SURPRISING THE CAMP
In the middle of the camping grounds on their return the girls now
beheld Miss Martha McMurtry waving a large kitchen spoon in somewhat the
same fashion that a conductor uses his baton to direct the energies of
his orchestra. Rushing from one spot to the other her aides were
engaged in putting fresh wood on one smoldering camp fire, stirring up
slumbering ashes in another, removing kettles to different points of
vantage and generally giving the impression that they were preparing for
the feeding of an army. However, they were only getting ready for the
entertainment of a few of their Boy Scout friends.
Early that morning Nan Graham had been made to explain more fully the
information bestowed on Polly the day before. It seemed that her father
had been engaged to do odd jobs at the camp of the Scouts several miles
away from Sunrise Hill and had overheard the plan of the young men to
test the mettle of the Camp Fire girls. Take them by surprise, bear
down upon them without warning, that was the way to discover whether the
girls were lolling about reading novels and eating sweets as they
suspected, or attending to the sterner duties of camp life. Subject
them to the trial of preparing an impromptu meal for hungry guests, in
short, see whether the effort of the girls to effect an organization
similar in many respects to the Boy Scouts wasn't sheer bluff.
Nothing had been said, because of course it must have been so easy to
surmise the amount of criticism and discussion that arose in Woodford
when the village learned of the decision of the first Camp Fire girls'
club to spend the summer together in the woods. And sternest of all
critics were the brothers, boy cousins and friends, most of whom
belonged to the Boy Scout brigades, spending most of their spare time
and money in them. For of course the thing that was good for a boy was
for that very reason bad for a girl, an age old argument, beginning with
the question of educating women at all and extending now to their right
to the vote.
Curiously John Everett, Margaret's brother, was at first more bitterly
opposed to the Camp Fire idea than any one else in Woodford. Meg's
place was at home, every girl's was, even though there was no one at
home with her. It was hard lines that his father had to be in Boston
the greater part of the summer and that he would be in camp, but he was
not going to have Meg getting drowned or burned up or worn out without
masculine protection--away from home. Should any one of these
misfortunes overtake her at home--why somehow it would be different.
But fortunately for Meg's summer happiness, her Professor father did not
share in his son's opinions and after John had a long talk with Betty
Ashton he became well, not convinced, but at least more open to
conviction. Usually Betty did have this effect upon him, which was
perhaps fortunate for them both.
So John Everett might certainly be expected as one of the surprise party
and probably Jim Meade, Eleanor's brother Frank Wharton, and Ralph and
Hugh Bowles, who belonged to the same group of friends, besides, well,
it was the entire uncertainty in regard to the actual number of their
visitors which was keeping the Camp Fire girls so extraordinarily busy,
their idea being to have everything prepared and hidden away and then
produced as though they were in the habit of having just such a
magnificent supply of rations always on hand.
Eleanor and Meg had made an Irish stew of half their week's supply of
meat and vegetables; Esther, assisted by Juliet Field, had baked enough
beans for feeding half Beacon Street; while Miss McMurtry herself had
presided over the giant loaves of brown bread, which can be easily
boiled in closed tins and make specially superior camp food.
Upon Beatrice, Sylvia and the unwelcome newcomer, Nan Graham, had
devolved the cleaning up of the camp grounds and their work had been
most thoroughly done, but indeed no one could be accused, of anything
approaching sloth this morning when so much of their future reputation
was at stake. Only Edith Norton had been unable to help because of her
work in town, but she hoped to be able to return to camp by noon so as
not to miss the good times.
At eleven o'clock every bit of the work, of preparation had been
accomplished and Nan's report had said that the Scouts expected to
appear just about the noon luncheon hour. The food was hidden away in
the kitchen tent and the girls rearranged their costumes, then after
posting Nan, Beatrice and Sylvia as sentinels to give warning of the
first approach of their guests, the other girls settled themselves to
whatever occupations they considered might make the best impression.
Eleanor got out the Camp Fire log book, whose cover she had previously
decorated with a wonderful sunrise appearing above the summit of a
purple hill, and now began to illustrate some of the inside pages with
scenes recalling the events of the past ten days. Mollie's tastes were
too domestic for any deception, so she went on with her pretty basket
weaving, while Esther sat near her studying the Indian song received the
day before. However, the really impressive occupation was conceived and
engineered by Polly's dramatic sense, for she engaged Miss McMurtry and
the rest of the girls in the mysteries of knot tying, one of the
difficult feats of camp craft, since there are a good many more
varieties of knots than one has fingers. For example, there is the
square knot, bowline, alpine, kite string, half hitch, clove hitch for
tying two ends together, and as many more for making knots at the end of
a rope, and yet, unless one happens to be a Camp Fire girl, these
comparatively simple accomplishments are entirely closed arts.
Now everybody at Sunrise Camp is accounted for excepting its solitary
masculine member--Little Brother. During all the morning preparations
he had been a very difficult problem, but finally washed and arrayed in
a stiff white Russian blouse, Meg conceived the brilliant idea of
attaching him to the camp totem pole. The pole was simply a tree
cleared of its branches at the present time, which the girls hoped later
on to develop into a real Indian totem pole, but standing just a few
yards in front of the group of tents it formed a center for all eyes and
therefore seemed the best possible place for keeping a little boy always
in sight. Little Brother was at first very happy because he had with
him the things he loved best: a discarded bathing shoe, a bottle of hard
brown beans and an old cream whipper, that made the most delectable
noises as one turned it about. Indeed, so soothing did its noises become
that, on returning for the sixth time from her game to see that the
small boy was safe, Meg discovered him fast asleep in a patch of
sunshine on the grass.
Five minutes before noon Sylvia Wharton came running breathless with
excitement from her sentry post. Dust was rising at some distance off
in the curve of the lane where a path led across the fields to Sunrise
Camp. Harder and faster the girls continued at their work, of course
appearing superbly unconscious of possible interruption and yet ten
minutes later, when Edith Norton returned from the village on her
bicycle along the way of Sylvia's warning, there was a sort of general
let-down feeling though no one confessed to it.
Then half an hour passed, noon was in the background of the day and
hunger was laying fierce hold on the camp members. Their practice of
knot tying abruptly ceased, Eleanor put her book and paints aside with a
sense of relief, Mollie and Esther arose sighing.
"We have got to have our own lunch, girls, we simply can't wait any
longer," Miss McMurtry insisted, and no one seemed sufficiently
inspirited to discuss the question, when unexpectedly a cry from Meg
brought everybody to life.
Little Brother had disappeared! In spite of the professional knot-tying
he had managed to slip away, leaving his moorings still attached to the
pole. Ten seconds afterwards as many girls were searching for him, only
Esther remaining behind with Miss McMurtry. As his small footprints led
directly to the grove of pines, his favorite playing ground, the entire
party sought him there, and after running about for an eighth of a mile
searching and calling, they came across the young man throned high on
the shoulders of a six-foot Scout, clothed in khaki and leather boots
but wearing a perfectly absurd Indian head-dress and false-face. He was
followed by ten other youths, gotten up in equally absurd fashions for
the complete bewilderment of the Camp Fire girls.
"Do take those ridiculous things off at once, John Everett," Betty
demanded first, as she happened to be in advance of the other girls, and
on John's immediately complying with her request, his companions
followed his example. Then gaily the entire procession made for camp,
but as Miss McMurtry and Esther heard them coming when some distance
off, they did not seem particularly surprised at their advance. Indeed,
the ridiculous fact was that the Scouts failed altogether to mention
that their intention had been to steal into Sunrise Camp unperceived,
and the girls were equally negligent in not expressing more profound
amazement at their wholly unlooked-for visit.
Only there was one special bit of surprise for Betty Ashton and possibly
for Esther as well. Richard Ashton had come down from Portsmouth to
find out how Betty was getting on, and on hearing of the scouting
expedition had joined their party. Of course he only spoke to Esther in
the same fashion that he did to his sister's other friends, nevertheless
she felt more at her ease, perhaps because he was her one acquaintance
in the group of young men.
And Polly also had a surprise, though not so pleasant a one, for the
youth whom she had tried to slay, like David did Goliath, was one of
their Boy Scout guests and Polly wondered if it were her duty to inquire
in regard to his wounded feelings or to pretend that to-day's more
formal meeting was in reality their first?