CHAPTER IWHAT GIRLS CAN DO “That finishes everything,” exclaimed Jeanne Vance, placing a neatly folded handkerchief in a basket. “And oh, girls, what a little bit of a pile it makes!” The five girls drew their chairs closer to the basket and gazed ruefully at its contents. “How many handkerchiefs are there, Jeanne?” asked one. “There are fifty handkerchiefs and five pairs of socks. It seemed like a... more...

CHAPTER I A Children’s Festival “There is a fountain in the forest called The Fountain of the Fairies. An ancient oak, The goodliest of the forest, grows beside.” Southey. “Joan of Arc,” Book II.  “Who-oo-ee!” The gleeful shout came from the lips of a little girl who stood, with her hands cupped about her lips, on the edge of a streamlet which divided the village of Domremy into two parts. She was a... more...

CHAPTER I A SMALL DINNER BECOMES A PARTY “At Delaware’s broad stream, the view beginWhere jutting wharfs, food-freighted boats take in;Then, with the advancing sun direct your eyeWide opes the street with firm brick buildings high;Step, gently rising, over the pebbly way,And see the shops their tempting wares display.” —“Description of Philadelphia,” Breitnal, 1729. It was the first of March, 1782, and... more...