FUN IN THE CAMP
"Boys! wake up! Are you going to sleep all day?"
It was Snap who called out. He had just crawled out of his cozy
sleeping place near the fire and looked at his watch. It was eight
o'clock.
It was the morning after the day when they had had their trouble with
Kiddy Leech, and as they brought in some wood, stirred up the
smouldering camp-fire, they talked over what had occurred.
"I don't think he'll bother us any more," said Shep. "He's too much of
a coward at heart."
The boys had planned for a day "at home," as Snap put it. They were
going to try their hands at cake and candy making, and for dinner were
going to have baked turkey, beans and apple sauce. For breakfast Giant
and Whopper had prepared some of the fish caught through the ice, and
the repast proved a delicious one--quite a relief from the monotony of
game.
All of the boys were in exceptionally good humor that day, whistling
and singing and "cutting up" generally. Right after breakfast they
opened up the Inn to let in some fresh air and during that period of
time had a snowball match, using as a target a saucepan lid set up on
a tree stump at a distance of a hundred feet. Each took ten trials and
Snap knocked the lid down seven times, Shep six times and Giant and
Whopper each five times. Then the boys got to snowballing each other,
running round the shelter for protection, and at last Giant followed
Shep inside, each carrying a chunk of snow.
"Hi! that won't do!" sang out the leader of the club. "No snow allowed
inside. Come out, or I'll fine you each five sticks of wood." Which
meant that each culprit would have to go out into the woods and chop
down five fair sized sticks for firewood. This was a system of fines
Snap had instituted and it seemed to work very well.
"No wood chopping in mine," called out Giant, and threw his snow
outside. Whopper attempted to do the same, but the chunk fell and
spread all over one of the couches.
"Whopper you are fined five sticks, and you must at once clean the
couch, before the snow melts," said Snap.
"Just my luck," grumbled Whopper. "Every time I start out for fun I
end up with a funeral!" Yet he set to work willingly, whistling as
merrily as ever.
The sport at an end, all of the boys set to work, cake and candy
making. They cracked some of the nuts taken from the squirrels' hiding
places and then while Snap and Giant made a big nut cake, Shep and
Whopper made nut candy. The boys had learned the work at home (for
camp purposes) and the results were decidedly appetizing. In the
meantime the turkey was roasting, and then Snap and Shep peeled some
apples for apple sauce.
"Listen!" cried Whopper. "Am I mistaken, or did I hear a whistle?"
All listened and from a distance heard a clear, sharp whistle, thrice
repeated. They knew that signal well, and all rushed to the doorway of
the shelter, getting in a jam in consequence.
"I'm the one to get out ahead!" cried the Giant, and the small form
slipped deftly between the others. "Hullo, Jed Sanborn! How are you?"
"Hullo, yourself!" came from off the ice of the lake, as the
well-known old hunter strode forward. "Thought I'd find you to hum--by
the look of the smoke from your chimbley."
"Where did you come from, Fairview?"
"Yes,--got letters fer all of you."
"Oh, letters!" was the cry, and then all the young hunters rushed
forward to shake hands and escort the old hunter into the shelter. Jed
Sanborn looked around in perplexity.
"Why, say, this ain't the camp I expected," he stammered.
"The other was burnt down when we got here," answered Snap.
"Burnt down? 'T wasn't burnt down when I was here last, lad."
"So you told us. It must have been burnt down after that. The work of
some enemy," put in Shep.
"You don't suspect Felps, do you?"
"Either he or the Ham Spink crowd," answered Whopper.
"Humph! Dog mean, wasn't it? Some fellers is too mean to live. Say,
that turkey smells good. Ain't starvin' none, eh?"
"Not a bit of it," declared Giant. "We've got more than enough."
"Then kin I get dinner?"
"A dozen of them!" cried Snap.
They made Jed Sanborn make himself at home, and then read with
pleasure the letters. All was going along well at Fairview, and the
boys were cautioned to take good care of themselves.
"We must send letters in return," said Shep, and this was agreed to
instantly, and the communications were pencilled that afternoon.
Jed Sanborn had quite some news to tell, and he listened with interest
to the tale the young hunters had to relate about their various quests
of game. His brow darkened when they related their experience with
Kiddy Leech.
"Sech rascals ought to be run out o' the deestrict," he observed. "An'
I'd like the job of runnin' 'em out. I hope he doesn't bother you
again."
It was one o'clock when the Gun Club and their guest sat down to their
turkey dinner. All took their time over the repast, and as a
consequence the meal was not finished until some time after two. Then
they took it easy, while Jed Sanborn told them a story about a bear
hunt, and how he had once gone fishing on the St. Lawrence and got
caught in the rapids.
"It's snowing again!" called out Shep, who chanced to go out, to bring
in some more firewood. "Coming down pretty thick, too, I can tell
you!"
"I allowed it was going to snow before nightfall," answered Jed
Sanborn. "I'll take a look at the sky myself."
As a man who spent nearly all of his life out of doors, he was keenly
interested in the weather at all times. He studied the sky carefully
for several minutes and then shook his head.
"What do you think?" was Whopper's query. "Going to snow all night, I
reckon--an' putty good too."
On account of the snow, it grew dark rapidly, and they had to stir up
the fire for light as well as for warmth. Jed had brought with him a
small bag of corn for popping, and also a popper, something Shep had
meant to bring but had forgotten. While some of the boys cleared away
what was left of the meal, Giant and the old hunter popped a pan full
of corn, and of this and the cake, candy, and apples they made, later
on, what they termed supper.
"My! but it is snowing to beat the cars!" exclaimed Whopper, as he
looked out of the shelter before retiring. "Can't see the end of your
nose. I'll bet the snow will be eight or ten feet high by morning."
The evening was spent in playing various games and in singing some of
the home songs. The boys could sing fairly well and Jed Sanborn
listened with pleasure.
"Wish I could sing myself," he said. "But I ain't got no more voice
nor a black crow."
At last it came time to turn in, and they provided the old hunter with
a comfortable corner. The fire was fixed for the night, and presently
all went to sleep, little thinking of the excitement so close at hand.