So the Ethels and Helen, and Roger, too, for he was a capital cook and was in great demand whenever the boys went on camping trips, all contributed from their allowances to buy a simple equipment for this tiny kitchen which they called their own. Mrs. Morton paid for the stove, but the saucepans and baking tins, the flour and sugar and eggs, the flavoring extracts and the seasonings were all supplied by the children, and it was understood that when a cooking fit seized them they must think out beforehand what they were going to want and provide themselves with it and not call on the cook or Mary to help them out of an emergency caused by their own thoughtlessness. Mrs. Morton was sure that her reputation as a sensible mother who did not let the children over-run the kitchen at times when they were decidedly in the way was one of the chief reasons why her servants stayed with her so long.
So now Ethel Brown said to Ethel Blue, "Have we got all the materials we need for Vinegar Candy?" and Ethel Blue seized the cook book and read the receipt.
"Mix together three cupfuls of sugar, half a cupful of vinegar, half a cupful of water. When it comes to a boil stir in one teaspoonful of soda."
"We"ve got sugar and soda and water," announced Ethel Brown after investigating the shelves of the tiny storeroom, "but there isn"t any vinegar. I do hate to go out in this rain," for the dark sky was making good its threat.
"I"ll get it for you. Give me your jug," said Roger, swinging into his raincoat. "I"ll be back in half a jiff," and he dashed off into the downpour, shaking his head like a Newfoundland dog, and spattering the drops as he ran.
He was back before the Ethels had their pans b.u.t.tered and the water and sugar measured, so briskly had he galloped. It was only a few minutes more before the candy stiffened when a little was dropped into a cup of cold water.
"Now we"ll pour half of it into one of the pans," directed Ethel Brown, "and then we"ll get Roger to beat the other half so it will be creamy."
Roger was entirely willing to lend his muscles to so good a cause and soon had the ma.s.s grained and white.
"Good work; one boiling for two batches!" he declared. "That pleases my notions of scientific management."
When the door-bell rang for the first arrivals the whole thing was almost cold, and Mary, who was always willing to help in an emergency, hastened the chilling process by popping the tins into the ice box.
"They"re not warm enough any longer to melt the ice," she decided, "so I"ll just hurry "em up a bit."
After all the discussion about the city dwellers" dislike of going into the suburbs it was the Watkinses who came first.
"We"re ahead of the hour," apologized Della. "We couldn"t time ourselves exactly for so long a distance."
"The Hanc.o.c.ks will come just on the dot, I"ve no doubt," laughed Tom.
"Old James is just that accurate person!"
As the clock"s hand was on the appointed minute a whir at the bell announced Margaret and James, both dripping from their run from the corner.
"Mrs. Morton"s compliments and she thought they had better drink this so they won"t get cold."
"Our compliments and thanks to Mrs. Morton," returned Tom, his hand dramatically placed over a portion of his person which is said to be the gateway to a boy"s heart.
When the cups had been emptied and the wafers consumed and the Ethels had taken away the tray with the remains of the feast and had brought back the two kinds of candy, carefully cut into squares and heaped in two of the pretty j.a.panese bowls which made a part of their private kitchen equipment, they all settled down in big chairs and on couches except Roger, who sat near the fire to stir it, and Helen, who established herself at one end of the table where she could see them all conveniently.
CHAPTER III
THE CHRISTMAS SHIP
"THE meeting will come to order," commanded Helen, her face bubbling with the conflict between her dignity and her desire to laugh at her dignity.
"We haven"t any secretary, so there can"t be any minutes of the last meeting."
Helen glanced sidewise at James, for she was talking about something she never had had occasion to mention in all her life before and she wondered if he were being properly impressed with the ease with which she spoke of the non-existent minutes.
James responded to her look with an expression of surprise so comical that Helen almost burst into laughter most unsuitable for the presiding officer of so distinguished a gathering.
"Oughtn"t we to have a secretary?" asked Tom. "If we"re going to have a really shipshape club this winter it seems to me we ought to have some record of what we do."
"And there may be letters to write," urged Roger, "and who"d do them?"
"Not old Roger, I"ll bet!" cried James in humorous scorn.
"I don"t notice that anybody is addressing the chair," remarked Helen sternly, and James flushed, for he had been the president"s instructor in parliamentary law at the meeting when the Club was organized, and he did not relish being caught in a mistake.
"Excuse me, Madam President," he apologized.
"I don"t see any especial need for a secretary, Miss President," said Margaret, "but can"t we tell better when we"re a little farther along and know what we"re going to do?"
"Perhaps so," agreed Helen. "There isn"t any treasurer"s report for the same reason that there isn"t any secretary"s," she continued.
"Just to cut off another discussion I"d like to repeat my remark," said Margaret.
"If we become multi-millionaires later on we can appoint a treasurer then," said Della, her round face unusually grave.
"Instead of a secretary"s report it seems to me it would be interesting to remember what the Club did last summer to live up to its name,"
suggested Tom. "You know Della and I weren"t elected until after you"d been going some time, and I"m not sure that I know everything that happened."
The Mortons and Dorothy and the Hanc.o.c.ks looked around at each other rather vaguely, and no one seemed in a hurry to begin.
"It looks to me as if a secretary is almost a necessity," grinned Tom, "if n.o.body remembers anything you did!"
"There were lots of little things that don"t seem to count when you look back on them," began Ethel Blue.
"We did some things as a Club," said Roger, "and we can tell Watkins about those without embarra.s.sing anybody."
"Our first effort was on Old First Night," said Margaret thoughtfully.
"Don"t you remember we went outside the gate and picked flowers and decorated the stage?"
"In the evening James and Roger pa.s.sed the baskets to collect the offering in the Amphitheatre," Ethel Blue said. "And then we all did things that helped along in the Pageant and on Recognition Day."
"I don"t think those really counted for much as service," said Helen, "because they were all of them mighty good fun."
"I think we ought to do whatever will help somebody, whether we like it or not," declared Ethel Blue, "but I don"t see why we shouldn"t hunt up pleasant things to do."
"What are we going to do, anyway?" asked Della. "Has anybody any ideas?
Oh, please excuse me, Helen--Miss President--perhaps it wasn"t time to ask that question."
"I was just about to ask for suggestions," said Helen with dignity. "Has any one come across anything that we can do here in Rosemont or in Glen Point or in New York? Anything that will be an appropriate beginning for the United Service Club? We want to do something that would be suitable for the children of our father and uncle who are serving in the Army and Navy trying to keep peace in Mexico, and of a man like Doctor Hanc.o.c.k, who is serving his fellowmen in the slums every day, and of a clergyman who is helping people to do right all the time."
Helen flushed over this long speech.
"Rosemont, Glen Point, and New York--a wide field," said Tom dryly. "It seems as if we might find something without much trouble."