Natalie begins her planting. (Page 110)

Dear Girls Everywhere:

Perhaps you will like these country lifebooks better for knowing that the incidents toldin them actually happened to me in my girlhooddays. I did not live on a farm such as Natalie’s,however, nor was my father a farmer. He likedto “putter” around the acre of ground afterbusiness hours, simply because he enjoyed suchrecreation. I was generally at his heels, andwhenever a fruit-tree was being grafted, or aswarm of bees hived, you could always find methere, too, getting in Daddy’s way. If I was notin the garden, or at the barnyard, I would beshadowing my brothers who were my seniors.Scouts were unheard of in those days, butwe hiked, camped, fished and did all the enjoyablestunts which you Scouts now do.

I have not the space here to tell you of someof the hair-raising “dares” my brothers temptedme to accomplish, but I will have to write themfor you to read, some time. However, the stuntsand the following results would never be termedladylike, nor were they graceful. Freckles, tan,and tattered dresses were the bane of my mother’slife, and the inglorious title of “tomboy”failed to curb my delight in the freedom of countrylife. But, dear girls, I stored away a fundof health and experiences that I can now drawupon without bankrupting myself.

A keen desire, which I hope to realize soon, isto have a place like Green Hill, where you girlscan come and camp for as long a time as you like.Then we can sit about the campfire and talkabout the fun and frolics the out-of-door lifegives us. Many a laughable experience will Ithen tell you. Until that time, dear girls, believeme to be an ardent admirer of and staunchworker for the Girl Scouts.

Sincerely,

Lillian Elizabeth Roy.