In a moment, Mr. Andrews was calling for Marjorie, and holding up the beautiful silver cup. The girl, out of breath, but smiling happily, advanced to accept the award with a bow of acknowledgement. The meet was over.
Turning around to look for Lily, Marjorie almost bumped into the Trowbridge girls, waiting anxiously to be the first to congratulate her.
“And mother and father want you to spend the second week in August with us,” said Jeanne, as she took Marjorie’s arm; “so that you can take part in the big carnival. Can you?”
“I’d love to!” cried Marjorie, catching sight of Ruth’s envious face behind her. Surely the girl was being punished now, in the bitterest way possible: to see Marjorie surrounded by the honor and social distinction that she coveted for herself!
The Trowbridge girls and Griffith Hunter were the only outsiders at the banquet that night. But it was a festive occasion; the table was laden with flowers, and the ten-course dinner was served noiselessly and beautifully. On one side of Marjorie sat John Hadley; on the other her new friend Griffith Hunter; and she could not tell which was the more entertaining.
Suddenly, at the end of the salad course, a piano in the living room struck up a wedding march. The guests all stopped eating to behold little Dorothy Trowbridge, a tiny tot of about four years of age, appear, dressed in a filmy costume, and bearing a Cupid’s dart in her hand. She went towards a side table, upon which Mr. Andrews lifted her, and in her clear childish voice, she said,
“I am here to tell you that Mr. Remington and Miss Phillips are going to be married!”
Amid the exclamations of the whole party, the blushing captain held up her left hand to display a beautiful diamond ring; while Mr. Remington bowed in acknowledgement of the congratulations that poured in from all sides.
“But we’ll lose you at Miss Allen’s!” wailed Marjorie, in distress.
“But not as Scout Captain,” replied Miss Phillips. “For I promise to take Pansy troop to the official scout camp next summer, and I mean to do as I said!”
“Thank goodness for that!” breathed Lily, in relief.
The next volume of this series will be “The Girl Scouts’ Rivals.”
If you have enjoyed reading about the adventures of the new friends you have made in this book and would like to read more clean, wholesome stories of their entertaining experiences, turn to the book jacket--on the inside of it, a comprehensive list of Burt’s fine series of carefully selected books for young people has been placed for your convenience.