f
the girl's remarks. Was Marjorie afraid that she, Mrs. Johnson, would
not treat her kindly?

"But what----?" she began.

"What I am trying to tell you about," laughed Marjorie, interrupting
her, "is that, provided you are willing, we want to have a little
surprise party here for her when she arrives. We thought we'd order cake
and ice-cream, and have everybody hide somewhere in the house. Then,
when Miss Phillips and Frances and Frieda come in, you suggest that she
go to her room, and take off her things, and come down again.

"While she's upstairs, we'll come out of our hiding-places and play the
piano, and sing her a welcome song. Ethel Todd, one of the Scouts, has
written a dandy--a parody on 'Jingle Bells'!"

Mrs. Johnson beamed happily.

"Indeed, I do heartily approve of your plan, my dear," she said. "Now
won't you and your friend"--she rose from her seat--"come up to see her
room? I wish I could have put her on the second floor, but you know my
father and mother live with me, and they demand the first
consideration."

Mrs. Johnson led the way up two flights of stairs and into a little room
with a gabled roof. The room itself, the curtains, the rag rug, the bed,
and the old fashioned bureau, were very neat and clean, but the whole
effect of the furnishing was too bare to allow the room to be regarded
as really attractive. Marjorie wondered what it would seem like to
Frieda, unused as she was to luxury of any sort.

"It's awfully nice," she said with sincerity. "I'm sure Frieda will like
it."

"I hope she does!" sighed Mrs. Johnson; "but you never can tell about
young people these days."

When Saturday finally came, there was great excitement among the members
of the Girl Scout troop. They felt like people who are about to adopt a
child, so interested were they in the girl's welfare. Ruth alone was
indifferent. She refused to believe that any good would come of the
whole project. Some of the Scouts thought she harbored resentment
against Frieda for disclosing her deceit in borrowing the baby at camp.
Ethel Todd, always suspicious of Ruth, thought that she naturally was
hostile toward any scheme in which Marjorie was deeply interested.

But Ruth's opposition in reality was caused by neither of these things;
for once her reasons were impersonal. She really doubted Frieda's
ability to appreciate what was being done for her, and though she could
not exactly explain why, she felt positive that the girl wo