hat you're supposed to do?"

"I'm afraid not. Good-night!"

"Good-night!"

CHAPTER IX

A STRANGE MEETING

Breakfast on the farm was just such another meal as supper had been.
Again Bessie wondered at the profusion of good things that, at the
Hoovers, had always been kept for sale instead of being used on the
table. There was rich, thick cream, for instance, fresh fruit and all
sorts of good things, so that anyone whose whole acquaintance with
country fare was confined to what the Mercer farm provided might well
have believed all the tales of the good food of the farm. Bessie knew,
of course, without ever having thought much about it, that on many
American farms, despite the ease with which fresh fruits and vegetables
are to be had, a great deal of canned stuff is used.

"Bessie," said Eleanor, after breakfast, "this is rather different from
the Hoovers, isn't it?"

"It certainly is," agreed Bessie.

"Well, of course it isn't possible right now, Bessie, but I've been
thinking that some time, when Maw Hoover has gotten over her dislike for
you, you may be able to teach her and some of the other farm women in
Hedgeville how much more pleasant their lives could be."

Bessie looked surprised.

"Why, I don't believe I'll ever dare go back there," she said. "I
believe Maw Hoover would be willing to put me in prison if she could for
setting that barn on fire. I'm sure she thinks I did it. She wouldn't
believe it was Jake, with his silly trick of trying to frighten me with
those burning sticks."

"She'll find out the truth some time, Bessie, never fear. And think
about what I said. One of the great things this Camp Fire movement is
trying to do is to make women's lives healthier and happier all over the
country. And I don't believe that we've thought half enough of the women
on the farms so far. You've made me realize that."

"But there are lots and lots of Camp Fires in country places, aren't
there, Miss Eleanor? I read about ever so many of them."

"Yes, but not in the sort of country places I mean. There are Camp
Fires, and plenty of them, in the towns in the country, and even in the
bigger villages. But the places I'm thinking of are those like
Hedgeville, where all the village there is is just a post office and two
or three stores, where the people come in from the farms for miles
around to get their mail and buy a few things. You know how much good a
Camp Fire would do in Hedgeville, but it would b