te china and glass.

"All for the Camp Fire Girls," Laura said, "and it means fudge, and
popcorn, and toasted marshmallows and bacon-bats and anything else you
like. You can come here yourselves every Wednesday evening, and if you
wish, you can bring a friend with you to share your good times."

"Boy or girl friend?" Lena Barton's shrewd eyes twinkled as she asked
the question, with a saucy tilt to her little freckled nose.

"Either," returned Laura instantly, though until that moment she had
thought only of girls.

"Gee, but you're some Guardian, Miss Laura!" Lena replied.

As the girls reluctantly tore themselves away from the fascinating
kitchen, two maids entered with trays of sandwiches and nutcakes, olives
and candy.

"It is the first time I have had the pleasure of having you all here in
my own home," Miss Laura said, "so we must break bread together."

"Gee! This beats the picture shows," Lena Barton declared. "Three cheers
for our Guardian--give 'em with claps!" and both cheers and clapping
were given in generous measure.

When finally there was a movement to depart, Laura gathered the girls
once more about her before the fire. "I hope," she began, "you have all
enjoyed this evening as much as I have----"

"We have! We _have_!" half a dozen voices broke in, and Lena Barton
shrilled enthusiastically, "_More_!"

Laura smiled at them; then she glanced up at the words above the
mantelpiece. "The _joy of service_," she said. "That, to me, is the
heart--the very essence--of the Camp Fire idea. And while I am planning
good times and many of them for ourselves in these coming months, I wish
that together we might do some of this loving service for some one
beside ourselves. Think it over--think hard--and at our next Council
meeting, if you are willing, we will consider what we can do, and for
whom."

"You mean mish'nary work?" questioned Eva Bicknell doubtfully.

"No--at least not what you probably mean by missionary work," Laura
answered.

"Christmas trees for alley folks, and that sort of thing?" ventured
another.

"I mean, something for somebody else," Laura explained. "It may be an
old man or woman, a child or--or anything," she ended hastily,
intercepting an exchange of glances between Lena and Eva. "I just want
you to think over it and have an idea to suggest at our next meeting."

"Huh! Thought the'd be nickels wanted fer somethin'," Eva Bicknell
grumbled as she linked her bony little arm thro