A NOVEL RACE
The morning of the long-awaited field day dawned clear and bright. The
camp was stirring with the first rays of the rising sun, that gilded
the tree tops to the east, and painted the surface of the lake, smooth
as a mirror, with a hundred hues. The day promised to be hot in the
open, but there was no danger of great heat on the march, which was
entirely through the woods.
"We won't worry about how hot it's going to be under the sun," said
Eleanor Mercer as the girls sat at their early breakfast.
"No. Our work is under the trees, until we get to the camping spot,"
said Margery Burton.
"Now here's the plan of campaign," said Eleanor. "I am going to send
two girls ahead to build the fire. That's the most important thing,
really--to get the fire started."
"We can't use matches, can we?" asked Zara.
"No, the fire must be made Indian fashion, with two sticks. But we all
know how to do that, I think. The idea of sending two girls ahead is
to have that part of the work done when the main body reaches our
camping ground."
"Where is that? We can know now, can't we, Wanaka?" asked Margery.
"Yes, it's all right to tell you now. You know those twin peaks beyond
Little Bear Lake--North Peak and South Peak?"
"Yes," came the answer, in chorus.
"Well, our place is on North Peak, and Mr. Hastings will take his
Scouts to South Peak. The trails are different, but they're the same
length."
"Why was that kept such a secret?" asked Bessie.
"Because Mr. Hastings and I decided that it would be fairer if there
was no chance at all to go over the trail first and learn all about it.
Then there was the chance that if either party thought of it they could
locate kindling wood and fallen wood that could be used for the
fire-making. On a regular hike, you see, you would go to a place that
was entirely strange, and it seemed better to keep things just as near
to regular hiking conditions as we could."
"Oh, I see! And that's a good idea, too. It's just as fair for one as
for the other, then."
"Who are going to be the two girls to go ahead? And why can't we all
get there at the same time?" asked Dolly.
"One question at a time," said Eleanor, with a laugh. "I'll answer the
second one first. We've got to carry all the things we need for making
camp and getting a meal cooked. So if we send out two girls ahead,
with nothing to carry, they can make much better time than those who
have the heavy loads."
"Will they do the same thing?" asked Zara. "The Boy Scouts, I mean?"
Eleanor smiled.
"Ah, I don't know," she said. "They will if Mr. Hastings thinks of it,
I'm sure, because it would be a good move in a race."
"Is it quite fair in case they don't happen to think of it?" asked
Margery, doubtfully.
"Why not? This isn't just like a foot-race. It isn't altogether a
matter of speed and strength, or even of endurance--"
"I should hope not!" declared Dolly. "If it was, what chance would we
have against those boys?"
"Suppose we found some new way of rubbing sticks that would make fire
quicker than the regular way, it would be fair to use that, wouldn't
it, Margery?" asked Bessie.
"That's the idea. Bessie's right, Margery," said Eleanor. "We have a
perfect right, and so have they, to employ any time-saving idea we
happen to get hold of. And I'm quite sure this is a good one, and that
Mr. Hastings will think of it, too."
"Well, I hope he doesn't do anything of the sort!" said Margery, wholly
converted and now enthusiastic for the plan.
"You haven't told us yet who is to go ahead," said Dolly. "I'm just
crazy to be one of the two--"
"We all are! Who wouldn't like to get out of carrying a load?" cried
two or three girls in chorus.
Eleanor laughed at the eagerness they displayed.
"It won't be all fun for the pathfinders, as we'll call them," she
said. "They've got a lot of responsibility, you see."
"What sort of responsibility?" asked Margery. "All they've got to do
is to go just as fast as they can and make a fire when they get to the
peak."
"That isn't all they've got to do, though. They've got to make a smoke
signal, for one thing, by stopping the smoke with a blanket, and then
letting it rise, straight up, three times. And they've got to go to
work and get enough wood to keep the fire going, as soon as they've
lighted it."
"But they'll be able to go along ever so easily on the trail!"
"It isn't a very well marked trail. Neither of the trails to the peak
is, for that matter. And the pathfinders, if they find they're in any
danger of making a wrong turn, must make a sign for us who follow.
That might easily save us a good many minutes in getting there. So you
see it isn't quite as easy as you thought. Now, I'll call for
volunteers. Who wants to join the pathfinders?"
Every girl there put up her hand at once, amid a chorus of laughs and
jesting remarks.
"Heavens! Well, you can't all be pathfinders, or there'd be no one to
carry the dinner! We'll have to figure out some way of picking out
two, because that's all there can be."
"We might draw lots," said Margery.
"I don't like that idea much," said Eleanor. "If you're all so anxious
to go, we ought to make it a reward of some sort--a prize. It's too
bad I didn't think of it earlier, because then we could have had a
really good competition."
She frowned thoughtfully for a moment.
"I know what we'll do," she said. "There are just eight of you, and
we'll divide all the dishes from breakfast into eight even piles. We
can do that easily. Then you shall all start together--"
"Oh, that's good!" said Dolly. "And the ones who finish first will be
pathfinders?"
"Yes, those who finish first, and put their dishes away properly,
Dolly--not just finish washing and drying. I'll be the judge. Come
on, Margery, we'll arrange the piles."
So the arrangements were made, and then, with each girl standing over
her own pile of dishes, they waited eagerly for the word.
"I'll start you," laughed Eleanor. "Now, are you ready? Take
dishes--wash!"
And at once there was a great splashing and commotion. But Eleanor
broke in with a laugh.
"Time!" she called. "Stop washing'"
Everyone stopped, and looked at her curiously.
"Here's a rule," she said. "I only just thought of it. Anyone who
breaks a dish is out of the race, even if she finishes five minutes
ahead of the next girl. Understand?"
"Yes," they cried.
"All right. Dolly, you kept on washing for nearly half a minute after
the others had stopped. When I give them the word to start again,
don't you do it. I'll give you a starting signal of your own. You,
too, Mary King! I'll call your names when you two are to start."
Then they bent to their piles again, and waited for Eleanor's "Ready?
Wash!"
Dolly and Mary King, forced to restore the time they had unwittingly
stolen from the others, waited as patiently as they could until they
heard "Now, Dolly!" and after a moment more, "All right, Mary!"
"Oh, this is fine sport!" cried Dolly, washing with an energy she had
never displayed before. "I think we ought to have races like this ever
so often. They're much better fun than most of the games we play!"
"Anything that makes you act as if you liked work is a fine little
idea, Dolly," said Margery. "But I haven't got time to talk--I've got
to wash. I never thought anyone could wash dishes as fast as you're
doing it!"
"I'm in practice," laughed Dolly. "I hate them so, that I'm always
trying to get them done just as quickly as I can."
And a moment later Dolly, to the general surprise, had put away her
last dish, an easy winner.
It was plain to her in a moment that the struggle, now that she was out
of it, would be between Margery and Bessie. They had finished washing
almost at the same moment, with Margery perhaps a couple of spoons
ahead.
"Hurry, Bessie, do hurry!" pleaded Dolly. "We've done so much together
up here, we ought to be pathfinders together, too. Can't I help her,
Miss Eleanor?"
"No, that wouldn't be fair, Dolly," laughed Eleanor. "Each one has got
to win or lose on her own merits in this race."
Bessie smiled as she heard Dolly's impulsive appeal. She wanted to
win, too, because it was impossible for her to engage in any contest
without wanting to come out ahead, or as far ahead as she could. This
time, of course, second place was all she could hope for, but she was
not one of those people who, if the chief prize is beyond their reach,
relax their efforts to do as well as they can.
As she finished wiping each dish dry she arranged it, stacking her
dishes in order of their size, so that they could all be carried easily
to the tent where they were to be laid away.
Margery, on the other hand, grew nervous as she neared the end. Once a
plate slipped through her hand, but, fortunately, her cry of dismay as
it fell was premature, for it did not break. But she was putting her
dishes down anywhere, without regard for their size or for convenience
in carrying them, and as a result, though she had finished the actual
drying nearly a minute before Bessie, she was still frantically
gathering her piled dishes together in her arms when Bessie wiped the
last spoon.
Then, without haste, Bessie picked up her whole pile, and, starting
before Margery, walked carefully over to the tent. She put away her
last dish before Margery was half done, and the contest was over.
"Go on, girls!" cried Eleanor, as she saw that interest was slackening
with the choice of the second pathfinder. "You don't want to be last,
do you? I should think you'd all want to avoid that!"
The reminder was enough, and the others were soon busily finishing
their tasks. Zara was fourth, right after Margery, and then there was
a wild scramble among the last four. They finished almost together,
and Eleanor, with a laugh, had to declare that there was a tie for
sixth, seventh and eighth places.
"So no one was really last!" she declared, merrily. "My, but that was
good fun! It certainly was, if you enjoyed racing half as much as I
did watching you! It's a pity we never thought of that before."
"I'll beat you next time, you two!" vowed the panting Margery, shaking
her first in mock anger at Bessie and Dolly. "More haste, less speed!
That's what beat me! But I'll know better next time."
"We'll have a team race some time," said Eleanor. "Two teams of
four--that ought to be good fun. Oh, there are lots of ways of having
a good time if you only think of them!"
Then she clapped her hands as a sign for attention.
"Now we've got to take our fun for the rest of the day more seriously,"
she said. "You girls will have to take your fire-making sticks, and an
old blanket. You understand how to make smoke signals, don't you?"
"Yes, indeed!" cried Dolly and Bessie, in one breath.
"All right, then. How will you make signs to show us which way to go?"
"With a hatchet. We'll blaze the trees," suggested Bessie. "Then
you'll be sure to see it. There's no way that a sign like that can be
blown away, or get moved by accident. With the thin end of the blaze
in the direction you are to take, if there's a choice."
"All right. Hatchet, old blanket, fire-making sticks. You'd better
carry water bottles, for you'll be thirsty on the way."
"Why, we'll find plenty of water. There must be springs!" Dolly
protested.
"Undoubtedly; but you don't know just where they are, and you'd waste
time looking for them. If you have your water bottles, with a little
bit of lemon juice in the water, you can have a drink wherever you
like."
"I like the taste of lemon juice, too."
"It isn't only because you like it that it's a good thing to have it,
but it will quench your thirst better than plain water, and it will
make your water last better, too, because you don't need to drink so
much of it."
"It's fine if you're hot, too," said Margery, approvingly. "A little
lemon water will cool you off better than half a dozen of those
ice-cream sodas you're so fond of, Dolly."
Dolly made a face at her.
"I think it's mean of you to tease me about soda when you know I can't
have it, no matter how much I want it," she said. "But I don't care,
really. I wouldn't have an ice-cream soda now, if I had a pocket full
of money and I could get one by going across the street!"
Eleanor smiled at her.
"What a reckless promise! Only you know you are perfectly safe," she
said, half mockingly.
"I really mean it," protested Dolly. "I'm going to swear off--for a
long time, anyhow. Bessie and Zara and I are going to try to get
enough honor beads to be Fire-Makers as soon as we get back to the
city, and that's one of the ways I'm going to try."
"Then you've started already?" said Eleanor.
"No, not yet," said Dolly. "I'm going to wait--"
A shout of laughter interrupted her.
"Oh, yes, we know! Until you have just one or two last ones--"
Dolly flushed dangerously for a moment. But her new control over
herself, that she was fighting so hard to maintain, saved her from the
sharp reply that was on her tongue.
"You might let me finish," she said. "If I swore off now I suppose the
time while we're here would count toward an honor bead, but what's the
use of swearing off something I can't get, anyhow? I'm going to swear
off the first time I see a soda fountain!"
"Good for you, Dolly!" exclaimed Eleanor, heartily. "That's the right
spirit."