five beds and nine cribs must be provided, and
the number made the girls look serious as they calculated the probable
proceeds of the Rose Fete and subtracted from them the amount that they
would have to pay the local furniture dealer, even though he, being a
public spirited and charitable man, offered them a discount. For a day
or two they went about in a state of depression, for they had hoped to
be able to supply the furnishings without making any appeal to the
grownups. Thanks to Dorothy they could discount any expense for
bureaus and desks and tables, but their ambition did not soar to
constructing bedsteads; these had to be bought or given.

It became evident after a number of householders had inquired how they
could help, that there was a chance that the U. S. C. treasury might
not be reduced after all by the purchase of beds. When one lady was
informed by Helen of their schemes for filling the rooms--how the
carpenters had provided them with a table that would do for the
dining-room and how shelves innumerable were to do duty for innumerable
purposes,--and she had added ruefully, "But we can't make very good
beds, and we do want the women to sleep well, poor things. We've got
to buy those--" she had cried, "Why, I have a cot in my attic that I
should be _delighted_ to let you have, and my daughter's little boy has
outgrown his crib and I'm sure she'll contribute that."

A week before the Fete, however, they had been promised all the
bedsteads they needed--though some lacked springs, some mattresses, and
almost all were without pillows--four cribs, half a dozen chairs and
two high chairs, and a collection of odd pieces. Helen refused nothing
but double beds; there was not space enough for those in a bedroom with
three people in it; it would seem to the women too much like the
crowded tenements they came from, she thought. Miss Merriam objected
also, on the ground that it was not well for babies to sleep with grown
people.

"What do you think of this plan?" Ethel Brown asked her mother after
the girls had made a careful list of their gifts. "We did think that
if we didn't have a stick in the house the people would be interested
in helping us because of our poverty. We've found out that they are
awfully interested even without seeing the house. Do you think it
would be a good scheme to put into the rooms the things we have ready
and to fasten on the door a notice saying
'THIS ROOM NEEDS'
and under