until she reached the part where the Chief stood on the roof of the hut,
commanding the fugitives to come out. To make the recital more
impressive, the Captain threw out her arm, which was supposed to hold
the revolver, when quite unexpectedly the chair she sat in collapsed,
and she found herself on the grass.
For a second every one held his or her breath, then laughed heartily at
Mrs. Vernon's surprised expression. Julie jumped up from the stump where
she had been sitting and ran over to explain.
"Oh, I am so sorry, Verny! I forgot to tell you that the fore leg of
this rustic seat was loose. I tied it on with string to make it look
right, but I didn't think any one would use it."
"Good gracious, Jule! Did you think our camp wanted ornamental
furniture?" demanded Joan, thinking thereby to give a strong hint to the
friends who showered useless articles upon them that day.
This statement caused rather a silence in the visitors, until May said:
"I hope you won't find much trouble in repairing the pieces _we_ brought
for you."
"Oh, we will make some sort of use of them," replied Julie, frankly, as
sisters will. "We can pull the old stuffing out of that sofa, you know,
and use it for bedding for Hepsy, when we run short of dried leaves or
grass."
Every eye turned to look at the old sofa, and Mr. Gilroy had great
difficulty in keeping his face straight. Finally the erstwhile owner of
the sofa said: "Horses don't like hair for bedding."
Julie retorted: "Because it makes them dream of what all the tails and
manes come to when they die!"
This caused a laugh, and Joan added: "Anyway, a horse in camp--'specially
a scout horse--can't be choosers about bedding. They are glad to get what
is to be had."
Mr. Lee laughingly replied to this: "I'm glad I'm not a scout horse."
Mrs. Vernon now turned to her sister-in-law and said: "I'm curious to
hear what donations you found to bring out?"
"Oh, Pete told me there was a loft full of furniture over the old
stables. So I rummaged and found all I could manage."
"That reminds me, Mrs. Ormsby! We have not added your gifts to these
because we could not carry them up the slope. They were too heavy,"
explained Mr. Lee.
"My goodness me! More stuff?" exclaimed Ruth.
"Yes, but I think you will be pleased with my donations," said Mrs.
Ormsby, apologetically. "I heard how you had to manage with this poor
camp-fire, so I brought a kitchen stove that was stored in the loft. I
also----" but the lady got no further at that time.
The scouts laughed so that some of them doubled over and rocked back and
forth. Even Mrs. Vernon had to laugh at her relative's pity.
"Oh, oh! This is the funniest thing I ever heard!" said she. "Why, my
dear Kate, don't you know that half the sport of camping is trying to do
without modern equipment? Every camper tries to use wood-material only
for home, furniture and outfit. What would the founders of the girls'
scouts say if they heard we cooked our camp meals on a kitchen range in
the woods!"
"Do you really mean that you do not want it?" asked Mrs. Ormsby.
"Of course not! We have a fine fireplace and oven, so the stove and
stove-pipe may as well go back on the truck."
"Maybe you will scorn the walnut bed I brought as a great surprise? I
heard there was a spring and mattress, so I had the bed brought from the
loft and moved here on the truck with the other things. But it is so
massive and heavy, no one could carry the head and foot boards up the
hill. We thought Hepsy could do that," explained Mrs. Ormsby, dubiously
to be sure, after the reception her other gift had received.
Mrs. Vernon now laughed as heartily as the scouts had done just before
this. "Oh! That awful bedstead that always took an acre lot to hold it!
Where could we put it up? Our huts will never hold one section of it."
"I have a brilliant idea, Mrs. Vernon," now said Mr. Gilroy. "Suppose we
put up the bed down there in some secluded nook and then with the spring
and mattress I can have a wonderful suite of my own for a few nights."
"There! I knew that bed would prove useful!" declared Mrs. Ormsby,
sending a look of thanks to Mr. Gilroy.
"Maybe Mr. Gilroy would like the stove, too, to dry out the dampness
from the ground where he camps," suggested Julie.
Every one laughed excepting Betty; she took the idea as literal, and
said: "That might be a good plan for us--to use it in front of the
fireplace. You see, we can't burn wood there 'cause it smokes so, but
the stove-pipe can be run right up the flues so all the smoke from the
stove will manage to get up where it ought to go."
Another shout of laughter greeted this original proposition, and Mrs.
Vernon finally gasped: "If the stove goes in the hut, we will have to
stay out!"
"Then I suppose the stove has to go back?" Mrs. Ormsby wanted to know.
"We can sell it in Freedom, I have no doubt, and put the proceeds in the
bank for the Adirondack Camp," replied Mrs. Vernon.
"Oh, say, Verny! That's what we can do with all this furniture, can't
we?" cried Julie, eagerly.
But her vivacious suggestion seemed to meet with another strange
silence. Finally Mrs. Vernon broke the embarrassment by saying: "We
ought to get dinner, as it is long past the hour."
And Mr. Lee said: "I suppose the food-stock we brought to replenish the
larder will be scorned."
"Oh, no indeed, Daddy! We _need_ things to eat!" said Betty.
As they all sat in a circle on the grass, eating and laughing, Eliza
made a bold suggestion.
"Now, I sez we folks seem to be foolish over some things. One of 'em is,
we hoard ole furniture and odds and ends that even a Dandelion laughs
at! We pays rent fer jes' sech useless trash that we never wants to use
agin. Every house-cleanin' time we moves and cleans the rubbish what
collects moths, an' finally, affer years of savin', we throws it out."
She paused to see what effect this statement had on her audience, and
seeing it was politely received, she took another huge bite from the
sandwich she held, and, while chewing vigorously, concluded her speech.
"Now, this is what I sez: 'Let's go home and clear out all the rubbage
that clutters our attics, an' give it to the poor, or sell it to a
rummitch sale such as I hears tell of in Elmertown.'"
"I second that valuable motion!" laughed Mr. Lee.
And the men voted unanimously on the plan, but the ladies were not so
easily persuaded. Mrs. Ormsby quickly added: "All opposed to the motion,
say 'Nay.'"
But the scouts and Mrs. Vernon shouted hilariously to drown opposition.
There were two or three faint "nays," so the motion was carried, and the
men declared that they would see to it that it was fulfilled.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A VISIT TO GRANNY DUNSTAN'S CABIN
Mr. Gilroy's "suite of rooms" was put in order by the men before they
went back to Elmertown, and not only the walnut bed helped furnish the
chamber, but several other pieces of furniture were carried back from
the stack beside the shed, and placed to add a look of comfort to the
"room."
When all was done and the visitors were ready to leave, the scouts
declared they would accompany their relatives down the slope and pass
judgment on the "suite" to be occupied by their guest.
"It may be healthy to sleep out under the trees like this, but I prefer
a plaster ceiling," laughed Mr. Lee, waving his hand at the open woods
that was to be Mr. Gilroy's chamber.
"That's because you never tried Nature's ceiling. Once you sleep out in
the open, you will never want to try indoors again," replied Mr. Gilroy.
"I'd better not try it, then. I have to remain at home and see that some
one provides the 'pot-boiler,'" returned Mr. Lee.
The visitors climbed into the jitney and said good-by, and the scouts
turned to go up the hill again, when Mrs. Vernon remarked: "Now that you
have a boarder to look after, you must pay more attention to your
cookery. Mr. Gilroy must not regret having accepted our invitation to
camp with us for a few days."
"But our invitation had 'a string' to it, Verny," added Julie
laughingly.
"That's true--I said I would take 'pot luck' and teach the scouts many
camping tricks to boot!" declared Mr. Gilroy.
Sunday morning at breakfast Mrs. Vernon said she was very anxious to
meet young Dunstan, for he might have met her son in the Aviation
Service. Then she had to tell Mr. Gilroy about it.
"I thought I would like to drive down to Freedom later in the day, Mrs.
Vernon, and see if there was any mail for me. It was to be forwarded
from Junction, you know. If you would care to go and ask about Dunstan,
we might make a little party of it," suggested Mr. Gilroy.
"Yes, Verny, let's!" exclaimed the scouts.
"I am willing, as there seems little else one can do," added Mrs.
Vernon.
So Hepsy was hitched to the buckboard and the campers climbed in. As
they started down the trail, Ruth remarked: "We ought to be thankful the
posse found our hamper and seat in the Cave, and brought it back to
camp."
"Yes, or we'd have to ride on the floor of the buckboard," added Joan.
"We'd have more room there than on this seat," retorted Julie, who was
clinging to the iron rail.
"We can take turns walking if we are too crowded," suggested Mr. Gilroy,
who shared the back seat with two scouts.
"We'll have to do that, anyway, when Hepsy comes to a hill," laughed
Mrs. Vernon.
So with light banter the party rode to Freedom; there they were received
like heroes, for every inhabitant of Freedom had clipped the papers and
saved the items that mentioned the capture of the convicts. While Mr.
Gilroy went with Lemuel to get his letters, Mrs. Vernon asked if young
Dunstan had been heard from.
"Not yet, but sometimes he takes the Crest Trail to hum. In that case,
he nary comes nigh Freedom," replied an old native.
"Where does the Crest Trail start?" asked Mrs. Vernon.
"Wall, that's the way Mr. Gilroy went from Junction. It runs along the
top affer one gits halfway up from Junction."
As this description was not very accurate, the Captain decided to trust
to Mr. Gilroy's ability to lead them there. So she made a proposition to
Mr. Gilroy. The girls did not hear what it was, so they knew nothing of
the outing planned for the morrow.
"I think it will be fine, Captain, and I will see the man who has charge
of the stable," returned Mr. Gilroy, in a low voice.
Soon after this Mr. Gilroy went down the main street and turned in at
the livery stable. He was not gone long, however, and when he returned,
he nodded satisfactorily to Mrs. Vernon.
That night Mrs. Vernon said to the scouts: "You must all go to bed
early, as we have a jaunt planned for you to-morrow. Breakfast must be
out of the way quite early, as we hope to start from camp about eight
o'clock."
"Where are we going, Verny?" asked Ruth.
"I heard Verny asking about Dunstan's Cabin, and I bet she plans for us
to walk there," quickly added Julie.
Mrs. Vernon smiled at this added proof of Julie's mental alertness, but
she shook her head as she said: "Not a walk, but a ride."
"A drive, you mean," corrected Joan.
"No--just what I said. There will be horses from Freedom brought to camp
before eight to-morrow, if it is clear," explained Mrs. Vernon.
"Good gracious! I haven't any habit!" exclaimed Ruth.
"We will ride in the bloomers we wear at camp," said the Captain.
"I never knew there were enough saddles in Freedom for all of us,"
laughed Julie.
"That is what I went to find out," said Mr. Gilroy. "The man, Mark, who
has charge of the stable, told me he could hire some from the farmers
round about. He is going to bring up the horses in the morning and take
them back in the evening."
"What will he do meantime, to kill time here?" asked Joan.
"He said he would make some bird-boxes for you, and nail them up in
various trees, so you can entice the birds to nest here."
But the scouts had not yet studied bird-life, so they were not aware
that the nesting period was past. They delighted in the news that they
were to have bird-houses, however.
When Mr. Gilroy took up his flashlight to go down to his "Royal Suite,"
as the scouts called the walnut bedstead, Joan said: "Shall we escort
you down the trail?"
"Oh, no! I can find the bed, all right. It is such a huge affair that I
would have to be blind not to see it in the dark."
The scouts were soon in bed after this, and honestly tried to go to
sleep, but the new adventure planned for the morrow kept them awake.
After telling each other what they would wear and how well they could
ride horses, one after the other quieted down, and, last of all, Mrs.
Vernon was able to sleep.
It was past eight when Mark was seen coming up the trail leading a line
of horses, saddled and ready to ride. Stopping at the Royal Suite, he
waited for Mr. Gilroy to get upon the largest horse. Then they continued
to the camp.
The girls had breakfast out of the way, and were anxiously waiting for
the horses, so Mark had quite an audience as he rode up on the plateau.
The scouts seldom had opportunity to ride a horse when at home, and now
they commented on the different animals. Julie instantly said: "I choose
the brown one--he is so shiny."
"Seems to me they look awfully tall," whispered Betty.
"They be the usual size, miss," said Mark, who overheard.
"Maybe they won't seem so high when we get up," added Joan.
Mrs. Vernon laughed. "That is always the first thought of an amateur
rider--how high up the saddle seems!"
Mr. Gilroy assisted the Captain to mount, then he helped the girls up.
Mark had an extra horse, and now he said: "I brung my own hoss ez I
figgered I'd best lead the way as fur as Crest Trail. After that it's
easy going and you can't miss Dunstan's Cabin."
"All right, Mark--lead on," said Mr. Gilroy.
"As the hosses is all safe fer ridin', the scouts needen' fear 'em. They
ain't colts ner air they skittish," said Mark.
Mr. Gilroy smiled, for he surmised as much. The mounts, in fact, seemed
aged enough to be pensioned for the rest of their lives.
As Mark led the way up the trail, he described Granny Dunstan and her
abode. "She's most a hunerd years old, an' she's allus lived in that
cabin. This boy is her great-gran'son, but his folks lives in a town
some forty mile away. He come to stop wid' Granny when she got so old,
an' he likes the woods life."
"But he enlisted, you say, to fight the Germans," said Mrs. Vernon,
eagerly.
"Yeh! He keeps up to th' times, an' hes books and papers up thar. When
the _Lusertani_ was sunk he got reel mad, an' come down to Freedom an'
wanted to git a crowd of young uns up to go and shoot the Huns. But they
diden' want to go so fur from hum. Then he got his dander up an' says:
'I'll jine myself, then. You'll hear of me some day!' And off he goes.
Some folks said he oughter have stayed wid his Granny, so a few of us
druv up to ask her about it. Golly! she mos' made us deef with her
shoutin' at our bein' slackers, cuz she said her boy was the onny true
Yank in Freedom!
"She made us feel mighty small when she shouts out: 'Yuh call yer town
Freedom! Bah--it ain't nothin' but a handful of cowards. It oughter be
called "Slack town."' We got away pritty soon affer that, an' folks
ain't so anxious to visit Granny as onct they was."
This explanation gave the scout party a good idea of the old woman they
were about to visit, and Mrs. Vernon said:
"Do you think we should have told her we wanted to call?"
"Oh, no! she don't mind strangers. She goes about her chores jes th'
same ez ef no one was there," said Mark.
The seven horses padded softly up the grassy trail, and when they
reached the cross-trail near the top of the mountain Mark reined in his
mount.
"Now, yeh foller that trail to the crest an' then turn t' th' left.
Foller the road clear on till yeh come to the Cabin."
Mark waited and watched until the last horse had disappeared on top of
the mountain, then he rode back to camp to wait. The scouts continued on
the trail, passing noisy streams that ran madly over rocks or fell over
cliffs. The birds and flowers were many-hued and beautiful, so that
every step of the way was enjoyable. Mr. Gilroy rode in front, and the
Captain at the rear of the line.
After a ride of about three miles along the Crest, Mr. Gilroy stopped
his horse and looked at a tiny cabin half-hidden under vines and giant
trees. It sat back from the trail about twenty feet, and might have been
passed by unless one was looking for it.
"Isn't that lovely?" Joan said.
"Yes, in summer; but think how dreadful it would be in winter," added
Julie.
"She doesn't live here all winter, does she?" asked Ruth.
"Yes; Mark says she won't leave the place, although her
granddaughter--the aviator's mother, you know--begged her to move down to
her home," explained Mrs. Vernon.
"The roof's as green as the grass," now said Betty.
"It's moss on the old shingles," said Mrs. Vernon.
"Mark told me that folks at Freedom say the old lady has a heap of money
hidden away in this old cabin, and no one knows where except her
great-grandson, who will be the heir," said Mr. Gilroy.
"But that is all conjecture, Mr. Gilroy, as no one has ever heard a word
about it from Granny or her boy," added Mrs. Vernon.
"I think it is idle gossip, for how could the old dame make the gold up
here? It would take all she could earn with her herbs to pay for her
living," admitted Mr. Gilroy.
"Does she sell herbs?" asked the scouts, eagerly.
"Mark said she is the greatest Nature physician ever found around here.
If the medical men can't cure a sickness, they send for Granny Dunstan,
and she gives the patients a drink of simples and they recover quickly.
"She used to sell these remedies all over the countryside, but of late
years she doesn't come down to the towns like she used to. Her boy sells
his pelts instead, so that is why the people said she had gold enough."
"I'm glad you told us this, Mr. Gilroy," said Mrs. Vernon, "as I should
like the scouts to learn from the aged woman how she gathers and
prepares the tea and balms."
The riders dismounted and tied their horses to trees, then followed Mr.
Gilroy across the grass to the cabin. The door stood open but not a
sound was heard from within.
"Just look at this construction!" cried Julie. "She's used stones, logs
and everything in the walls."
"And the growing trees were used for corner-posts of the house," added
Mrs. Vernon, examining the odd structure.
Mr. Gilroy rapped politely on the door, but no one replied. Again he
rapped louder, and a shrill bark sounded from a distance back in the
woods.
"I guess she's out in her garden," said Mr. Gilroy.
"I heard a funny grunt from the little shed at the back of this room,"
whispered Julie.
"Let's go around the corner of the cabin and see if she is back there,"
suggested Mrs. Vernon.
So they followed Mr. Gilroy, and all had to laugh when they found the
grunt came from a sow with a litter of little pigs. She was queen of the
shed that leaned against the cabin, so the scouts watched her with
interest for a time, then turned to follow after Mr. Gilroy and the
Captain.
But the sow grunted excitedly when the little ones ran after the
visitors. They thought there would be something to eat, and having never
seen strangers before they knew no fear of them. The angry grunting of
the old mother hog made the dog bark again from the woodland, and soon
after a bent-over form could be seen coming from the woods.
A hound bounded before her, barking shrilly at the trespassers, until
the old woman shouted: "Be quiet, Bill!"
Instantly the dog dropped behind his mistress, and Mr. Gilroy lifted his
hat as he greeted the aged dame.
Mrs. Vernon went forward also, and said: "We came to see you, Mrs.
Dunstan; I heard your boy was an aviator in France, and I felt an
interest in meeting and talking with you and him. My boy was one, too,
but he was shot down."
This was an opportune introduction, as nothing melted the old lady's
scorn and indifference to visitors like the interest one took in
aviation.
"Now, this be a real treat! Them folks at Freedom won't dare to come and
see me since we went to war!" declared the centenarian in a strong
voice.
Granny Dunstan squinted keenly at the visitors to make sure they were
truthful, and, finding they seemed earnest, she led the way to the
cabin.
"I rickon we better sit outside; the cabin's too small to hold more'n
three of us," announced Granny, as she turned to address her visitors.
Her criss-crossed wrinkled face seemed to roll up with that grin,
showing shrivelled toothless gums. Yet the aged face was attractive,
with a subtle kind of wholesomeness seldom seen in old people. Mrs.
Vernon said, later, that it must be the result of living alone with
Nature and her children for so many years.
"You said you had a boy what was aviator in France?" questioned Granny,
the moment the scouts had seated themselves.
"Yes, and when I heard your boy had been over, I was anxious to meet you
both," said Mrs. Vernon.
"Wall, my boy's got a cross from France, an' now he's ben sent for to go
to Washin'ton and meet some big folks what's here visitin' from France.
I tell you, John's a right smart soljer!"
The proud old dame wagged her head briskly as she gazed from one to the
other of her hearers. Then she suddenly changed the conversation.
"Yeh hed a long, long ride from Freedom, didn't yeh?"
Mrs. Vernon explained that they were camping and had only traveled from
the plateau that morning.
"Oh, ye'es must be the gals John tole me about one day--he said thar war
some tramps loose on the hill and he wisht yuh knew it so yuh could keep
a dog to warn 'em off. In fack, he wuz agoin' to git yuh one, but he had
to leave so quick-like."
Granny was very entertaining, and before the scouts left, she had shown
them many of her preparations, witch-hazel being one of her remedies.
She treated them to drinks of birch-beer, and gave them vials of
winter-green flavoring, and peppermint oil, to be used in candy-making.
"I'd like to bring my girls up again, Granny, to have them learn more of
your art of chemistry. The proof that you have found the secret of
living long and well is evident in your strength and power to enjoy life
as you do," said Mrs. Vernon, as they said good-by.
"An' I'll tell John about you havin' a boy over thar, an' he'll be sure
to come and see yuh," said the old lady.
"I'll be so happy to become acquainted with him. Who knows, but he may
have known my son and can tell me something of his life there. We have
never been able to learn much," said Mrs. Vernon, pathetically.
Granny Dunstan placed a bony hand gently on her visitor's arm and looked
volumes with her bright little eyes. Then and there, age, position, and
all earthly claims disappeared, and the scouts were given a wonderful
sight in beholding a perfect spiritual communion between two entirely
different humans.
On the ride back to camp, Mr. Gilroy said: "Well, I wouldn't have missed
that visit for anything."
"If 'imitation is the sincerest flattery' then we are flattering Granny
Dunstan, for we are going there again to learn the things she knows,"
said Mrs. Vernon.
The scouts found that Mark had erected several bird-houses, and as they
stood watching him line up his horses again, to lead them back to
Freedom, they plied him with questions about Granny Dunstan.
"Mark, does she keep all those pigs for meat in winter?" asked Ruth.
"No, she fatten's 'em en sells 'em fer groceries en' other needs. Her
pork fetches more'n enny other round th' country."
"How do you account for that, Mark?" asked Mrs. Vernon.
"Cuz it is such sweet and clean meat. Them pigs fatten up on acorns and
nuts. And that makes the finest tastin' flesh, yuh know."
After Mark left camp, the girls still talked of the old lady and her
wonderful knowledge of woodcraft. Mr. Gilroy and Mrs. Vernon stood at a
short distance, conversing in low tones. Finally they came over and
joined the scouts.
Mr. Gilroy said: "I want to thank you scouts for all you have done for
me, not only in saving my life, but in entertaining me later."
Julie looked anxiously up at him and said, "You sound just as if you
were going to leave."
Mrs. Vernon and he laughed: "To tell the truth, I am."
"There--I knew it! It's that old walnut bed!" cried Ruth.
"Oh, no," laughed Mr. Gilroy. "It is because I must keep important
appointments at home. You see, I merely got off at Junction when I heard
of the Cave, and here I've been ever since."
"You had as good a time here, as elsewhere, haven't you?" demanded
Julie.
"Better than I've had in years, but now I must go on. But I want to make
a proposition to which your Captain agrees.
"Next summer, as soon as school closes, I want you girls to visit my
place in the Adirondacks. The reward of money you will receive will pay
all expenses for fares and outfits, and I will try to be as fine a host
as you were hostesses. Will you?"
"You said you were from New York?" argued Joan.