could talk of little else. They were kept busy too, preparing for the journey.

Buttons needed to be sewed on and suitcases brought down from attics. Nearly every day after school Connie went downtown with her mother to buy little things she would need on the trip.

So busy were all the Brownie Scouts that they scarcely had time to talk to Veve. However, Connie noticed that her playmate looked very unhappy.

And then, on the final day before school was to be dismissed for the holidays, she came upon Veve sobbing in the cloakroom.

54 “Why, Veve!” she said in surprise. “Is anything wrong?” She thought perhaps the teacher had sent the little girl to the cloakroom as a punishment.

54

“Nothing’s wrong,” Veve replied, dabbing at her eyes.

“Yes, there is too,” Connie insisted. She slipped an arm about the other girl’s waist. “Tell me!”

Veve shook her head. Pulling away, she ran down the hall.

Miss Gordon entered the cloakroom just as the child darted through the doorway. She asked Connie why Veve was so upset.

“She wouldn’t say,” replied Connie, picking up a coat Veve carelessly had brushed to the floor. “I think though, she’s disappointed because she can’t go to Snow Valley with the Brownies.”

Now Miss Gordon and Mrs. Williams already had guessed that Veve longed to go with the troop, and had discussed the matter with Mrs. McGuire.

So, with scarcely any hesitation, Miss Gordon was able to say: “I think it can be arranged.”

Connie wondered if she had heard correctly. Had the Brownie leader actually said Veve might go to Snow Valley?

“Only this afternoon I learned that Belinda will be unable to make the trip,” Miss Gordon explained.55 “Grandmother Gordon is expecting six little girls, so perhaps we can include Veve.”

55

Now this was astonishing news for Connie. Though she had noticed that Belinda’s desk had been vacant all day, she hadn’t known why she was absent from school.

“Belinda has a severe cold,” Miss Gordon 

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