C.A. huts.

"I hope you will not feel so lonely now you know that somebody
is thinking about you.

"Believe me,
"Your sincere friend,
"MARJORIE ANDERSON."

It exactly filled up a sheet, and Marjorie folded it, put it in an
envelope, and copied the address from the list which her aunt had left
lying on the table. Seeing Dona's photos also spread out, she took the
little snapshot of herself and enclosed it in the letter. She had a
stamp of her own in her purse, which she affixed, then slipped the
envelope in her pocket. She did not mention the matter to Aunt Ellinor
or Elaine, because to do so would almost seem like betraying the
S.S.O.P., whose patriotic principles were vowed to strictest secrecy.
She considered it was a case of "doing good by stealth", and plumed
herself on how she would score over the other girls when she reported
such a very practical application of the aims of the society.

Her cousin returned with Dona in the course of a few minutes, and
suggested taking the girls into Whitecliffe, where she wished to do some
shopping. They all three started off at once. As they passed the
pillar-box in the High Street, Marjorie managed to drop in her letter
unobserved. It was an exhilarating feeling to know that it was really
gone. They went to a cafe for tea, and as they sat looking at the
Allies' flags, which draped the walls, and listening to the military
marches played by a ladies' orchestra in khaki uniforms, patriotism
seemed uppermost.

"It's grand to do anything for one's country!" sighed Marjorie.

"So it is," answered Elaine, pulling her knitting from her pocket and
rapidly going on with a sock. "Those poor fellows in the trenches
deserve everything we can send out to them--socks, toffee, cakes,
cigarettes, scented soap, and other comforts."

"And letters," added Marjorie under her breath, to herself.

CHAPTER XV

The Empress

The S.S.O.P. was duly, thrilled when Marjorie reported her act of
patriotism. Its members, however, reproached her that she had not
copied down the names and addresses of other lonely soldiers on her
aunt's list, so that they also might have had an opportunity of
"doing their bit".

"There wasn't time," Marjorie apologized. "Elaine came back into the
room almost immediately, and I daren't let her and Dona know, because it
would have broken my vow."

Her friends admitted the excuse, but it was plain that they were
disappointed