them further. In this way, the hours passed and noon came; still the
hikers were far from Grey Fox Camp.
"And I'm starved to pieces!" Joan assured them all.
"So'm I!" admitted Ruth. Then it was learned that every one present
would appreciate something to eat.
"But what? We only brought flour and bacon," laughed Amy.
"How would a fine juicy steak taste about this time?" asked Mrs. Vernon,
winking at her old scouts. They knew what she meant.
"Oh, 'Home and Mother'!" sighed Judith, rolling her eyes heavenward.
Every one laughed, but the Captain added: "I really mean it! We may as
well stop now to cook that steak as to keep on in a half-fainting
condition."
"But, Verny! We didn't bring one bit of meat to camp, and the butcher
drives his rounds once a week," cried Amy.
"We'll just hunt around and chop down a steak," suggested Mrs. Vernon.
"Who wants to go with me to find the wooden animal that grows a steak
ready-made?"
Of course, they all went, except Julie and Joan who remained to build a
fire and start the bacon sizzling in the tiny pan. A scout-twist of
flour and water was kneaded by Joan and put to bake near the fire, and
then the girls sat and waited for the others to return.
The Captain blazed a way slowly into the forest wilderness, peering
under bushes and wherever a tree had been cut down--on its stump of a
trunk she always looked eagerly. After about ten minutes' search she saw
what she wanted.
"Ah! Here it is--a porterhouse, this time."
The new members saw a great chestnut stump, its jagged spears of wood
protesting against its untimely end. But all over the trunk grew
fungi--some larger, some smaller, and all of the same flat horizontal
shape, like a huge palm-leaf. These were carefully removed and handed to
the girls to carry.
"What are they for?" asked Judith, looking at the red juice that ran
over her fingers when she took the fungus.
"That's your steak--think it is too big for one?"
"The what?" exclaimed the other new members, skeptically.
"Beefsteak mushroom--finest steaks ever tasted," came reassuringly from
the Captain. "The ones growing on a chestnut stump are always the
sweetest, but the chestnut trees are disappearing so fast that soon we
will have no such mushrooms from them."
When they had gathered enough steaks for that meal, they returned to the
clearing where Julie and Joan awaited them. On the way back, Mrs.
Vernon showed the scouts the earmarks of the beefsteak mushroom.
"When I cut these from the tree they bled exactly as flesh will bleed
when it is cut. Now turn them over and you will see on the under side
that they have veins of red. That is the life-sap. We will broil or cook
them exactly as if they were steaks and then you shall judge of their
flavor."
"Isn't it thrilling to think that man can go right into any wilderness
and, without carrying food, clothing, or shelter, live with what Nature
provides," remarked Judith.
"Yes, and without paying the outrageous prices charged at the present
time for actual necessities," replied the Captain.
The bread-twist was baked, and when the steaks were washed and sliced,
Mrs. Vernon dropped them into the hot fat tried out from the bacon.
Immediately the smell of frying steak made every scout smack her lips in
anticipation.
"If we weren't sure of such a fine dinner awaiting us, I would have had
a few of you girls gather young bracken for a fresh green vegetable to
eat with our steak. But we must not stop and enjoy too much by the
wayside," said the Captain.
There was a liberal slice of steak for each one and the girls pronounced
the taste of it delicious.
"And so tender, too! I never had such a juicy bit of meat," said
Hester.
Having refreshed themselves considerably, with the fun of finding the
mushrooms and cooking them, to say nothing of eating them, also, the
scouts continued the hike along the trail. Just as they reached the
crest of the mountain, Julie came suddenly upon a fawn, standing in the
shadow of a tree; it was watching these queer two-legged creatures.
It is hard to say which was most surprised, Julie or the deer, but the
fawn recovered first and bounded away through the forest.
"Oh, shucks! There we've gone and left that camera home again!" cried
Julie, stamping her foot angrily.
"Wouldn't that have made the most wonderful picture!" added Judith.
"No use crying now, but, for goodness sake! Julie, remember to bring it
next time," said Joan.
"Let _every one_ remember--the last thing to do when we start anywhere,
every one is to say to herself: 'Remember the _Maine_!' then we will
surely take the camera," giggled Julie.
The scouts now began descending the other side of the crest, and found a
better trail than on the side they came up. So, being able to go faster,
they soon reached a lovely camp-site, where the voices of several boys
announced that Grey Fox Camp was reached.
"We were just being sworn in as deputies to go out and hunt for strayed
or stolen scouts," called Mr. Gilroy, jocularly, as the girls picked
their way down from the great rocks that formed a wall back of the
camp-ground; then he introduced the two Troops to each other.
"You told us it was about a two-hours' hike!" said Ruth, shaking her
head at Mr. Gilroy, as if in despair of saving his soul.
"Well, so it is, when the boys are in a hurry to get to the bungalow."
"We've been five hours coming, and had to stop for lunch along the way,
too," said Judith, eager to talk about the beefsteak.
The boys stared. "Why, you were to have dinner with us! Didn't Mr.
Gilroy tell you that?"
"Yes, but we couldn't wait so long. We're ready for more dinner, now,"
said Joan.
"What did you cook for luncheon?" asked Alec, the oldest boy in the
Troop.
"Oh, only a beefsteak-mushroom and a scout-twist," returned Julie,
nonchalantly.
The boys exchanged glances. "Did you find the mushrooms along the way?"
asked another boy named Bob.
"Sure! Did you think they came preserved?" laughed Joan.
"No, but _we_ have never found any on this side of the hill. Bob often
goes out to hunt, but so far we've never seen any," explained another
boy, Ned Thompson.
"When we go back, you can go with us a ways, and we will show you where
we found the ones we had for luncheon," said Betty.
"Is dinner ready, boys, or will there be time to show the girls about
the camp?" asked Mr. Gilroy.
"Show them about, as it will take us ten minutes more to finish
everything in style," replied Alec.
So the girl scouts were invited to pass judgment on the fine camp the
boy scouts had made. Everything was neat as wax, and the boys had
constructed many convenient articles from wildwood material only.
"Last year we had eight boys in camp, but this season only four could
come in the beginning; so they have lots of room in their big tee pee.
When the other boys come out, they will have to make another tent. They
made and water-proofed this one themselves," explained Mr. Gilroy,
showing the visitors the fine big tent.
"They built this dining-room, too, to use if the weather is very bad. I
told the boys about your corduroy floor that you made in your huts last
summer, so they tried it here with very good result."
The girl scouts now saw their own idea put into use in a different
manner. The log floor was hard and dry, but at each corner rose a stout
pole, and upon the tops of the four pole ends was stretched a canvas
roof, making a shelter underneath.
"Girls, we ought to do the same thing, to use for meal time when it
rains, or if the rays of the sun are too hot," observed Mrs. Vernon.
Mr. Gilroy then pointed out to the girls how careful the boys had been
in selecting this camp-site. They had high, dry ground, near plenty of
fine spring water, on the same lake where the girl scouts camped, but an
arm of high land extended out into the water and separated the two
camps.
"You see, they have ample firewood about without cutting down any trees;
they get the early morning sun, and shade all the rest of the day. They
ditched the entire place to carry off all the rainwater that might wash
down from the crest during a heavy storm. And they built a refrigerator
to keep things cold; and over there they have a chicken-coop."
"A chicken coop! where did they get the chickens?" asked Julie.
"Ned had some at home and he crated them and brought them along. The
boys get fresh eggs in this way, and when the season is over, they will
kill the hens for a special occasion and eat them."
"Verny, that's what we need, a few chickens in camp," was Joan's
decision, the moment she saw the hens scratching.
"I noticed Gilly had a lot of chickens running about the barnyard. Maybe
he will loan us a few, just to provide us with eggs this summer. We can
return them in the fall, you know," ventured Julie, daringly.
"Who will buy their corn?" asked he, laughingly.
"No one. We will feed them scraps and they can scratch!" promptly
replied Julie.
"You'll starve them and then they won't lay any eggs," now said Alec,
joining the party.
"We'll smile on Hiram and get him to bring us some corn from the barn,
now and then," said Ruth.
"I came over to tell you dinner was ready to serve. We had better go
now, and eat it while it's good," said Alec.
The boys had various things hanging over the fire, but the great novelty
that caught the girl scouts' attention, at once, was the roaster upon
which a nice brown chicken was swinging before the fire.
"There! That's a fine idea. How did you make it?" asked Mrs. Vernon,
looking closely at the contraption.
Alec described to the Captain the method of making the roaster. "We took
a forked stick, as you see there, of about a two-foot length. We drove
that down into the ground about six inches. Next we took a long pole,
six or eight feet long, and drove the end down into the ground just back
of the short stick with the forks. It rested in the crotch made by the
forks so that its tapering end slanted upward at an angle, as you see
here.
"From the end of this long pole we hung the cord that holds the chicken.
Wire is just as good to use. Then we arranged that flat, paddle-like
fan halfway between the top and the rope end where the roast will hang.
As your chicken roasts before the fire, that mill-fan keeps it
perpetually turning about so it browns alike all over."
Julie wanted to make one like it as soon as they went back to their own
camp, so she hastily sketched a model.
"It is a great stunt, all right, and we've cooked many dandy roasts this
way, and never scorched any," said Bob, when Alec concluded his
description.
The dinner began with oyster-mushroom stew, then they had roast chicken,
baked wild-potatoes, stewed bracken that tasted exactly like young
spinach, dandelion salad, and scout cakes for dessert.
It was mid-afternoon when the girls finally said good-by to their hosts,
and invited them soon to visit Dandelion Camp. They started on the
return hike, but when they reached the highest boulder back of the camp,
the scouts stood and waved good-by again.
"Come as soon as you can, but give us a whole day's warning, first!"
shouted Julie, to the four smiling boys below.
They made much better time going back, as the trail from Grey Fox Camp
was plain, and going down the other side of the crest was much simpler
than climbing up. They got back to their own camp by seven o'clock, and
were surprised to find Mr. Gilroy there before them, with supper all
ready to eat.
"Well, this sure is good of you!" sighed Julie, dropping upon the grass
with healthy fatigue.
"I thought you'd appreciate it; I had no exercise to-day, except what I
got running the car, so I decided to 'do a good turn' and digest that
dinner at the same time," said he.
After supper, which was unusually late that night, the tired scouts and
their visitor were sitting about the campfire hoping some one would tell
a story, when Julie spoke:
"Last summer, Gilly said he would tell us all sorts of Indian legends
when we visited camp in the Adirondacks. Now we're here and this is the
right sort of an evening to tell them."
The other scouts seconded the suggestion, but Mr. Gilroy said: "Funny,
but I don't remember that promise."
"I told you you've got an awful memory--didn't I want to dub you 'The
man-with-a-poor-memory?'" teased Judith.
The guest sat gazing silently into the fire for a few minutes, then he
began:
"I'm going to tell you a story that is told by the Alaskan Indians.
These ancient legends have been handed down from one generation to
another, but the original goes back before the days of Moses. I was
deeply interested in a few of these tales because they sounded so much
like our story of Creation as told in Genesis, that I wondered if a
white missionary had sown his seeds of Christianity in the fertile soil
of the Alaskan Esquimaux' mind.
"But as far as I could ascertain this legend was told many hundreds of
years before white man ever stepped on Alaskan ground. Recently I
learned that Iceland has similar legends, and it may be that the Alaskan
Esquimaux are descended from those of Iceland. It is well known that
Iceland is the oldest civilized land in the world--that it was famous
for its learning before the days of Solomon the Wise."
CHAPTER FIVE
A STORY OF CREATION*
A Legend of Raven
*This legend, given in various ways by different tribes of
the Icelandic and Alaskan Indians, each with its own variations,
but all with one thread of similarity woven through the
tales--was partly interpreted and grouped by the author into
the legend that appears in this book. It is said to date back
thousands of years before Abraham and our Bible. Acknowledgments
for original texts and tales are due the Smithsonian
Institute.
"No one knows just how Raven first came to be, and we have many
different beginnings to start from, but in Sitka we know that Raven
never had beginning nor will he have an ending.
"Raven was always the All-in-all, and, as he knew all things and made
all, he began to wish to have a form of his wisdom that, too, would live
on with him forever. So it was that he made him a son to help in the
creation. And the son's name, also, was Raven. And now it is of Raven,
Son of Raven, that we speak.
"Raven was instructed in every form of knowledge and he was trained in
every wise thing, so that when he grew up he would have everything
necessary to make a glorious world, where all beautiful wishes and every
good idea would be objectified, and would remain forever a praise and
prayer to Raven, the Father Creator.
"So Raven made the world, but he found there was no light with which to
show the beauty and form of what he had created. Then, after deep
thinking, he remembered his father to have said that there was a large
lodge far up the Nass where One kept all the Light that ever could be
found.
"Raven tried many ways in which to reach this house on the Nass, but the
way was unknown to every one, so he wandered afar, seeking for the true
trail. One day he helped an old lame man along the path and, for
gratitude, the old man said: 'You seek the One of Nass who keeps the
Light?'
"Raven replied, 'Yea, for many days have I sought Him.'
"Then the lame old man smiled a strange smile, and said, 'I know of but
one way to bring this great Light into the world you made, and that way
is to send forth that Light through the daughter of the One with the
Light.'
"'But, Brother, how do I know there is such a daughter? And if there be,
how shall I receive the Light through her?'
"'O Raven, thou art a great creator! Thy father is All-in-all of the
North, and the daughter of Light will joyously send forth this Light you
need to show the beauties of your world,' said the old wayfarer.
"'Then tell me this, O Brother, for I seem not to know how to reach the
Virgin of the Light, despite all the wisdom I have been taught,'
anxiously begged Raven.
"'Then hark to my words, O Son of Raven: I will turn you into a small
drop of water, and fly with you over the House of Light. As I pass the
pool whence comes the water for drink, I will drop you into a glass the
Virgin holds ready to quaff. Then you will know what to do.'
"Raven showed his surprise, for he had believed the old man to be lame
and helpless, and now he found he was a Wise Man who could find his way
wheresoever he would go.
"Then the old man, with the wonderful drop of water held carefully in
his palm, flew over the House of Light, and passed low down over the
pool where the Virgin stood ready to drink.
"As she raised the cup to her lips, the drop of pure water which had
been Raven, fell into the liquid, and she drank all that the vessel
held.
"Now this drop of clear water grew and became a man-child, and the
Virgin knew she was to bring forth the Light unto the World, that all
might enjoy the beauties of creation. So she was happy and praised Raven
and the Father of Raven, day and night, for having given himself to
become a little drop of water that the Light might be born.
"When the time came for the Light to be revealed, the Virgin prepared a
royal bed of furs of great value for the Man of Light to be born on.
But the babe struggled and refused to be born in a state of riches, and
he whispered to the Virgin: 'The world of joy and riches needs me not,
but the world of sorrow and darkness needs me. I will shed this Light on
such as are heavyladen and weary.' So the Virgin knew the Light must be
born in meekness and humility, that all brothers could find Raven
without pomp or pay.
"So the birthplace was lined with common Iceland moss, and the child of
Light was born thereon. The moss-bed was made up in a room that had been
used for the humblest things in the Great House of Light: that is, for
the storing of queer bundles, some large, some small, and all of various
shapes and colors. And when the babe looked around at the walls of his
birthplace, his eyes shone like stars and a heavenly smile beamed from
his face, for _he_ knew what those bundles contained!
"As the child waxed strong and beautiful, the mother saw that it yearned
for something she had not hitherto given him, so a servant was ordered
to seek everywhere and find what it was the babe craved.
"Finally, the attendant moved a bundle that hung at the farthest end of
the room. And as he did so, the child laughed and his eyes shone
brightly.
"'Bring that bundle here--it is what the Babe wanted!' declared the
mother. So the unwieldy bundle was placed upon the bed.
"The mother carefully removed a wrapper, but found still others to undo.
Finally all the wrappers were taken away and but one remained. This was
of a wonderful shimmering material such as no one had ever beheld
before. The mother reverently opened this cover, and lo! there lay
revealed all the Stars of Heaven!
"The Child gurgled with joy, and took the corner of the shimmering cover
and drew it, with the contents, over to himself. He looked upwards, and
with a wonderful expression in his sweet face, suddenly flung the bright
cover and all the Stars it held, up through the smoke-hole of the lodge.
"With a happy, joyous laugh, he watched the Stars scatter far and wide
to rest finally in the Firmament, and there they shine to this very day!
"The Virgin Mother then knew that this child truly was Raven, the Son of
Raven, and she commanded every one to bow down in worship, for he had
been given the power to bring Light to the world of darkness, and no
more would darkness cover the people.
"Soon after the Stars were fixed in the Firmament of Heaven, the child
again yearned and seemed to pine for something. But now the mother knew
what had to be done, so she commanded an attendant to take down the
bundle that hung in the corner whence the Stars came.
"This bundle was brought over to the mother, but it was smaller than the
first bundle that had held all the Stars. The Mother carefully undid the
many wrappings of this bundle, and found the last covering was made of a
filmy frosty texture which had no opening or end that might be unrolled.
"But the child held out his hands eagerly for the bundle, and the moment
it had been given him, he found the secret opening and then unrolled the
cover. When the last frosty bit of gauzy cloud fell away from the
contents so carefully preserved, every one exclaimed in wonder at the
beauty they beheld. There was a big Moon, cool and shining, then as now!
"The child clapped his hands with delight, and wafted the Moon with its
frosty gauze covering up through the smoke-hole of the room and it
became fixed as the Stars, to give light through the hours of darkness,
that the earth need not stumble and fall upon a black pathway.
"The third bundle was great and difficult to reach, but the child cried
for it and the servants had to work and struggle to reach it, until
finally, down it came. And as it fell, it sent forth sparks of strange
fire that consumed not a thing, yet prevented any servant from handling
the bundle.
"The child laughed and clapped his hands, but finding no one could hold
the flaming bundle, he crept over and took it. The mother stood
affrighted lest the Child of Light be consumed. But he unwrapped each
covering himself, and when the last dazzling wrapper was revealed, no
human being durst gaze upon that Light. But he who was born of Light
looked upon what was hidden in that covering and flung all up through
the smoke-hole to take its place in the Firmament of Heaven, where it
shines like unto a Sun--to-day, as in those days. And it was given the
world to shed its rays of Light upon the earth by day, even as the Moon
shines for Light by night, and the Stars sing for joy and gladness that
Light came to the world.
"After the Sun, and Moon, and Stars were made, this man-child did many
wonderful things that astonished all who came to the House of Light to
hear and see such a marvelous being. But there was still one bundle left
hanging in a very gloomy corner of the birth-chamber, and this bundle
was left until the child grew to the stature of a man. Then he demanded
that it be given him.
"'No, no, my son,' wept the mother, 'do not ask for that--it contains
Death.'
"'Know then that _I_ know it,' returned the young man, seriously.
'Knowest thou not why I came to be born of the Light? Not only that the
world might have eternal Light, but also to dispel all darkness that
Eternal Life might come through the overcoming of this Death.
"'The Light I had, and the Light I gave, but through forever closing the
gates of Death to the world I forever fix this Light of Life in the
Heavens that no one can darken it more.'
"The mother wept for she knew her son must die if he took down that
bundle, but he replied: 'For this great mission was I sent to you that,
through you, should be given birth to Light, and thus establish for all
time the Light for the world.'
"Sorrowing, the mother herself took down the bundle and brought it to
her son, and no servant might remain in the room when Raven, Son of
Raven, removed the coverings of Death. As the last wrapper was removed
and the mother saw the heavy shroud that folded itself clingingly about
the ghastly contents of that bundle, she ran weeping from the room, for
she dared not watch her son accept it.
"So the birth-room remained closed while Raven fought with Death, but
after three shinings of the Sun, and three shinings of the Moon, and
with the shining of the Stars as they sang softly, a blinding Light
shone through all the walls of the House of Light, and the mother with
her attendants ran to open the door of the birth-chamber, now called the
Room of Death. But behold! the man Raven himself was revealed in shining
raiments, shining like the Sun, and he smiled upon those who fell down
in awe at sight of him.
"'I have destroyed Death for all, and now I go to shine in the Heavens
with this Light of Life that was given me. All who will may follow where
I go,' said Raven.
"'And at that, he rose through the smoke-hole and took his place in
Heaven, but his Light shone then and shines now into every corner of
darkness in the world. And the day is come when there is no more
darkness, for rich and poor, good and bad, and every created thing made
by Raven, see the Light that transforms everything into lights that find
their places in the Firmament of Heaven.'
"Raven, Son of Raven, sat hidden in the Great Light that he received
when Death was overcome, but he saw that the earth was without form.
Then he desired to create seas and mountains upon the face of the void,
and he sat thinking and thinking for many a time.