the_ LibertyBell, but a facsimile in miniature.
"Wait, I have not finished," laughingly protested the lady as she heldup her hand,--for some of the girls had started to clap. "I want you toknow before your president rings it,--it is to be rung to call youtogether in the sacred cause of liberty,--that way up in the top hasbeen inserted a very tiny chip from the real Liberty Bell,--the bellthat was rung over a hundred years ago to announce that the thirteencolonies had become the United States of America. I hope, girls, thatwhen you hear this bell ring you will feel the same inspiration to doyour best as animated the patriots in the war of 1776."
As Mrs. Morrow paused, the long-delayed clapping burst forth with suchvigor that she and Nathalie--she had drawn the girl to her and waspressing the bell into her hand--had to smile and bow again and again.But the clapping only halted for a space, for when Nathalie saw thatquietness reigned, she rang the liberty bell so loudly and determinedly,while a mischievous twinkle glowed in her eyes, that it broke forthagain.
As soon as the demonstration was over and the bell-ringing had subsided,Mrs. Morrow's voice was heard again: "Now, Liberty Girls, I am going toask your president to take a vote to get your opinion as to _who youthink_ told the best story about great women in your liberty chain.
"Perhaps you do not know," the gray-blue eyes deepened, "but I was inthe dining-room, although not purposely an eavesdropper, and had thepleasure of hearing the stories told. I have formed an opinion as to thebest story-teller, but would like to know if your opinion coincides withmine."
But alas, there were so many different opinions as to the best story,and as to who was the best narrator, that to even matters Mrs. Morrowhad to take her big bouquet of flowers and divide it into three or fournosegays. But a smile of satisfaction gleamed in the eyes of many whenMarie, the little Jewess, received a bouquet and a few words ofcommendation from the giver. The little captain's delight was sogenuine, and her eyes beamed so joyously, that every one rejoiced withher.
After the flowers were distributed, and the girls had sung a fewpatriotic songs, they filed out into the sunshine, happily aglow withthe joy of the meeting and the inspiration it had brought to them.
Several weeks later we find Nathalie coming slowly down the garden-walkwith its old-time hedge, from the big gray house. The tall pines--nowgood old friends--that bordered the path bowed their tops in a cheerygood-morning, as she walked beneath their shade.
She had just given her usual morning lesson of two hours to her youngfriend, for Nathalie, on her return from Camp Laff-a-Lot last summer,had found that her studies with Nita were to be continued. Yes, and shehad banked every penny that she could spare from her weekly salary often dollars. It had seemed such a big sum at first, but alas, now thather mother's income had slowly dwindled, and she had been compelled touse it for her own personal needs, and to lay part of it aside everyweek to repay Mrs. Van Vorst the loan for Dick's operation, it seemed amere pittance.
But to-day she felt unusually joyful, for the last penny of thathaunting debt had been paid, and she was now free to call her money herown. If there had been many disappointments in life--the going tocollege was still a luring hope--and self-denials, added to theunpleasantness of doing housework since their coming to Westport, therehad been several compensations that had cast their rosy shadows acrossthe darkness.
One was the joy and the profit she had gained from being a Pioneer, andthe other was the great pleasure that had come to her in the knowledgethat she had a purpose in life. Yes, she had told Helen many times, "Ithink it is one of the delights of life to be legitimately busy, and toknow that you are really doing something that is a help to yourself orsome one else." And now, added to these compensating joys had come thethrills and joys from the new organization, the Liberty Girls, for thatlittle patriotic club now numbered almost a hundred. And it had thrivedso well, and Nathalie had gained so many honors from being its founder,that sometimes she feared that she, too, would become a bird of the air,like Dick, only in a different way, from sheer conceit.
But if she had been overmuch praised, and had found it a pleasantdiversion to plan and dream over the club's future successes, she hadalso found hard work and great discouragement. Discouragement, too, oversuch small things, when the girl came to face them in the coolness ofafter-thought, that she had felt like throwing the whole thing up, orelse just letting things drift, and taking what pleasure she could,without so much conscientious worry over doing _her best_.
But through all the storm and stress Helen had buoyed her with thefrequent, sensible remark, that if it had taken the world thousands ofyears to comprehend the true meaning of democracy and liberty, she mustexpect her girls would be slow in realizing many things. But it wastiresome to hold the reins of government, and yet sometimes be unable tostop their silly chatter, or useless argument over mere trifles, all thewhile holding back the legitimate work by their dallying.
Yes, and it had been an awful strain to manage that Liberty Garden. Ofcourse the Pioneers were all good workers, and she had given each onesome one thing to study over, but still she had had to know about thesethings herself, so as to be sure they would do the right thing.
But it was something worth while, she reflected sagely, to know thatthere are three kinds of soil, how to test it with litmus paper to seeif it was sour or not, and, if it was, how to neutralize it, or sweetenits acidity. Then she had had to know what kind of chemicals acted asfood to the soil, so as to know what each plant or vegetable required toenrich it and to sustain life. She had also learned how to draw moisturefrom the land and how to fertilize it.
By placing seeds on wet blotting-paper in saucers she had demonstratedhow long it would take them to germinate, so as to be able to to writeher germinating-table for the girls. How old seeds should be beforeplanting, how deep to plant each kind, the method of planting, and howmany seeds to plant, and the distance apart, had all seemed tiresome andtrivial things to many, but it was necessary knowledge to a would-befarmer.
Ah, she had reached the bank. She was going to get that ten dollarsdeposited before it melted away. Suddenly her eyes became pools ofbrightness, and the dimples twinkled in the red glow of her cheeks, forthere, right in front of her, stood Mrs. Morrow, with a kiddie boy, asthe girl called the twins, on each side of her. There was such genuinepleasure in the lady's smiling blue eyes, that Nathalie impulsivelycried, "Oh, Mrs. Morrow, this is just lovely! I'm so glad to see you!When did you get back?" for her good friend had been away for severalweeks.
"Last night, Nathalie, and I am so pleased to meet you," was the cordialgreet
ing, "for I have heard so many reports about the Liberty Girls'club that I am anxious to hear all about it from you."
"Oh, it is just the dandiest thing, Mrs. Morrow," cried the girljubilantly. And then, lured by the kindly interest in her friend's eyes,her tongue unloosened, and she was soon busy telling about the club'smany experiences, and the good that had come from the industry of itsmembers.
"And Helen is a dear," Nathalie rattled on, "for she has taught hergirls the most wonderful things, and now they have all enrolled as RedCross members. She had been reading to them from Florence Nightingale's'Notes on Nursing,' and now she has taken up other works on the samesubject. Lillie, too, reads to the girls at the club meetings aboutgreat women, while I inspect the work. The Garment and Comfort-Kitsquads meet together, and Jessie Ford not only tells them about theFrench villages and the towns that have been destroyed by the Germans,but reads to them from the 'Prince Albert Book.'
"We are to have our Liberty Pageant to-morrow, and all the people wholive on the line of parade have been perfectly lovely, for they havesold tickets for the seats on their verandas, and are to give the moneyto us for the Liberty Fund, so we can buy Liberty bonds. And the dayafter," continued Nathalie, "we are to have a liberty sale on Mrs. VanVorst's grounds, the Pioneers' meeting-place, you know. Indeed, we arealmost over the tops of our heads in work, and we have enough plans tolast the rest of the summer. Mother declares I am the busiest girl sheknows."
"And the Liberty Garden, has that turned out well? I understand it isthe work of my girls, the Pioneers."
"Indeed, yes," returned her companion: "it has been said to be one ofthe beauty spots of Westport. We have bordered it with nasturtiums,poppies, marigold, sweet peas, and all sorts of old-time posies. But _wehad_ a time getting the ground, for this year every one was hystericallywild to cultivate every inch of ground for a war-garden, and nobodywanted to loan any. Finally, however, Edith and Lillie tried theirpowers of persuasion on old Deacon Sawyer,--you know he's one of thepillars of the old Presbyterian church, and he let us have an old lot ofhis on Summer Street, about a hundred feet or so square.
"And how we have worked over it, for of course it had to be plowed.Peter, Mrs. Van Vorst's gardener,--he's the kindest-hearted thingalive,--offered to plow it for us, but we declined with a vote ofthanks, for we felt _that_ wouldn't be our work. So Edith scoured thetown until finally she borrowed an old nag from the livery-stableman,--he was just ready to crumble to pieces,--and Nita got a plow fromPeter, and we plowed it ourselves.
"But the time we had with that old steed," Nathalie's eyes gleamedhumorously, "for just as he would be going nicely across the field, hewould be inspired to take the 'rest-cure' and stand stock-still, and noamount of pulling--we all got behind him and pushed--or coaxing wouldinduce him to budge a hair. O dear, we worked over him until we thoughtwe should expire with the heat, our faces all red and perspiring.
"Then Edith took to pulling his tail; she said she had read that wouldmake a balky horse go. Oh, it was funny to see her!" Nathalie laughedoutright. "But, dear me, it only made him lift one leg, very slowly, andthen the other, and then settle down in the same old rut, as still asthe wooden horse of Troy.
"You know Edith is a stick-at-the-job sort of person," commentedNathalie confidentially, "and what do you think? She actually got afirecracker and set it off under that beast. But even that fierycommotion only caused him to wink one lash and then resume his restfulpose. But finally the spirit moved him, and so suddenly," laughed thegirl, "that Edith went sprawling on the ground, and Jessie tumbled in amost humble attitude,--on her knees,--minus the reins, while our noblesteed went careering at a loping gallop across the field, while we, likea lot of mutes, stared at him in stupid wonder.
"Well, after we got the land all plowed," resumed Nathalie, "we hadirrigated it, by making a little ditch to let the water run down fromthe hilly slope at one end, we planted our vegetables in rows. Butalas," the girl gave a sigh, "when the plants began to come up we foundthat the whole field was filled with coarse rye-grass which had roots,and which had simply been cultivated, one might say, by the plow.
"We did not know what to do at first, until we remembered our Pioneermotto, 'I Can,' and then we set to work with a will, and spaded everyinch of that lot; and it meant hard labor, too, for the grass was likegristle. When the little plants began to come up and a girl would pull ablade to see how it was doing, part of the plant would come up with theroots. When we planted the different kinds of beans, using the stringand stakes, and pressing down the ground hard with our feet, on _five_different occasions a violent rain came up during the night, and thenext morning we found all the seeds uncovered and washed down intolittle piles at the end of the garden, and everything had to be doneover again.
"After we had planted rows and rows of hills of corn and rejoiced to seecoming forth little green plumes three inches high, we went to thegarden in our uniforms one day, laden with our garden-tools, ready forwork. But alas! we found that the crows had pulled out the corn fromalmost every hill; the little black imps had bitten off the kernels andgulped them down, and the stalks lay withering on the ground.
"Oh, I shall never forget the expression on Edith's face that day," saidNathalie thoughtfully, "when she saw the havoc wrought by those crows;it was such utter despair. I thought she was going to cry, but shedidn't--just hurried to the little shed where we keep our tools andthings. When she reappeared her face was a sunbeam all right, as sheexclaimed, 'Well, girls, let's get the better of those crows, and plantall over again.'
"Really, Mrs. Morrow, Edith inspired me to such respect for herindomitable courage and pluck," went on the girl candidly, "that I shallalways keep a very warm place in my heart for her, notwithstanding thatshe sometimes gets on my nerves. Things went on swimmingly then untilthat awful drought came. We had no way of watering the garden except bywatering-pots, and then we couldn't do our weeding, or cultivating,until late in the afternoon on account of the hot sun. But we did ourbest, and we have been repaid," smiled Nathalie, "although we did notproduce as much as I had hoped. Still--well, you'll see at the pageantto-morrow." Nathalie, suddenly realizing that she had kept Mrs. Morrowstanding for some time, while she rattled on about that garden, now badeher a hasty good-morning and hurried into the bank.
The young president of the Liberty Girls' club passed a somewhattroubled night, oppressed with the anxiety of her onerousresponsibility, knowing that the following day would be a well-filledone. As the proposer and planner of the pageant there were numerousdetails to arrange at the very last moment, and she was so afraid thatshe would oversleep, that she awakened several times with a nervousstart, only to find everything enveloped in darkness.
Arousing finally, to see the East streaked with red, and the golden rimof the sun gleaming above a silver line of clouds, she sprang out of bedwith a devout little prayer of thankfulness that the day at least was tobe a sunshiny one. An early breakfast, a hurried doing of her customaryduties, and then she and Grace--in the latter's car--were off to inspectthe floats, eighteen of them, all ready in barns, or garages, awaitingher word that they were properly equipped for the liberty parade, whichwas to set forth on its journey through the town at two in theafternoon.
And then, with many misgivings, fearing that the whole thing might provea fizzle,--for of course, many things had been wrong,--she hurried homefor luncheon. Then came a hurried dressing, a whirl in an automobile,and she was dazedly taking her seat, a post of honor, on the front rowof the grand-stand, erected by the Boy Scouts and Peter, in front ofMrs. Van Vorst's high garden-walls.
She barely had time to realize that the notables of the village wereseated to the right and left of her, and to exchange a few greetingswith one or two old-time friends, when she heard the ringing of a bell,the bell in the tower of the old Presbyterian church. This was thesignal that the Liberty Pageant, way up at the other end of the town,was to issue from its shelter of green trees in front of the brickschoolhouse, and set forth on its march down thro
ugh Main Street, themost important thoroughfare of the sleepy little town, with its wide,asphalted road shaded by noble old elms.