"I know he will too," said Rosanna. "We will show him the play the minute I finish it."
Rosanna went right to work on her play whenever she had any time to spare.
When Sat.u.r.day morning came she went with Doctor MacLaren to see Gwenny, and after she had introduced him to Gwenny"s mother she went and sat in the automobile with Mary and Luella and Myron and Baby Christopher to talk to. But she scarcely knew what she was saying because she was so busy wondering what the doctor would do to poor Gwenny, whose back nearly killed her if anyone so much as touched it.
The doctor stayed a long, long time, and when he came out he stood and talked and talked with Gwenny"s mother. He smiled his kind, grave smile at her very often, but when he turned away and came down the little walk Rosanna fancied that he looked graver than usual.
"Is she _very_ bad?" Rosanna asked when the machine was started.
"Pretty bad, Rosanna dear," said the doctor. "She will need a very serious operation that cannot be done here. She will have to go to a hospital in Cincinnati where there is a wonderful surgeon, Doctor Branshaw, who specializes in troubles of the spine. He will help her if anyone can. She is in a poor condition anyway, and we will have to look after her pretty sharply to get her in as good a shape physically as we can. If she goes, I will take her myself, and will have her given the best care she can have. What a dear, patient, sweet little girl she is."
"Yes, she is!" agreed Rosanna absently. "Well, if she is as sick as you think, I don"t see but what we will just _have_ to earn the money some way or other!" Rosanna was very silent all the way home, and that afternoon she retired to the rose arbor and worked as hard as ever she could on the play. It was really taking shape. Rosanna would not show the paper to Helen or to Elise, who had been told the great secret. She wanted to finish it and surprise them.
By four o"clock she was so tired that she could write no longer. She put her tablet away and started to the telephone to call Helen. As she went down the hall the door bell rang. She could see a familiar figure dancing up and down outside the gla.s.s door. It was Elise, apparently in a great state of excitement. Rosanna ran and opened the door.
Elise danced in. She caught Rosanna around the waist and whirled her round and round.
"Behold I have arrive, I have arrive!" she sang.
"Of course you have arrived!" said Rosanna. "What makes you feel like this about it?"
"Behold!" said Elise again with a sweeping gesture toward the front door.
Mrs. Hargrave"s house-boy, grinning from ear to ear, was coming slowly up the steps bearing a large covered tray. Elise took it from him with the greatest care and set it carefully on a table.
"Approach!" she commanded, and Rosanna, really curious, drew near the mysterious article. Slowly Elise drew off the cover. Under it in all the glory of a golden brown crust, little crinkles all about the edge, sat a pie looking not only good enough to eat, but almost _too_ good.
"Peench off a tiny, tiny bit of ze frill," said Elise, pointing to the scallopy edge. "A very tiny peench, and you will see how good. Now I can be the Girl Scout because all the other things I can so well do."
Rosanna took a careful pinch and found the crust light and very flaky and dry.
"Perfectly delicious, Elise!" she p.r.o.nounced it. "Did you do it all yourself?"
"Of a certainty!" said Elise proudly. "I would not do the which otherwise than as it is so required by the Girl Scouts. And now I am most proud. If you will so kindly take me when you go to the meeting this afternoon, I will offer this to the most adorable little Captain as one more reason the why I should be allowed to join."
"Of course I will take you," said Rosanna. "I was just going to telephone for Helen. If she is ready we will start at once."
"I will go for my hat," said Elise. Then anxiously, "Will the beautiful pie rest here in safety?"
"Yes, indeed; it will be perfectly safe," laughed Rosanna.
Elise was the happiest little girl in all the room at the meeting.
Everyone fell in love with her at once, her manners were so gentle and pretty and she was so full of life. Her curls danced and her eyes, and her red lips smiled, and it seemed as though her feet wanted to dance instead of going in a humdrum walk. The Scout Captain and the committee on pie decided that Elise had made the most delicious of its kind.
At the close of the business part of the meeting, the Captain asked as usual if anyone had any news of interest to offer or any requests or questions to ask. It was all Rosanna could do to keep from telling them all about Gwenny and asking for advice and help, but she decided to keep it all to herself until she had finished the play. Then if it turned out to be any good (and it would be easy to tell that by showing it to Uncle Bob) she would take it to the Captain, and if she approved, Rosanna would bring the whole thing up before the next meeting.
On the way home, Helen said to Rosanna, "How are you getting on with your play, Rosanna? Did you work on it this afternoon as you expected to?"
"Yes, I did, and it seems to be coming along beautifully," said Rosanna.
"I wanted to ask you about it. Don"t you think it would be nice to put in a couple of songs about the Girl Scouts, and perhaps a dance?"
"Simply splendid!" said Helen. "Oh, Rosanna, _do_ hurry! I can scarcely wait for you to finish it. Girl Scout songs and a Girl Scout dance! Do you know the Webster twins can dance beautifully? Their mother used to be a dancer on the stage before she married their father, and she has taught them the prettiest dances. They do them together. They are awfully poor, and I don"t know if they could afford to get pretty dancing dresses to wear, but I should think we could manage somehow."
"Oh, we will," said Rosanna. "I _do_ wish we could have our families help us!"
"Think how surprised they will be if we do this all by ourselves except what Uncle Bob does, and our Scout Captain."
"I don"t see that Uncle Bob can do very much," rejoined Rosanna. "But he is real interested and wants to help."
"We ought to let him do whatever he can," said Helen. "Father often tells mother that he hopes she notices how much she depends on his superior intellect, but she just laughs and says "Nonsense! Helen, don"t listen to that man at all!" But we must depend on our own superior intellects now."
"It won"t take me long to finish the play," said Rosanna. "It is only going to be a one-act play, and if it isn"t long enough to make a whole entertainment, we will have to have some recitations and songs before and after it."
"I do think you might let me see what you have written," coaxed Helen.
"I would rather not," pleaded Rosanna. "Somehow I feel as though I couldn"t finish it if I should show it to anyone before it is done. I will show it to you the very first one, Helen. Here is one thing you can hear."
She took a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket, and while Helen walked very close beside her commenced: "This is a song sung by two sisters named Elsie and Allis. And you will see what it is all about."
"Is there a tune for it too?" said Helen in great wonder.
"No, I can"t make up music," said Rosanna regretfully, "and, anyhow, I think it would come easier to use a tune everybody knows. This goes to the tune of _Reuben, Reuben, I"ve been Thinking_. You know that?"
"Of course," said Helen. "Now let"s hear the poetry."
Rosanna had written:
"Two girls come on the stage, one from the right and one from the left.
One is dressed in beautiful clothes, and the other very neat and clean, but in awfully poor things. She has on a thin shawl. She is Elsie. The rich child is Allis. Allis sees Elsie, and sings:
SONG
Air, _Reuben, Reuben, I"ve Been Thinking_.
_Allis._
Elsie, Elsie, I"ve been thinking What a pleasure it would be, If we had some friends or sisters Just to play with you and me.
All our time we spend in study There is no place nice to go.
After school an hour of practice Oh, I get to hate it so!
_Chorus_
Just an hour or two of practice, One and two and three and four; Add, subtract, or find the tangent; Everything is just a bore!
_Elsie._
Then, dear Allis, when we finish, We can go and take a walk; That, unless the day is rainy, Then we just sit down and talk.