AN EVENING IN CAMP
The supper was prepared by the Fire Makers,--Edith Overman, Patty Sands,
and Mattie Hastings. Patty baked a couple of large pans of delicious
biscuits. Mattie made tea and eggs scrambled with cheese. Edith Overman
boiled some rice for dessert so that each flake stood alone and was
creamy, upon which the girls put butter and sugar or butter and maple
syrup. Later in the season they picked berries and had them for tea.
The meal was well cooked and they enjoyed it. Ethel cleared the table.
Sallie Davis and Mollie Long washed the dishes, while Nora and Edna
Whitely tidied up the tent, after which the fire was lighted with the
usual ceremony. Ethel as a Wood Gatherer insisted upon bringing the
twigs, wood and kindling. The Fire Maker--Edna Whitely--arranged them
ready to light. Kate chanted a command to Mollie Long and Nora Casey,
who were Torch Bearers.
In the meanwhile each one seated herself around the fire. Mollie and
Kate then came forward, and by rubbing two sticks together ignited the
paper under the shavings, and soon there burst up a beautiful flame.
Then the girls arose and repeated:
"Burn, fire, burn,
Flicker, flicker, flame,
Whose hand above this blaze is lifted
Shall be with magic touch engifted
To warm the hearts of lonely mortals
Who stand without their open portals:
The torch shall draw them to the fire,
Higher, higher,
By desire.
Whoso shall stand by this hearthstone
Flame fanned
Shall never, never stand alone;
Whose house is dark and bare and cold,
Whose house is cold,
This is his own.
Flicker, flicker, flicker, flame,
Burn, fire, burn."
After which Edna repeated the Fire Maker's song:
"As fuel is brought to the fire,
So I purpose to bring
My strength,
My ambition,
My heart's desire
My joy
And my sorrow
To the fire
Of humankind;
For I will tend,
As my fathers have tended,
And my fathers' fathers
Since time began,
The fire that is called
The love of man for man,
The love of man for God."
They gave toasts, told stories and sang songs. Edith Overman had a keen
sense of humor and she told some anecdotes that were exceedingly droll.
Ethel and Edna Whitely vied in asking conundrums. Kate Hollister then
related her capital story, "The Legend of the Muskingum."
"Before I begin," she said, "for Ethel's benefit I wish to tell you
something of the origin of the Camp Fire. This I read in a New York
magazine.
"'If we go back as far as possible we come to a primitive time when
human life centered about the Camp Fire. It was, and is still, the
center of family life, and today it is around the fire that the family
and friends gather. The fire gives warmth and cheer to the home. The
day's work is begun with fire. When the fire is out the house is
cheerless. Fire stands for Home--for the Community Circle and New
Patriotism. It was also in these primitive days that the first grand
division of labor was made. The man,--the provider and defender of the
family--went out into the wilderness to hunt, while the woman stayed at
home to keep the pot boiling, and in spite of all of the changes in
social life that division has remained to a very large extent until this
day.
"'Some years ago, when the Boy Scout movement first started, it began
with the Camp Fire. No doubt one reason for its popularity was the fact
that it gave the boys opportunity to play what was in the old days the
man's game--that of hunter, trapper, and soldier.
"'Boys may be Scouts, but you girls are going to keep the place to which
the Scout must return. And now this movement, similar to the Boy Scouts,
has been started for girls. It started also with the Camp Fire, and the
organization thus formed is the Camp Fire Girls.'"
Everyone clapped their hands.
"When I read the above," said Kate, "I learned it by heart, knowing that
all of you would be interested to know the true significance of the Camp
Fire. And now for the Legend."