The Camp Fire Girls in the Outside World
By Margaret Vandercook
Strolling down a broad stairway, a girl carried three old silver candlesticks. And although the hallway was semi-dark, the candles had not yet been lit. It was a cold November afternoon, and the great house was chill and silent. Entering the drawing-room, she placed the candles on the mantelpiece. Her breath was like a small grey cloud before her, and her dress was the colour of the mist and soft and clinging.
“Work, health, and love,” she murmured, striking a match and watching the candles flicker and flare until finally they burned with a steady glow. “If one has these three things in life as I have, what else is worth worrying over?” Then, the sigh that answered her question almost extinguished the candle flames. “There are bills and boarders, of course—too many of the first and, at present, none of the second,” she added with a whimsical smile. “But, oh dear, what a trying Thanksgiving day this has been when even the Camp Fire ideals won’t comfort me!
Dick’s way off in Germany, Polly and Esther studying in New York, and I face to face with my failure to save the old house. It is not worthwhile pretending; the home must be sold, and Mother and I must find another place to live. In the morning, I will tell Judge Maynard I give up.” Sadly, Betty Ashton glanced about the familiar room. The portraits of her New England ancestors appeared to gaze coldly and reproachfully down upon her. They had not been of the stuff of which failures are made. Her grand piano was closed and dusty, the window blinds were partly pulled down, and although a fire was in the grate, it was not burning. Dust, cold, and an unaccustomed atmosphere of neglect enveloped everything.
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Margaret Vandercook
Margaret O’Bannon Womack Vandercook (January 12, 1877 – February 7, 1958) was an American writer of children’s literature.
Biography.
The daughter of Joel Mayo Womack and Nannie Gibson (O’Bannon), Womack was born in Louisville, Kentucky, where she attended public and private schools. In 1900, she married John Filkin Vandercook, who later became the first president of the United Press Association. He died in 1908. They had one son, John Womack Vandercook. Margaret spent her summers in Leonardo, New Jersey, and winters in Gramercy Park, New York, but during her husband’s lifetime, she also spent several years living in Europe.
Margaret Vandercook did not become a professional writer until after her husband’s death but has since been described as the queen of Camp Fire writers. She wrote 21 Camp Fire novels under her name and the pseudonym “Margaret Love Sanderson.” Emma Keats Speed Sampson, the author of the Miss Minerva books, also used the pseudonym of Margaret Love Sanderson. In addition to the Camp Fire Girls series, Margaret is also known for her other books for girls, including the Ranch Girls series, the Red Cross Girls series, and the Girl Scouts series.
Additional works include stories, articles, and poems for Harper’s Bazar, Delineator, Pearson’s Magazine, Book News Monthly, Paris Modes, and many other publications. She was also a member of the Louisville Kentucky Authors’ Club.
Margaret Vandercook
