of the girls squatted in the bottom. But it proved overweighted for such
a shallow stream, and two had to get out again. Julie and Joan then
paddled it safely to the deeper river, where Amy and Judith, being
lightest of the scouts, got in and sat in the bottom.
Mrs. Vernon and the rest of the Troop stood watching eagerly while the
two girls paddled silently and swiftly up the river to the place where
the tumbling stream joined River Bend. Here they halted to allow their
other friends to catch up with them.
Julie and Joan were complimented upon their prowess, and when Ruth and
Betty exchanged places with Amy and Judith, the canoe went on its way up
the river, while the other scouts continued hiking back towards camp.
"It wouldn't take us long to reach home if we were all in canoes," said
Anne.
"It would if _you_ were in one--you are so heavy!" laughed Hester.
A titter sounded from the girls, but Mrs. Vernon held up a hand for
silence. "Was that thunder I heard from over the mountain?"
"No, that was only Julie's paddle echoing down the stream," giggled
Judith. But a louder rumble told the Captain she was right in her
surmise.
"Dear me! I hope we won't be caught in another thunder-storm," said she,
holding the bunny closer to her side.
But in answer to her fear, a sudden flash and a nearer peal of thunder
warned them all to seek shelter if possible.
"If it rains we're bound to be soaked!" sighed Anne.
"You big silly! Did any of us think water was dry?" asked Hester,
scornfully.
"I do wish those girls hadn't left us in the canoe! If it rains they may
upset," worried the Captain.
"They didn't leave _us_ in the canoe, Captain. And we are just as likely
to meet with mishap as they," laughed Judith, to cheer every one up.
"Well, it's going to break mighty quick! See that inky cloud scudding
across there?" exclaimed Amy, pointing at the sky.
"Verny, why not make a quick shelter to crawl under?" suggested Anne.
"Think you can do it?" answered the Captain.
"Hester's got the rubber cover that Mike gave us for the canoe when it
is not in use, and we might stretch that between four trees," added
Anne.
"That's so. Let's try it!" agreed Hester, eagerly.
Quickly, then, the scouts chopped down the scrub bush where four young
trees were found for the corners, and then, while Anne and Hester
secured the four corners of the cover, the other girls ditched around
the spot so the rain would run off and not soak their camping place.
Anne and Hester completed their work before the others, and then hastily
bunched a mass of chopped-down bushes all around the temporary tent to
break the driving rain when it came. The spot thus enclosed was not
large, but by huddling together they managed to keep dry.
"How nice it is to sit in a dry place and watch everything else
gradually soak with the rain," ventured Amy, comfortably.
"No one would have dreamed that a shower would come up to-day, the
weather was so perfect when we left camp," said Judith.
"Do any of you girls understand weather-lore?" asked Mrs. Vernon.
No one did, so the Captain continued: "If you study wind and cloud,
wildwood creatures and other animals, you will find much to interest you
in the weather.
"When rain is coming you will see the sheep turn their tails to
windward, but if the day is to be fine the sheep will graze with faces
to the wind.
"Cows always gather and huddle together at a sheltered end of the
pasture lot when a storm is approaching. Cattle are restless and uneasy
before a storm breaks. And cows will fling up their heels, or sheep will
gambol as if to make the most of the sunshine just before a prolonged
spell of bad weather. Pigs, too, will grunt loudly and cavort about
uneasily in their pens, carrying bits of straw from their bedding in
their mouths, before a heavy rainstorm.
"With wild creatures you will find partridges sitting in the fields when
thunder is in the air. But the moment the storm blows over, the birds
are alive with energy again. Rabbits and other night-feeders can be
found out hunting on a sunny day, but that means there will be a wet
night.
"Most of our birds in field and forest know when a storm is brewing, and
they can be seen seeking for extra food to carry home, or, perhaps,
devouring it quickly, storing it up against the time everything is
soaked with the rain.
"Bees seldom fly far from the hive when rain is threatening; flies are
annoying and sting sharply before rain, and many times they cling
tenaciously to wall or furniture,--that is to keep flat to a surface, so
their bodies will not become damp.
"A large ring can be found to encircle the moon the night preceding a
rainstorm. Should the storm be two or three days off, the ring is wider
and you will find fainter shadows inside the main circle,--one for each
day.
"Mountain moss is found to be soft and limp, and smoke generally beats
downward when the East Wind presages rain. Callouses on the feet will
ache painfully; spiders will be seen strengthening their webs against
moisture-weight; morning-glories will close up tightly; mushrooms are
found to be numerous; and there are a dozen other weather-signs that I
forget now."
The scouts had listened with interest, for this was new to them,
although Hester added: "I've heard the saying, 'Mackerel sky, twelve
hours dry.'"
"Yes, and another one goes, 'Rain before seven, fine before eleven,'"
said Judith.
"You will find in summer that heavy dews in the night mean fine weather
the following day," added Mrs. Vernon. "Also any thunder-storm that
comes with the wind soon passes away, but let it come against the wind,
and it is apt to last."
"This one came with the wind and is blowing away already. See!"
exclaimed Amy, eagerly.
"Yes, girls, now we can do as the Arabs--fold our tent and steal away,"
said Mrs. Vernon, rising carefully so as not to jar the bunny which had
remained very quiet all this time.
"I wonder what the girls in the canoe did while the rain was falling,"
said Judith.
"Leave it to Julie to find a way. I'll say she landed them all on the
bank and then turned the canoe upside down over their heads," laughed
Hester.
When the canoeists arrived at camp, sometime after the hikers got there,
they exchanged experiences. Hester's surmise turned out to be exactly
right, and the girls in the canoe were as dry as those who sat under the
rubber cover.
CHAPTER EIGHT
JAKE'S INTERVIEW WITH A SKUNK
"Gilly, do you know of any vegetable dye we can find in the woods to dye
some burlap for decorations?" asked Julie one day.
"Yes, you can take the berries and leaves of red or staghorn sumac and
boil them together to make a black dye, or ink. If you need ink in a
hurry, you can take the _Genus Coprinus_, commonly known as the ink
mushroom, and pluck it at the end of its first day. The spores are
black, and the gills turn into a black fluid at the last. This produces
a splendid writing ink, or will dye grass, quills, and other wildwood
stuffs."
"Speaking of quills, Gilly--why can't we have chickens as the Grey Fox
boys have?" asked Joan.
"What would you do if they got the gapes, and no one would feed them
chopped onions?" laughed Mr. Gilroy.
"I'm not looking for trouble, but for pets to have about camp," retorted
Joan.
"I'd hardly call a chicken a pet!" laughed Julie.
"Even so, Julie, it would cluck and _appear_ to be friendly, even it
wasn't."
"What you scouts need is a good frisky dog for a pet. You can have
chickens, if you like, but they are a nuisance. They stray away to lay
their eggs, and if they were kept cooped you'd have to spend valuable
time making a suitable inclosure. But a dog will go hiking with you,
guard you at night from elephants and other prowling animals of the
jungle, and be a fine old pal to boot," said Mr. Gilroy.
"Oh, why didn't we think to bring Jippy," exclaimed Amy. Jip was a
little poodle of about fifteen years and had had the rickets for the
past five years, so he had to be carried about.
The moment the scouts saw that Amy was in earnest they fairly roared,
and Judith finally said: "Oh, Amy's catching the _ingenue_ habit from
Betty! What shall we do with two of them on hand?"
"Had we but known of this dire need of a dog, we would have brought
Towser--had he lived. He was only twenty-two this March, and had full
use of his bark even though he had no teeth or eyesight. But, alas!
alas! Towser is no more!" sighed Julie, rolling her eyes.
As Towser had been one of the "old settlers" in Elmertown, he was known
to every man, woman and child there. Many a time, because he was
stone-deaf and had not heard the blast from the horn, some one would
have to rush out to rescue him from a passing automobile. So Julie's
lament caused a new burst of merriment.
"Stop all fooling now, scouts, and listen to me," said Mr. Gilroy. "I
mean a regular dog--an Irish terrier, or a bulldog, to chum with and be
of some good to you. How'd you like it?"
"There ain't no sech critter in camp," retorted Julie.
"But I know where to get one! His name is Jake, and he is very fond of
the ladies, I'm told."
"His name sounds dreadfully rakish, Gilly," teased Joan.
"If Jacob is as faithful as his name would imply, we'd like to meet
him," added Mrs. Vernon, smiling.
"You shall. He lives at the farm where my overseer is, and the next time
Mr. Benson is due here, I'll see that Jake accompanies him. If both
sides are mutually attracted, the dog shall stay to give you scouts
something to do," declared Mr. Gilroy.
"What kind of a dog is he, Gilly?" asked Betty, eagerly.
"He is a prize Airedale. But he is so clever that he tries to run
everything on the farm, consequently Mr. Benson always has to separate
Jake from the other dogs in the neighborhood."
For the next two days the scouts were kept busy constructing a fine
kennel for Jake to live in when he joined their camp. Everything
imaginable was done to add to the comfort and luxury of this "dog's
life"; and the third day they started for the bungalow to be introduced
to Jake, who was expected to arrive that morning.
It was a warm, drowsy day, and the wildwood creatures seemed to be
keeping quiet. Even the bees hummed less noisily over the flowers they
were robbing of nectar. The girls strolled slowly along the pathway,
stopping now and then to watch a bird or examine a flower. They were
just passing the bend where the tumbling brook could be plainly seen
from the trail when, suddenly, Julie held up a warning hand for quiet.
Every one stopped short and waited. She pointed silently across the
bushes in the direction of a long fallen tree that lay on the bank of
the stream. The scouts looked, but saw nothing to cause this interest.
Then she whispered warily, "I saw a big creature creeping along that
log!"
"Really!"
"What did it look like? Which way did it go?" were questions hoarsely
whispered.
"It crawled on that log and suddenly disappeared. Maybe it jumped into
the water when it saw us. I am thinking it was a beaver," returned
Julie.
"Oh, how wonderful! If we could only see it at work," cried some of the
scouts.
"How big was it, Julie?" now asked Mrs. Vernon.
"It went so fast that I couldn't see well, but I should say it was about
as big as a very large cat,--maybe larger if we were closer," said
Julie.
"Dear me, if we didn't have to go for Jake we might sit and wait for it
to appear again. If it is a beaver, I'd love to watch it build a dam,"
sighed Ruth.
"I hope Jake won't want to chase it, on our way back," Betty worried, as
the thought struck her.
"We'll hold Jake on a leash. And if he doesn't make a fuss we might
creep over and watch for the animal's appearance again," added Julie.
"Then the sooner we go and get Jake, the sooner we'll be back here," was
the sensible remark of Joan.
The scouts now hurried along the trail and soon reached the bungalow,
where a splendid Airedale was sleeping in the sunshine. He was stretched
out full length right in the way where one would have to pass to go up
the steps to the verandah.
"Oh, are you Jake?" called Julie quickly, when she saw the dog.
"Isn't he a beaut?" cried Joan, admiring the shapely form as it jumped
up to growl at the visitors.
"Why, Jake, don't begin our relations with a growl! Don't you know we
have to keep the peace all summer?" laughed Julie, snapping her fingers
to the dog.
Mr. Gilroy heard voices and came out on the verandah. The moment he
greeted the scouts familiarly, Jake wagged his stump of a tail and ran
up to show his friendship for his master's friends.
The girls fussed over the dog immediately, and Mr. Gilroy smiled. "Well,
what do you think of him, scouts? Is he homely enough to win your pity?
You know it is said, 'Pity is akin to love.'"
"He's a regular peach, Gilly!" exclaimed Joan.
"Just what we need at camp," added Judith.
And in the next ten minutes the dog had won high favor with his future
companions. Then the scouts told about the animal they believed to be a
beaver, so they wanted to hurry back and watch.
"But hold to the leash if you go near the log. Jake is a born hunter,"
advised Mr. Benson.
"Oh, he is very obedient if you speak sternly to him," added Mr. Gilroy.
"If he tugs or wants to run, just command in severe tones, 'To heel,
Jake,' and he will obey like a lamb."
Jake wagged his tail as he watched Mr. Gilroy, and when the order was
given, 'To heel, Jake,' he crept behind his master.
"Oh, the darling! Doesn't he mind splendidly!" cried several of the
scouts.
"I'll come along pretty soon. Wait for me near the log where you saw the
beaver. I'll finish up with Benson and then join you there," said Mr.
Gilroy, as the scouts started down the trail again, leading Jake by the
leash.
Every one was delighted with the meek and obedient dog, and the fussing
was accepted by him as his due, but he paid no attention to the numerous
pats and endearing names given him as they walked along. Then they
reached the open space where the log bounded the edge of the running
water. It was about a hundred yards from the trail and distinctly
visible because the brook was lower than the footpath where the scouts
stood.
"There it is! I saw it!" exclaimed Joan, excitedly.
At the same moment Jake also saw something doubtful moving swiftly out
of sight back of the log. The girls ran over to the bushes to see the
better, and Julie's hold on the leash relaxed unconsciously. In that
same second, Jake took mean advantage of her inattention to him and
darted away.
"Oh, oh! Come back here, Jake!" yelled Julie instantly.
But the dog stood upon a rock, his ears erect, his nose sniffing as he
pointed it in the direction of the log. His tail trembled spasmodically
and the hair along his spine stood up stiffly.
"I say, to heel, Jake. Come back, to heel!" shouted every scout in the
group. But Jake was deaf to their calls.
Then the Captain called to him, but he bounded from the rock and managed
to force his way through the bushes, the leash catching here and there
on stumps, on sharp rocks, or on bushes.
"What shall we do? Now he'll kill the little beaver!" wailed Betty,
wringing her hands.
"Some one run back and get Gilly! _He'll_ make him mind," ordered Julie.
"Who's Orderly for the Day? I want to wait and watch what he does," said
Joan.
"Oh, pshaw! I'm Orderly, and I s'pose I've got to go," declared Judith,
impatiently.
"I'll go for you, Judy, 'cause I can't bear to wait here and see Jake
kill anything," said Betty, deeply distressed.
"All right, Judy,--let Betty go instead, if she likes," agreed the
Corporal. So Betty ran swiftly away while the other scouts resumed their
coaxings to draw Jake away from the log.
Julie now started to break away through the bush to get the dog, and
several of the girls followed closely at her heels. When they reached
the place where they had seen something move, they also saw tracks in
the soft soil.
"It really is a wild animal," said Julie, excited at sight of the
footprints.
"But what? Do you know?" asked Judith.
"No, but it must be a beaver--or a fox. I don't know which," confessed
Julie.
But they couldn't get at Jake. He was racing excitedly up and down on
the log, his nose close to the strangely odorous scent, and all the
commands and persuasions from the scouts failed to make the least
impression on him. His nervous short yelps showed how keen he was to
have a face-to-face bout with the animal.
Julie tried to step on the leash, but he dragged her foot so that she
suddenly sat down violently on the ground. Then he nosed under the grass
that hung over the brook, and finally swam over to the other side. There
he stood and watched nervously, but the girls could not get him back
again.
"Talk about his minding! Why, he's the cussedest dog I ever saw!"
complained Julie, as she got up and shook her clothes free of the
briars.
"There's no use standing in this baking sun to look at Jake standing on
the other bank!" exclaimed Joan, angrily eying the disobedient dog.
"We'll go back to the shady trail and watch for Gilly," said Julie,
starting back to join the Captain. But they kept calling to Jake as they
retraced their steps.
When they got back to the slight elevation where Mrs. Vernon and Amy had
waited, anxiously watching results, they saw Jake make a leap and swim
quickly back across the brook to the log.
"He must have seen or heard something that time," whispered Hester.
"Yes, 'cause he's stretched out on that log nervously wagging his tail
with his eyes glued on something," admitted Amy.
Then they caught their breath. The scouts saw a movement in the green
leaves at the end of the log and then--Jake was creeping stealthily
across that log, as if he also saw what he wanted to pounce upon.
"Oh, oh! Jake's got it! He's jumped upon it!" screamed Julie,
frantically.
"Why, it's a great big tomcat! They're fighting!" cried Hester, too
excited to stand still, but jumping up and down.
"A cat! Gilly hasn't a cat that color!" declared Joan.
"Girls!" fairly hissed Julie. "I bet it's a wildcat--and it will kill
Jake as sure as anything!"
"No, no! Oh, girls, I just saw it, too! It's a skunk! Run, run--for your
lives!" cried Mrs. Vernon, turning to run up the trail towards the
bungalow.
But several of the scouts would not desert the dog. He had carried the
skunk off its feet with his unexpected leap upon it, and the two rolled
and fought madly for supremacy. The leash, instead of tripping Jake, got
tangled in the skunk's legs, and both animals rolled back and forth.
The enraged beast fired the deadly fluid to blind her antagonist, but it
drenched the fallen tree only. Then Jake caught a grip on her throat and
shook her head; still she was game and kept on struggling.
Again they rolled over together, the skunk trying to get to the brink of
the water, where she would manage to roll them both in. But Jake
understood that motive, too, and braced his feet against the stones in
their way.
A second volley of the ill-smelling spray from the skunk struck at
random, and then Jake gave her neck another sudden shake. This time it
was effective, and the head suddenly hung limp. Jake had broken her
neck, and was the victor!
He now took great pains to drag the trophy through the brush to present
to his friends in the roadway. The leash caught several times and almost
snapped his own neck, and the skunk was heavy, but he managed to drag it
along.
When Julie saw his intent she screamed and warned the girls to flee! And
in running up the trail they met Mr. Gilroy, who had been summoned by
half-crazed Betty's crying, "Jake and the beaver are killing each
other!"
Mr. Gilroy did not stop to hear what Julie tried to gasp, but he ran
down and saw Jake bringing the skunk out into the pathway.
"To heel! to heel, Jake!" shouted Mr. Gilroy, holding his nose when the
dog tried to jump upon him in the ecstasy of having achieved such a
great deed.
"What shall we do with him? He can't sleep at Dandelion camp to-night,"
wailed the girls, as they, too, held their noses.
"I'll have to take him back to the barn and have Hiram turn the hose on
him for twenty-four hours."
"Isn't there a reward for skunks in the country?" now asked the Captain.
"Not only a reward, but the pelts are valuable since they became so
fashionable," remarked Mr. Gilroy, complacently.
"Well, Jake's earned his keep to-day, then," declared Judith.
"But it will cost more than the skunk brings to pay for the nine hundred
and ninety-nine bottles of _fleur-de-lis_ toilet water Gilly will have
to use to change Jake's scent!" laughed Julie.
CHAPTER NINE
LESSONS IN TRACKING
"Well, scouts! That shows us how little we know about wild animal's
tracks," remarked Mrs. Vernon, after Jake had been made to go back to
the bungalow, and the Troop went on to camp.
"I could have sworn that skunk's footprints were a coon's or a
fox's,--or something big!" exclaimed Julie, trying to justify her
mistake.
"To me, the tracks in the soil looked like a lynx's, or something,"
added Joan, hoping to cover the ignominy of having unearthed a skunk
without knowing the animal.
"Isn't there some sort of book that will teach us how to recognize
tracks, girls?" asked Hester.
"Is there, Verny? Maybe we can get one at the bungalow," added Julie.
"I don't know of any at this moment, but Mr. Gilroy surely will know,"
replied the Captain.
So they all went to the bungalow the next morning to inquire after
Jake's scent, and also to borrow any books on the subject they had
discussed.
"Yes, I have several books, and let me tell you they are precious, too.
There are but few on this subject, and the one I consider the best was
compiled by Ernest Seton-Thompson under great difficulties. He had to
gather all information from plaster casts made in the tracks themselves,
or from sketches, or from camera pictures taken on the spot.
"As every different animal leaves a different track, there are many
illustrations necessary in such a work, and that makes the book most
desirable and also very expensive. But it is great fun to study the
pictures and then try to recognize the tracks in the woods."
"We haven't found any about camp," said Judith, regretfully.
"There must be all sorts of tracks there, but you don't know how to find
them. Now, if you want to study this book and then practice early some
morning, I'll come down and help find the tracks," Mr. Gilroy said.
"Oh, great! Will you come to-morrow morning?" asked the girls.
"Hadn't we better study the book first, scouts, and let Gilly know when
we are ready to go tracking?" suggested the Captain.
So for a time every one was busy reading the book and trying to discover
a track in the woods near camp. But Julie laughed as she said, "It isn't
likely that a wild animal will prowl close to our camp at night. We'll
have to hunt one some distance away."
Mr. Gilroy overheard the remark as he came down the trail. "Sometimes
the animals will come quite close to camp just to find out what it is
that is intruding on their forest domain."
"Well, then, I wish they'd hurry and come here!" declared Judith.
"When you are ready to hunt tracks, I'll arrange some baits around your
camp grounds; and the next morning I'll vow you'll see that you've had
callers while you slept. So quiet are they that you won't hear them,
either," said Mr. Gilroy.
"We are ready to hunt now, Gilly. We know everything in the book and are
crazy to test it," said Joan, eagerly.
"Then I'll tell you what we might do. I was going over to Grey Fox Camp,
but if you girls will deliver a message for me, I will go home and
attend to the bait I spoke of. Hiram and I will do the rest."
"All right--what do you want us to say to the boys?" agreed the scouts.
"Now, listen! Tell them that I want them to start out at dawn in the
morning and hunt up all the tracks they can trace about their camp. Then
to-morrow afternoon they are to come over here with their reports and
have a match with you girls. The side showing the best results and most
interesting experience shall have a prize. How does it strike you?" Mr.
Gilroy glanced at the pleased faces as he concluded.
"Fine! Do they know much about tracks?" returned Julie.
"Oh, yes, but then you must understand that they have been scouting for
more than four years. Tell them that this is your first summer in a
genuine forest camp, and they need not expect you to accomplish wonders.
Then you girls must turn in and do your best!" laughed Mr. Gilroy.
The scouts were most enthusiastic, and gaily agreed to follow Mr.
Gilroy's suggestions. When they were ready to hike over the crest, the
Captain said, "We may as well invite the boys to supper to-morrow and
make a party of it."