A DAY OF HARD WORK.
That evening Miss Ladd received the letter that Mrs. Hutchins had
announced in her telegram addressed to the Guardian on the train, would
follow that communication. She did not discuss the matter with any of
the girls, but quietly passed it around until all had read it.
In her letter Mrs. Hutchins stated little that had not been read between
the lines of the telegram, although her views and comments on the
circumstances were interesting. She had seen Pierce Langford arrive at
the station just as the train was pulling in, buy a ticket and board the
train just as it was pulling out. Curiosity, stirred perhaps by the
recollection that this man had recently represented interests hostile to
the mission of the Thirteen Camp Fire Girls and their Guardian, and
might still represent those interests, caused her to inquire of the
agent for what point Mr. Langford had purchased his ticket. The reply
was “Twin Lakes.”
That was sufficient. The woman asked for a telegram pad and wrote a few
lines. Then she gave the message to the operator with these directions:
“I want that to catch Miss Ladd in the limited as soon as possible. Keep
it going from station to station until it is delivered. Have the
operator who succeeds in getting the message into Miss Ladd’s hands wire
back ‘delivered’ as soon as she receives it.”
On the day following the advance excursion and inspection of the camping
prospects at Stony Point, the “Big Twin” was engaged again to convey the
Camp Fire Girls to the prospective camping place. On this occasion the
tents and other paraphernalia were taken aboard and conveyed to the
scene of the proposed camp. The boat skirted along the shore and a
careful examination was made to discover landing places that might
provide access from the lake to such camping sites as might later be
found.
Several good landing places were found. The one they selected
tentatively as a mooring for the boat was a large flat-rock projection a
few hundred yards north of the Graham pier. A comparatively level shore
margin extended back nearly a hundred feet from this rock to the point,
where the wooded incline began. The boatman and a boy of eighteen who
had been engaged to assist in handling the heavier paraphernalia,
remained in the boat while the girls started off in pairs to explore the
near-by territory for the most advantageous and available site.
They came together again half an hour later and compared notes. The
result was that the report made by Marion Stanlock and Harriet Newcomb
proved the most interesting. They had found a pretty nook half way up
the side of the hill shore and sheltered by a bluff on the inland side
and trees and bushes at either end, so that no storm short of a
hurricane could seriously damage a well-constructed camp in this place.
The area was considerable, quite sufficient for the pitching of the
complement of tents of the Fire.
After all the girls had inspected this proposed site in a body, a
unanimous vote was taken in favor of its adoption. This being their
decision, they returned without delay to the boat and the work of
carrying their camping outfit a distance of some three hundred yards was
begun.
The pilot and the boy assistant took the heavier luggage while the girls
carried the lighter articles and supplies. In this manner everything was
transported to the camp site in about an hour. The pilot and the boy
then assisted in the work of putting up the tents, and after this was
finished they were paid and dismissed.
Everything went along smoothly while all this was being done. Not
another person appeared in sight during this period, except the
occupants of several boats that motored by. The Graham cottage was about
a quarter of a mile to the south and farther up on the hill, but the
screen of dense foliage shut it off from view at the girls’ camp.
All the rest of the day was required to put the camp into good
housekeeper’s condition. The light folding cots had to be set up and got
ready for sleeping, the kitchen tent also required much domestic art and
ingenuity for the most convenient and practical arrangement, and a
fireplace for cooking had to be built with rocks brought up principally
from the water’s edge.
So eager were they to finish all this work that they did not stop to
prepare much of a luncheon. They ate hurriedly-prepared sandwiches,
olives, pickles, salmon, and cake, and drank lemonade, picnic style, and
kept at their camp preparation “between bites,” as it were. In the
evening, however, they had a good Camp Fire Girls’ supper prepared by
Hazel Edwards, Julietta Hyde and the Guardian. Then they sat around
their fire and chatted, principally about the beauty of the scenery on
every hand.
But they were tired girls and needed no urging to seek rest on their
cots as the sun sunk behind the hills on the opposite side of the lake.
The move “bedward” was almost simultaneous and the drift toward
slumberland not far behind. They had one complete day undisturbed with
anything of a mysterious or startling nature, and it was quite a relief
to find it possible to seek a night’s repose after eight or nine hours
of diligent work without being confronted with apprehensions of some
impending danger or possible defeat of their plans.
------------------------------------------------------------------------