The Woodcraft Girls at Camp. Roy Lillian Elizabeth
beast!"
The two went to the barn to request Nancy to come forth and take her part in the day's work, when Miss Miller spied a queer steel-barred frame lying on a rubbish heap by the side of the barn-yard fence. It looked like a skeleton of a huge cradle without rockers.
"Bill, what is that strange thing over there?"
"That? Oh, that's a section of an old harvestin' machine we hain't used fur years! They've got better ones nowadays. That one is on'y good t' sell fur junk!" explained Bill.
"Then we can have it now, can't we? Have you a piece of strong rope?"
"Sure! but I don't see what yuh want with this ole cradle," mused Bill.
"You'll see!" said Miss Miller, as she tied one end of the rope securely to the steel cradle and hitched the rope to Nancy's harness. The cradle was dragged across the grass to the pile of articles awaiting transportation. The cradle was soon filled and Nancy started up the slope. At the Bluff the goods were deposited and Bill sent back with Nancy for the rest.
Miss Miller stood sorting out the various things when a loud laugh sounded from the trunks of some nearby trees.
"Ah-ha! We caught you shirking work!" called the girls as they ran out and surrounded the teacher.
"Oh, no you haven't! You merely saw the effect of some common sense thought!" retorted Miss Miller.
"Hum! So that is what you meant when you wanted us to think of an ordinary way to move?" laughed Zan.
Miss Miller nodded while the others stood about with nothing to say.
When Bill came up with the second load he smiled at Zan as he remarked, "Miss Miller is some conniver, eh? But I rickon she ain't strong on th' house-work idees. Ef she was, she'd be a powerful help to my ole lady who gits laid up regerlar ever winter with stiff jints, so thet mos' th' house-work comes on me."
"Bill, maybe I can show you both some things this summer that will not only make living a joy but keep stiff joints out of your experience entirely," replied the teacher.
"Say, ef you kin do that! The doctor tried en failed wid his medicine, an' him's a smart doctor, too!"
Zan laughed appreciatively at the comparison and turned to Miss Miller. "Now, you have to show Bill or lose your reputation as a 'conniver.'"
"There goes Nancy – down the slope toward her feed-bag! If you girls want to take advantage of my patent moving-machine, you'd better run after and catch her!" laughed Miss Miller.
This put an end to health discussions at the time, and the girls raced after the horse before she could get too far away from them. It was a simple matter to haul the outfit from the barn to the Bluff, and Zan plumed herself upon the idea that made them hide behind the trees to watch the teacher and discover her plan to move the baggage to the Bluff.
All assembled about the heap of baggage on the Bluff, Miss Miller suggested that each one select a spot for her tent and start erecting it.
"Why, the Bluff here is the very spot!" said Nita.
"Couldn't be better!" added Elena.
"It has a lovely view, hasn't it?" said Hilda.
"I don't see how it is practical!" objected Miss Miller.
"Why, do you know of a lovelier place?" asked Jane.
"Oh, no. The beauty goes without saying."
Zan pondered the accent on the word "beauty" and the way the teacher spoke of practical. She waited for further developments.
"Well, then, girls, let's shove these bundles off of the Bluff and drive our stakes!" ordered Nita, taking for granted that every one would do as she said.
"If you have no objections, I think I will pitch my tent over by the edge of the forest trees," ventured Miss Miller.
"Of course you can camp where you like, but I don't see why you'd go way back there when this wonderful view can be had as we lay in bed and watch the sun rise!" remonstrated Nita.
"Guess we won't spend much time in bed watching the sun rise, and the view is just as fine out of the tent as in it," replied Miss Miller, as she picked up her canvas and ropes and started for the grassy ground near the trees.
The girls began with mallets and pegs, but the stakes would not go down. The moss was only an inch thick and scarcely any soil lay underneath in which to hold the pegs. Here and there a crevice in the rock would permit a stake to enter a bit and snap it off short. The girls grew hot and angry at the futile work but Miss Miller seemed to be very successful in pitching her tent.
The girls stood and watched for some time, as she drove some stakes in the earth quite easily, then fastened some ropes from one tree to another to give extra security in case of a blow.
A few smaller twigs and saplings had been cleared out of her way, leaving a delightful shady spot where the tent stood. Zan swallowed her pride and went over to look at the completed work.
"The view isn't so very much when you come to think of the fact that we won't be in our tents very much!" ventured Zan.
"I don't expect to use mine except for sleeping, and one can't see the view in the dark," returned the Guide.
"Miss Miller, did you know we'd have hard work trying to drive pegs in the Bluff when you stood there waiting for us to think?" asked Zan, smilingly.
"Yes, dear, and I would have liked to save you the work, but that isn't helping you. Charity never helps, it hinders."
Zan ran back to tell her companions, but found them all in a quarrelling mood because they had been so unsuccessful in accomplishing their own intentions. Nita was saying disagreeable things to the others, and Jane had just told Nita what a little cat she was. Hilda had rolled over in the freshly pulled moss, her face buried in its cooling green. Elena sat pouting on the edge of the Bluff swinging a mallet back and forward, threatening to strike Nita's angry face every time it swung back.
"Girls, we're a lot of idiots! Miss Miller is the only one with sense. Go over and look at that tent, then come back with sugary smiles and drag these tents over next to hers. I have just learned to parse the word beauty as she pronounced it when she said, the beauty of the Bluff went without any contradiction. In parsing, I find that beauty is not always the desirable object! It's well enough in its way, but for driving stakes to hold down canvas tents, give me a good old solid chunk of ground!" said Zan, decidedly.
"Well, anyway, I'm not going to hide myself way back as far as she is. We can find plenty of ground nearer the Bluff and not feel cooped up by the trees," ventured Nita, as the other girls followed Zan's example and carried their paraphernalia over to the trees.
Thus it happened that Nita's tent stood first from the Bluff, a few feet to the side of the trees. Hilda and Elena chose a site a few feet back from Nita's and near enough to a tree to utilise its trunk for the ropes. The third smaller tent was quite close to Miss Miller's but not as far back as hers.
"The stakes do not go down as deep as I think they should, girls, but you can change them this afternoon if you decide to move back where my tent is. As they stand now, a strong wind may tear them down."
"Oh, they'll hold all right! What's the next thing to do?" said Jane, who was tired of bothering with tents.
Miss Miller looked at her watch. "It's only ten o'clock and you girls have been up since five. Maybe you'd like to walk to the house for a piece-meal?"
"Would we? Well, I just guess there'll be no dissenting voice on that proposition!" laughed Hilda.
"I must confess, my appetite says it must be nearly supper time," added Jane.
Without further ado, the Clan started for the house to pacify a gnawing that interfered with work or play. On the steps of the front porch, a veritable feast was soon enjoyed. Although it consisted of bread and jam sandwiches, with water as a stimulant, never did the five girls taste anything so delicious. When all the delectable bread and crumbs disappeared, sighs came from five hearts.
"Dear, why is it that good things never last half long enough!" wondered Zan, aloud.
While