you're Little Chief and in my absence you have to take my place. Now,
I'm goin' down to Bill's and see if I can find any more strawberries
for supper, and so I shall have to let you take my place going to the
house. You can select any one of the other girls you want to go with
you," said Zan, with finality.
Miss Miller had to bend low over the wood pile to keep her face from
being seen. In fact, she had to hold her hand so close over her mouth
that her face was crimson. Zan, without a backward look, started off at
a brisk trot down the slope toward Sherwood's cottage.
"Hold on, Zan, we're coming with you!" shouted Jane and Elena.
That left Hilda standing sulkily watching her three friends while Nita
went inside the tent apportioned to her use. Hilda turned to the Guide
and caught a glimpse of her face. With a smile creeping into her own
face she ran over to Miss Miller.
"Aren't you awful mad?" wondered Hilda.
"No, dearie, this is just what I expected when I suggested that Nita
accompany Zan on the walk. It is merely another 'dish-wash' lesson in
another form, but Nita hasn't had it applied to her individual need as
Zan and Jane have. If she rises bravely to the call she will have her
blessing hereafter."
"Oh, Miss Miller, how clever you are! I hope I will 'rise' to my call
when it comes!" sighed Hilda, her admiration shining from her eyes.
The Guide laughed merrily as she replied, "I would rather no one else
heard of my little plot--just keep it a secret!"
"I will, indeed, I will!" promised Hilda eagerly. Then, "What had I
better do--help you at camp or go to the house?"
"Well, you see it is this way. I am only Guide. I tell you what I
think ought to be done and Zan, as Big Chief, orders the camp. She
has exactly the right idea of government and she will make a splendid
organiser some day. I am so pleased at the attitude she took just now
for Nita is her friend and she did not permit personality to interfere
with duty. I also am delighted to find how she grasps the meaning of
Woodcraft and hope this little lesson will prove beneficial to us all."
"Well, Zan said for Nita to take with her any of the girls she chose.
Jane and Elena have gone to Sherwoods so Nita cannot choose any one but
me."
"And has Nita gone?" queried the Guide, giving a look toward the tents.
"Why--n-oo!" returned perplexed Hilda. In another moment, however,
light dawned and she smiled again. "I see! You will wait for Nita to
make the first move."
Miss Miller nodded her head affirmatively and knelt down on the rock
where she intended building her fire. Hilda waited.
"Please hand me those two green logs, dear--just behind me," asked the
Guide.
Hilda took up one log after the other and gave them to Miss Miller, who
placed them carefully in position.
"Now, watch me, Hilda, and then you can see how to build a good
fire-place."
The logs were placed so that they formed a "V" with the wide part about
twelve inches apart. As the logs were about three feet long and six to
eight inches thick, their position left a three-cornered hollow between.
"Now those two forked saplings."
Hilda found the required articles which Miss Miller had cut down with
the hatchet on the tramp that afternoon. They were straight young trees
with the first branches forming the forks. The leaves and slender
twigs had been lopped off leaving a stick of about four feet in length
and having two sharp forks at the top. These saplings Miss Miller now
chopped off at the bottom until she had formed a sharp spike on each
end. She carefully prodded with one until she found a crevice in the
rock where the point could enter. Then she bore down with all her
strength and drove the stick into the ground.
"Why, you've got it close to the point of the logs!" exclaimed Hilda
wonderingly.
The Guide laughed and took up the second sapling. This she drove in
to the soil at the opposite end of the logs. The forks were broadside
to the length of the logs. Next, a stout but supple willow twig was
selected from a small bundle, and laid across the top between the forks.
"Oh, my! Now I see what it is for!" cried Hilda, clapping her hands
delightedly.
The utter ignoring of her presence and the clapping of Hilda's hands
proved too much for Nita's disposition and she came out of the tent and
walked down to the fire-place.
"What shall I do toward supper?" asked she sulkily.
"Oh, I thought Zan asked you to go to the house for her! Haven't you
started?" asked Miss Miller in surprise.
Nita shrugged her shoulders and watched the interesting construction of
the camp-fire.
"I'm too tired! Let Hilda go."
"But Hilda is helping me."
"Well, then let Zan go when she gets back. I'll start to spread a
table-cloth on the flat rock over there shall I?"
"I really cannot change Zan's orders, you know. She is Big Chief, and I
am only Guide."
"That's all nonsense, Miss Miller, and you know it! You have the right
to order us to do just what you think best," snapped Nita.
"You're just a little bit mistaken about the law and order of a
Woodcraft camp. Each one obeys!"
"Then Zan has failed!" exulted Nita. "She was told to go to the
house and she went to Bill's instead. _I_ should have loved to pick
strawberries as well as she!"
"I hardly think you can call Zan's act one of disobedience. It was
rather one of discipline," remarked the Guide.
"Who did she pretend to discipline--me?" sneered Nita.
"That had best be asked each one of herself. I can ask myself and
truthfully say, "Yes, Zan has given me a good lesson in discipline for
my future guidance.""
"Oh, pooh! You're only avoiding an unpleasant conversation with me! I
know as well as any of you, that the whole plot is directed toward me.
I wish to goodness I had never come with you!" And Nita flounced away
in a temper.
"Why! Nita!" gasped Hilda in consternation, as she watched the
retreating figure of her friend.
"Don't 'Nita' me! You're as thick with the rest as you can be! I always
am selected to act as the scape-goat for anything you don't want to do
yourself!" Nita flung back at Hilda.
The Guide kept on with the fire-building as if nothing had interrupted
the lesson Hilda was receiving. She selected the driest bark and twigs
in the heap of wild-wood and heaped them loosely in the pit formed by
the two logs.
"Now, Hilda, you can fill the kettle from the spring up above here,
and slip it over the willow until it hangs in the centre over the
fire-place."
"I never knew what fun a camp-fire could be! Will it burn, do you
think?"
Miss Miller laughed. "It wouldn't be a credit to me if it didn't!"
"But I can't see why you didn't lay the logs parallel?"
"I'll tell you. We have a small sauce-pan, a medium sized frying pan
and a rather large pot. Now, the small pan goes on the narrow end, the
frying pan on the centre where it fits, and the pot on the wider place.
Then too, we can poke wood in and rake debris out of this wide mouth
while the embers remain piled up at the corner inside. The judgment
in using green wood comes from experience. Green wood does not burn,
but reflects the heat of a fire, so that you get concentrated heat
from embers piled up in a pit surrounded by green logs. Also, the top
of green wood will hold pans and pots firmer than stones will, and a
slippery stove is anything but desirable when potatoes are boiling or
fat sizzling in a frying pan."
"Here comes the three girls! And I haven't done anything toward the
supper," cried Hilda, running to the basket where the cutlery and
dishes were kept.
"The loveliest berries, Miss Miller! Bill had some all ready for us
and Mrs. Sherwood baked some of the dandiest biscuits when she did her
own!" shouted Zan, as she climbed up the grade.
"How delicious they look!" exclaimed the Guide as she inspected the
brown dainties.
"What's that?" asked Elena, spying the camp-fire.
The girls ran over and Miss Miller had to demonstrate the interesting
construction. This over, Zan looked about and asked, "Didn't Nita get
back yet? But say, who went with her?"
Not a word came in reply and Zan immediately comprehended matters.
"I'll go now--will some one come with me?"
The two other girls offered and Hilda looked at Miss Miller. For
answer, the Guide said, "Any two of you can help Zan. One will do for
me."
"Let me stay now, Hilda, you were here when the fire-place was made,"
begged Elena.
"Zan, I think it may be wiser to get what is absolutely necessary
to-night from Sherwood's. You have already done more than your share of
duty and another walk to the house and back is taxing the physical too
much at present. A trip to the farmer's cottage will not over-tire any
of you," suggested Miss Miller.
The girls sighed with relief, and started for the slope. When they
returned to the Bluff with the required articles, the camp-fire had
burned up and deposited a pile of red-hot embers in the pit to cook
by. The potatoes were boiling noisily and a lump of butter was melting
in the pan. The cloth had been spread and Elena was hulling berries.
"Where's Nita?" Zan whispered to the Guide.
"In her tent. She has not appeared since her last display of temper."
"Had I better go and tell her supper will soon be ready?" queried Zan.
"No--leave her absolutely alone. If she comes out of her own accord,
the humiliation of accepting food she refused to help prepare, ought to
humble her enough. But, Zan, to-morrow at our Council, we must speak of
discipline and take up the matter of punishment and fines as outlined
in the Manual. I had hoped this would be unnecessary in a small camp
such as ours seemed to promise. However, all future mutiny must be
provided for."
The supper ready, Miss Miller cheerily took her place and the four
girls sat down about the cloth, leaving a vacancy where Nita should
have been.
Before any one had had time to take up their napkin Miss Miller spoke.
"One thing I consider of paramount importance in any circle, or alone.
It is not obligatory to any of you, merely a suggestion. I am not
aware of the religious belief of any of you and it is not necessary to
inform me, or discuss it with each other. I have found that discussion
of religious beliefs generally leads to a difference of opinions that
eventually create a bitter strife. True religion has no enmity in its
teachings but produces harmony and happiness for all.
"I think that any one can find God by simply following the highest
leading of their conscience. Gratitude to the Great Spirit is one of
those leadings, but few take time to follow that light. I wish to ask
that I be permitted to follow my sense of gratitude for all the good
bestowed this day, and before partaking of the evening meal, I will
close my eyes in silent prayer to the Giver of all my blessings. Each
one of you can do as you feel is right about this idea, but do not
speak or disturb any other's communion. In the morning, when we are
gathered for breakfast, I shall ask for the same silent interval, to
give gratitude for protection during darkness and sleep."
As she concluded, Miss Miller quietly closed her eyes and remained
absolutely silent for several minutes. The girls looked at her and at
each other without saying a word, then one after another closed her
eyes and also gave thanks to God.
The Guide opened her eyes and waited reverently for her companions
to finish their private thanksgiving and communion. Then, as all had
concluded and opened their eyes again, she drew attention to a nearby
tree by saying, "Hungry, Nita?"
Hiding, with a shame-faced expression in her eyes, Nita stood back of a
tree near the supper. She advanced at the question.
"Your place is waiting, dear," added the Guide.
With an air of bravado, Nita sat down and began telling of a
boy-cousin who had visited in the Rocky Mountains and had built a
fire-place exactly like the one Miss Miller constructed.
The other girls seemed abashed at Nita's presence for a short time, but
the Guide replied to the girl's hurried talk and soon the others were
drawn into the general exchange of fun and story-telling.
"I'll wash the dishes," eagerly offered Nita, as the Guide rose to
visit the fire and see if the water was boiling.
"All right, Nita, then the three girls who did double duty by going
back and forth twice to Bill's can lay down on the moss and rest,"
assented Miss Miller, and that was all that was said to Nita about her
habit of getting out of anything she was not inclined to do. The girls
took their cue from the Guide and rolled over on the grass and watched.
"Elena, after the cloth is shaken fold it carefully in the right
creases. That keeps it smooth and tidy. If it is folded regardless of
ironed folds, it soon looks mussy and soiled. I will take charge of the
left-overs from supper--thank goodness there isn't much--and Nita will
wash and wipe the dishes."
The atmosphere of the camp resumed a serenity fully appreciated by all,
for anger displayed by one made all wretched.
"Girls, we will try to get up at the hour we want to rise every morning
this summer--five o'clock. It is now seven-thirty. Whenever you are
ready to retire say so and we will sing a camp-fire lullaby," said
Miss Miller, as the girls sat about the dying fire too tired to talk.
"I'm ready for bed now," ventured Elena.
"I feel as stiff as anything! My back feels as if it would break!"
added Hilda.
The Guide laughed. "That's from swimming. You'll soon get over it if
you practice every day."
"I hope to goodness I _can_ swim to-morrow. The way I feel now, I
should say I couldn't move in the water!" laughed Elena.
Nita said nothing but she must have felt as lame as the other
beginners; as all seemed to long for bed, Miss Miller rose and
smothered the few red coals by covering them with dead grey ashes.
"Never leave a camp-fire with a spark of fire in it. At early dawn, or
at least past midnight, fire always revives and, unless its flame has
been choked by outside means, it flares up and consumes anything in its
reach."
"Miss Miller, I wonder why it is that, without apparent fuel or
fanning, fire will renew itself during the wee hours of the night!"
exclaimed Zan.
"I never heard, but it is an interesting suggestion, Zan. We'll have
Elena make a note of that in her book so that we will remember to ask
that question at Headquarters when we visit there."
"Do you ever expect to see them?" asked Hilda, meaning the officers of
the Woodcraft Indians.
"Why, certainly! Don't you?" returned Miss Miller.
"I didn't know but that we'd be a nuisance. So many members call, I
suppose," replied Hilda, with consideration.
"Hilda, that's very good of you. If every member was as thoughtful of
the time of the Founders, how much better it would be."
No one stirred that night, for every one was healthily tired and repose
was natural. Even Miss Miller set a small alarm clock to awake her at
five, for she thought she might over-sleep during the cool hours of
early morning.
At five, the ringing of the alarm awakened every one; while the girls
yawned and wished it was midnight, the Guide jumped out of bed and
looked at the wonderful appearance of Nature. Dew-drops sparkled in
the rising sun, and the Falls sent forth a new note in its musical
repertoire. Even the grey surface of rock seemed to be of warmer and
softer material than it had been in the twilight.
"Girls! Up--up--up! The day is glorious!" called the Guide.
"So is the bed!" returned Hilda, yawning aloud.
"I just heard a crow laughing at you!" retorted Miss Miller.
"'He who laughs last laughs best,' I've heard said!" came from a
smothered voice in Hilda's tent.
By this time the girls were thoroughly aroused and soon the talk
consequent upon beginning a new day, came from the tents.
"Miss Miller, are you going to take a dip this morning before
breakfast?" called Zan.
"No, I've already used the modern wash-basin by the creek," replied the
Guide.
Nita and Elena came out and found Miss Miller brushing her hair before
a tiny mirror that had been hung from a stump of a bough near her tent.
"Where's the basin you spoke of?" asked Hilda, also coming out.
"Over there by that laurel bush: I think it is Tennessee marble--it is
veined exactly like it," said the Guide.
The girls ran over laughingly and found a great round stone partly in
the water, and in the top of the stone, a nicely hollowed place about
the size of an ordinary wash-basin. At one side a tiny hollow made an
admirable soap-dish.
"How did you get water into it?" cried Nita.
"You'll find a tomato can near the bush!" replied Miss Miller.
"That's easy--but how under the sun did you empty out the water
afterward?" called Zan.
"I didn't carry the basin to the woods and turn it over, I assure you,"
laughed Miss Miller; "I took a handful of dried moss and let it soak
up the used water. You'll see how nicely it absorbs the moisture. Then
take a handful of clean moss and wash the basin out."
"You are too fastidious for me--I'll wash in the brook!" said Zan,
comparing the amount of work necessary in using the rock-basin, to the
easier way of dipping in the creek.
"Guess we'll choose the brook!" said Hilda.
Miss Miller watched the five girls bending over and joyously splashing
water at each other, as well as over their own faces and necks, and
thought to herself: "Yes, I took a lot of trouble to use that basin,
but they will always remember that dry moss will soak up moisture if a
dry condition is required."
For breakfast that morning, the Guide mixed some batter for pancakes.
The girls heard the beating of the spoon and gathered about curiously.
"Batter cakes, girls. I'll mix them this time, and one of you can watch
them bake. The others can look after other work. I'll prepare some
cocoa, if you like."
"Oh, yes! We all like cocoa, Miss Miller," said Hilda.
"Here comes Bill Sherwood--he's got something!" announced Elena, who
had been standing on the rock above the fire.
The others craned their necks and Zan added, "Bet anything it's
something good to eat!"
And so it was. Bill bobbed his head smilingly to the girls and offered
Miss Miller a plate covered with a home-spun towel.
"The old lady fried some spring chicken for breakfast an' we said we
rickoned it might taste good t' yuh--so here it is!"
"Broiled chicken! But, Mr. Sherwood, you must allow us to reimburse you
for the chickens. It would not be right for us to eat your broilers!"
said Miss Miller, deeply obliged.
"We likes t' make th' camp enjyable t' yuh all! Mebbe you'll git
straightened out so's yuh kin prepare your own things pritty soon,"
explained Bill.
"Why, we cooked supper last night--and a fine one it was," said Zan,
pointing to the camp-fire.
Bill's lower jaw dropped and he stood staring at the novel cook-stove.
"Laws me! That beats th' Dutch!" ejaculated he.
The girls all laughed and he went over and watched the kettle singing
and the batter cakes baking. "I'll have t' send my ole woman up t' see
these stunts!" said he, starting off again.
Batter cakes tasted fine with broiled chicken done to a crispy brown,
and cocoa was just the right drink with which to conclude the jolly
breakfast party.
Mrs. Sherwood had not yet visited the camp but she put in an appearance
soon after breakfast and Zan introduced her to all of those present.
She inspected the fire-place and looked sceptically at the cots,
saying, "How kin yuh rest on them hard things. Now, I have to have
feather beds all year 'round. And it's s'prisin' how my bones rest! I
never kin go visitin' where folks haven't feathers!"
Miss Miller felt a deep sympathy for the poor deluded woman, and
wondered if it would be possible to convert her to the idea of using a
mattress and hair pillow in preference to feathers.
As their early visitor went back home, Zan said, "Fancy! feather-beds
in this enlightened age!"
CHAPTER SEVEN
WINNERS IN HOME-COOK AND MOKODASSO-WININI DEGREES
During breakfast, the girls commented upon the ability of the Guide to
do anything and everything. As neither of the five girls had taken an
interest in cooking while at home, the experience shown by the teacher,
in preparing meals, astonished them.
Miss Miller tried to make everything she did an object lesson for
the girls, so she mixed the simple batter for the cakes to show
them how easy a matter a nicely browned cake really was. This, she
deducted, would arouse a desire to know more of the cookery art. If
she had selected a difficult dish to prepare the girls might have been
frightened by the process of mixing many ingredients.
"I wish I could do some baking!" said Jane.
"Why not learn now--never a time like the present," said Miss Miller,
smiling at the eager face.
"S'pose I burn something?"
"Then, try again. It is not with the first trial that we always meet
success. Sometimes I have had to do a thing over and over before it was
right," replied the Guide.
"It seems like an imposition to ask you to show us how to cook after
all the other things you are doing for us," remarked Jane.
"Sometimes a little gratitude expressed in consideration for all one
has done before, urges the donor to greater effort. And both giver and
receiver are blessed accordingly," said Miss Miller.
The girls were thoughtful, so she continued, "I am so glad to find you
appreciative of the little I am doing that I am eager to do more; the
lesson in cookery will be one of my expressions of love toward you."
"Maybe we can all watch and learn how to do the biscuits," suggested
Zan.
"Of course; as many of you as wish to take the test in cookery can
begin this morning," replied Miss Miller.
"Right away?" clamoured a few of the girls.
"Hardly; I thought we would clear up the tents, do the chores, and try
the use of the hatchet and knife; when it gets near time for noon-day
meal we can prepare some fish for dinner. Hereafter, I think it wise to
have dinner at twelve and supper at six. That gives us a long afternoon
and a pleasant evening."
"We're ready for anything--where shall we tramp to-day to use the
hatchet and knife?" said Hilda.
"We'll not tramp--we'll stay right here and build a cupboard to hold
our edibles as they should be kept."
"A cupboard! What Humph!" and other exclamations showed the surprise
the Guide's words gave.
"Are we to chop down a few trees and lop off branches to secure the
necessary lumber for the closet?" asked Nita, wondering if the idea
would prove irksome or unpleasant.
"Not at all! I may decide to make lumbermen of you before the season
ends but I'll not undertake it while you all feel so disinclined to do
anything except what your idle fancy suggests. It will take a better
understanding of the Law before you start on timber work."
The Guide spoke in a joking way but her words were aimed at Nita's
habit of laziness and shirking duties.
"I wonder what Daddy would say if he could see us sawing wood and
hammering nails?" said Zan, chuckling.
"My father would say, 'Here, Jane, don't spoil a perfectly good nail! A
girl can't strike it on the head, ever!'"
"I never held a saw in my life," commented Elena.
"Can you saw wood?" asked Zan of the Guide with such vim that the
others laughed heartily.
"Is that some of your slang or was it fact?" asked Miss Miller.
"I meant it--but it _is_ slang, isn't it?" laughed Zan.
"Well, I'll reply--yes, I am very fond of carpentry. At home, I have a
book-shelf, taborette, lamp-stand, and many little articles that I have
made at different times."
"Well, come on, friends--let's get busy on Miss Miller's cupboard,"
said Hilda.
"Better finish the camp work first. If you girls think you can spare
Zan and me, we will go to the house and find some suitable boards. I
saw the tools necessary in the tool-house yesterday," Miss Miller said.
"Why, yes, we have lots of good boards in the cellar, and besides,
there are some pieces of moulding and quarter-round in the hay-loft.
The boys stored it there some years ago when they wanted to build
some rooms in the loft. They never found time, as every day had some
adventure for us when we were first here," explained Zan.
"And you girls can come to the house and help us carry the material to
the Bluff, as soon as you finish the dishes and beds," said Miss Miller.
Zan and the Guide were soon in the low-ceiled cellar sorting pieces
of lumber from a huge heap left there by the contractors when the old
house was renovated. A number of desirable pieces were selected by Miss
Miller who said, "We can take these pieces up to the back porch and
take them to camp whenever we have need of them. I think we can make a
number of articles that will prove useful."
"My! but you have some long boards there!" said Zan, her head on one
side as she surveyed the load the Guide had piled up for use.
"We won't need many to-day for the cupboard, and we need not worry
about the future," replied she, smiling.
"Then why not leave them down here?" asked Zan.