Girl Scouts at Dandelion Camp, Page 5

  CHAPTER FIVE

  RUTH MEETS WITH DIFFICULTIES

  Immediately after luncheon, the girls left the flat table-rock and ranoff in quest of fun. They had ignored the remains of the meal, and thedishes were left to attract all the ants and flies within a radius ofthe odor of the food.

  Mrs. Vernon had gone to the buckboard to unpack the chest that held thetools, and was engaged in sorting the nails she thought would be neededto repair the old hut. When she turned to see if the girls were almostthrough with the task of clearing away the dishes, she found themeagerly investigating the camp grounds.

  "How I'd like to have a swim in this pool," called Joan, standing besidethe mirror-like water.

  "Oh, no; we can take a dip any time. Let's go for a hike up themountainside. I want to explore," cried Ruth.

  "Why not wait until to-morrow morning for adventuring--I want to see ifthere are any fish in this trout brook," said Betty.

  Julie was out of hearing, but she was busy over some quest of her own,and she had shirked work as well as the others.

  "Girls, is it possible that you are seeking for a kind fairy who mightlive in the woods, or are you just waiting for some one to happen alongand offer services to you?" asked Mrs. Vernon.

  "What do you mean?" inquired Joan, puzzled at the words.

  "And what are _you_ looking for, Verny?" asked Betty, seeing the Captaingoing about examining various spots, then glance up at the treesoverhead, or shade her eyes to gaze at the sky.

  "Finding a suitable place for the cook-stove," said she.

  "Cook-stove! Why, we didn't bring any!" replied four girls.

  "Oh, yes we did--I'll show you a fine one to-morrow."

  "Are we to have running water in our bedrooms, too?" laughed Joan.

  "You can, if you are willing to do the plumbing," retorted Mrs. Vernon.

  But evidently she found just the place she sought for; and now the girlswere deeply interested in watching her build a camp-stove. "You see, Ineed a place where the smoke will not be driven into our tents, and alsowhere the wind will act as a blower up the chimney and not a quencher ofthe fire.

  "Julie, you can bring me some smooth flat stones for an oven, and Joancan find me a peck of small stones for a lining. Then Betty can cut agood strong young sapling about an inch through, cut off the twigs andleave a clean pole about five feet long; and Ruth can cut two shorterones with crotches made by two limbs. The crotched limbs can be aboutthree inches long and the poles cut to four feet high. Sharpen the endsto a point so we can drive them into the ground."

  Each girl went to do the bidding of their Captain, and when theyreturned they found a pit had been scooped out of the sheltered nook atthe base of a huge rock. This pit was lined with smooth small stones,and the flat oven-stones firmly fixed at the back. Then the two notchedpoles were planted one on each side of the fireplace, and the long poleplaced across the top, the ends fitting securely into the notches.

  "To-night we shall have hot soup for supper, girls, and there will beplenty of hot water to wash dishes in."

  "Hadn't we better heat some water now for the dishes?" asked Julie.

  "Oh--haven't you cleared away the lunch table and washed the dishes?"asked Mrs. Vernon, seemingly surprised.

  "Not yet--there wasn't any hot water," said Ruth.

  "Then we must heat some at once, for no good scout will postponeclearing away food and dishes after he has had a bountiful meal. Itshows a lack of appreciation and gratitude to the Provider when one isslack about cheerfully doing his part," said the Captain.

  So Joan was sent for a pail of water, and the other girls were told toremove all signs of food from the rock and bring the dishes to thekitchen.

  "Where is the kitchen?" giggled Ruth.

  "For to-day, we will have it _below_ the pool in which we wish to bathe.Then the brook can carry away the dish-water without having it seep intothe ground and find its way to mingle with the pool."

  The pail of water was hung upon the cross-pole, and fire was laid andlit in the fire-pit. The girls watched very closely as the Captainslowly placed the dry leaves, then the dried twigs, and lastly the drywood that would burn quickly and start other wood burning in the stove.

  While the water was heating, Mrs. Vernon showed the girls how to hitchand unhitch Hepsy. If either one needed to do it, she would understandjust where all the pieces of harness fitted in. Hepsy was now given adrink and some oats, and turned out to graze about the plateau.

  With five pairs of hands, the clearing away of the dishes did not takelong. As they worked, the Captain planned the carpentry work.

  "Don't you think we ought to repair the old hut first?" asked she. "Yousee, we need some sort of protection for our dry groceries and otherthings."

  "Well, we can do that to-day, and begin on Hepsy's shed in the morning,"suggested Julie.

  "I doubt if we can complete all the work to be done on the old place inthis afternoon's few hours," returned Mrs. Vernon.

  "It doesn't look as if it would take more than two hours at most,"argued Joan.

  "We'll begin now and then you can find out for yourselves," the Captainsaid in reply.

  All the tools they had brought were now unpacked and placed ready foruse. Mrs. Vernon then said: "Now we must weed up all the stubble andwild-growth that has filled the interior of the hut. We may find thefloor beams good enough to use again when the undergrowth is clearedaway."

  "Why not let's build the roof first?" asked Ruth.

  "Because you have no flooring down, and every nail or tool you dropwhile working on the roof will have to be sought for in the rankgrowth."

  The girls saw the logic of that, so they began pulling and working onthe material that had to be eliminated before further work could beattended to.

  "Why, this is as bad as weeding dandelions," grumbled Ruth.

  "Say, Ruth, dandelions were easy in comparison," laughed Joan, standingup to wipe the perspiration from her face.

  "Well, all I can say is, if this is the sort of fun the Girl Scouts raveabout, I don't want any more of it!" declared Ruth, throwing down herweeding fork and stepping over the beam to get out of the hut.

  The other girls stopped work and looked impatiently at her, but Mrs.Vernon said: "Perhaps you'd like to work at some other task. There aremany things to be done before we can settle down in camp and enjoy ourleisure."

  "All right! Give me any old thing but that weeding!"

  "Here's the ax--see those trees growing so closely together over there?"

  Ruth took the ax and signified by a nod that she saw the clump referredto.

  "Start to cut down several of them, but do not chop too low or too highfrom the base. I mean, you ought to cut about eighteen inches aboveground. When you have chopped through nearly half of the trunk, call meand I will show you what next to do."

  "Hurrah! Now I'm going to do something different! I'm sorry for you poorgirls with nothing but weeds to work on," called Ruth gaily, swingingthe ax as she moved away.

  The three girls watched for a few moments, but she had not yet reachedthe clump of trees before they were again working hard. The Captain wasoccupied in removing some boards from the packing cases already emptiedof bedding and other things, so no one noticed Ruth.

  She held the ax up over her head as she had seen others do, and broughtit down with a swing. But it caught in the high bushes beside her andwas yanked from her hands.

  "Well! to think a little thing like that birch bush could do that!"exclaimed Ruth to herself.

  She picked up the ax and took a fresh start. This time she changed herposition so the birch could not interfere again. The ax came down, butso wide was its swing, and Ruth had not allowed for any leeway in herstiff pose, hence the muscles in her arms were wrenched and her backsuddenly turned with the force of the blow.

  "O-oh" exclaimed she, dropping the ax and rubbing the flesh of her upperarms.

  She glanced over at her companions to see if they had seen the awkwardwork she was m
aking of the chopping, but they were laughing merrily asthey worked inside the hut. Mrs. Vernon was not to be seen so the girl'spride was spared. She picked up the ax again and looked at it carefully.

  "What is there about you that hurt me like that?"

  But the inanimate ax did not answer, and Ruth could not tell. So shelifted it again, slowly this time, and then made sure that noobstructions were in the way.

  She paid so much attention to the ax that she scarcely looked where theblow might fall, consequently the blade came down almost on a verticalline with the tree-trunk. It glanced off and sank into the soft soilbeside the tree, with Ruth holding fast to the handle. So unexpected wasthis aim and the downward continuation of the ax until it sank into theground, that Ruth was fairly pulled over and fell upon her face in thevines and bushes.

  "You mean old thing! You can stick there as long as you like--I'll neverput a finger on you again!" cried the ax-scout, as she got up and feltof the scratches on her face.

  "What's the matter, Ruth?" called Mrs. Vernon, seeing the girl slowlyreturning to camp without the ax.

  "That tool is too heavy for me to use. Have you a hatchet or somethingelse to cut with?"

  "The ax is the only thing that ought to be used on a small tree; the sawis for thicker trunks, but you can't manage it, either, if you can'thandle the ax."

  "Well, what else is there I can do instead of chopping down forests?"asked Ruth, trying to cover her shortcomings with a laugh.

  "Did you bring back the ax? It's a very good one, you know."

  "I thought perhaps one of the other girls would want to change worksoon, so I left it by the tree."

  "If one of the others should feel like quitting the work they were givento complete first, then they can take the ax from its place in thetool-chest. Better bring it to me now, Ruth."

  As no other alternative was open, she went back to the tree and kickedviciously at the ax. But the blade was still securely embedded in theground and that made the handle as resistant as an upright post. So allRuth got for her kick was a suddenly turned toe that felt lame for daysafterwards.

  "Oh, o-oh! _how_ I hate camping! I'm going home and tell every one Iknow what a horrid thing this Girl Scout business is! All hard workand--everything! No fun, no rest--just lame backs and broken bones!" Ruthfairly screamed to herself as she sat down and removed the sneaker fromthe foot that had tried to crack the ax-handle of hickory.

  The Captain heard the crying and hurried over to inquire into the causeof it. Ruth was weeping by this time, so sorry did she feel for herself,and her ill-treatment.

  "What ever has happened, Ruth, in this perfectly safe spot?"

  "O-ooh! I must have stubbed my toe! Oooo-h, I'm afraid it's broken!"wailed the girl.

  Mrs. Vernon saw the ax with its head deep in the ground but she did notdream how Ruth had "stubbed" her toe. She sat down and wiggled theinjured member tenderly, then said:

  "Oh, no, it's not broken, only hurt by the collision. It will be allright in a little while," the Captain replied cheerfully.

  But Ruth did not want cheerfulness--she wanted to be told she had toremain as quiet as possible and have others wait on her.

  "Pick up the ax and I'll help you walk over--you can lean upon my arm ifyou think your toe will feel easier," suggested Mrs. Vernon.

  "I don't believe I can walk," breathed Ruth, fearfully.

  "Oh, yes, you can. The foot is all right, it is only the toe that feelslame for a short time--just as it would have done at home if you ran intoa piece of furniture."

  Reaching camp again, Ruth was about to drop the ax on the grass, whenthe Captain said: "The tool-chest is over on the buckboard, Ruth."

  The girl clinched her teeth in anger, but the ax was taken to its rightplace and left in the box whence she had taken it.

  One after another of the girls looked up and felt surprised to find Ruthsitting on a box holding her foot. Then Julie called out:

  "Good gracious! Ruth done chopping that tree so soon?"

  "No, she and the ax had an argument," laughed Mrs. Vernon.

  Ruth glanced at the Captain out of the corners of her eyes, andwondered: "Did she see me kick that old thing?"

  "Oh! Well, then, come over and get busy here again," said Joan,beckoning to Ruth.

  "That won't make your toe hurt, Ruth. You can remain in one spot andweed," added Mrs. Vernon.

  Not having any other excuse at the moment, Ruth limped to the hut andslowly began the old work, but she rebelled inwardly.

  After an hour's hard work the clearing was done, and the girls threwthemselves down to rest. The Captain was ready for this recess.

  "I made a jugful of lemonade, girls, and it is as cold as if we had icewater in it. Just taste!"

  "Oh, glory! Just what I was wishing for," sighed Julie.

  The others quickly agreed with that exclamation, and tested the drink.The mingled sounds of approval made the Captain smile. After a shortrest, Joan said:

  "What next? I'm ready to start work again."

  "Dear me! Haven't we done enough for this afternoon? I want to enjoy a_little_ bit of the time here," complained Ruth.

  "I'm having a fine time! I like this sort of thing," said Joan.

  "You can do exactly as you like, girls; if you want to do any more workon the hut, well and good; if you prefer to rest or do anything else,there is no one to stop you. But it is plain to be seen that the hutcannot be repaired completely this afternoon, eh?" said Mrs. Vernon,with a smile.

  "I should say not! If we finish it by to-morrow night we will be cleverworkers," replied Julie.

  "I'm going back to work on it, anyway," came from Betty.

  "You always were the easy mark for every one," Ruth said scornfully,tossing her head.

  Betty flushed, but Julie defended her. "She isn't an easy mark at all!But she may be too sympathetic for hard-hearted or lazy folks who alwaysplay on her generosity!"

  "I don't believe the scout handbook says that members of the scoutorganization must criticize or say unpleasant things to others,"commented Mrs. Vernon.

  That silenced every one, and soon all four girls were at work again,removing the dead wood of the flooring. When this was done, Mrs. Vernonexamined it carefully.

  "It isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The tangle of briars andbrush, and the decayed outer layer of the beams, made it look as if itall must be removed."

  Once they became interested in repairing the floor as it should be done,the girls wanted to continue and complete it, but the wise Captaincalled a halt, and said:

  "Twilight will soon creep up to compel us to stop work; before thatcomes we want to have everything ready for the night."

  So when darkness fell the camp was ready and waiting for it. A fine firereflected light fitfully about its radius, and lanterns were lighted foruse in case the campers wished to go about. Hepsy had been fed andbedded for the night, and the tent was in readiness for its tenants.

  Supper had been prepared and disposed of, and the dishes washed andcleared away before darkness invited every one to sit down and listen tothe Captain's stories of girlhood days in this very spot. But she hadrather a drowsy audience that night. Four girls were so tired out withhealthy exercise and the mountain air that the fire gave them a feelingof peace and rest.

  Not a demur was heard when Mrs. Vernon suggested bed, and the hard cotsmust have felt like a nest of feathers to the newly-fledged scouts, forsoon every one was fast asleep.