CHAPTER X
THE "HAPPY DAY"
That day the camp upon the hill overlooking Lake Honotonka wascompleted. Mr. Jarley was very helpful, for beside laying the floors ofthe two tents, and setting up the stove, he built for the girls anopen-air fireplace of flat rocks, dragged up from the shore; set uptheir plank dining table, cut and set three posts for their clothes-line(for they were to do their own laundry work), dug shallow ditches allaround the tents, with a drain to carry off any water that mightcollect; built an "overlook-seat" at the foot of a big birch whichoverhung the water, and did countless other little services which mostof the Go-Ahead Club appreciated.
Bessie Lavine did not come back from the berrying expedition until Mr.Jarley had gone back to the landing; and of course she hadn't much tosay about the change in the appearance of things. But the other girlswere enthusiastic.
"And now we must have a name for the camp," said Mrs. Havel, as they satdown to the oilcloth-covered table to dinner.
The arrangements for cooking and eating were of the simplest; yeteverything was neat. Using oilcloth saved laundry, and using papernapkins was likewise a help. The food was served daintily, if simply,and although all the girls were used to much finer table service athome, the hearty appetites engendered by the pure air of lake and forestmade even coarse food taste delicious.
They were all instantly enthusiastic over their chaperone's suggestion.Half a dozen names were suggested on the spur of the moment; but noparticular one met the approval of all the girls, immediately.
"We'll have to draw lots," suggested Mina.
"No! let's each write down the best names we can think of, and then voteon them," said Bess.
"Goody!" cried Frank. "We must have a name that fits, but is pretty andnot too 'hifalutin',' as my grandmother would say."
"Naming the camp is all very well, girls," said Wyn, seriously, rappingon the table for order. "But there are more important things to decide.The work of the camp is to be properly apportioned----"
"Oh, dear me!" groaned Grace. "Have we _got_ to work? Aftertraipsing over four miles of huckleberry pasture all the morning I feelas though I had done my share for to-day."
"And she ate as many as she picked!" cried Bess. "Oh, I'm going to tellon you, Miss! You're not going to crawl out of your fair share."
"I didn't enlist to work," declared Grace, with some sullenness. "What'sthe fun of camping out if one has to work like a slave all the time?"
"And we haven't even begun!" cried Frank. "For shame, Gracie!"
"Now, none of the members of the Go-Aheads, I feel sure," quoth Wyn,quietly, "will try to escape her just burden. To have the fun of campingout under canvas we must each do our share of the work quickly andcheerfully. We will divide up the tasks, and change them about weekly.Of course, Mrs. Havel is not supposed to lift her hand. She is ourguest."
"Oh, but auntie is going to show us how to make pancakes," cried Percy.
"I'll learn to do _that_," said Grace, brightening up. "For I love'em."
"Of course--piggy-wiggy!" scoffed Bess. "Come, Wyn, you set us our tasksand any girl who kicks about 'em shall be fined."
"We'll do better than that. We will use Mina's idea of drawing lotsabout the work. There are certain things to be done each week--each day,of course. Two girls must 'tend fires and cook; two girls must air andmake beds, clean up about the tents, and wait on table if needed; theother two must get up early and go for the milk and vegetables, gatherberries, and do odd jobs. The girls who do the 'chamber work' shouldwash the dishes, too, for the cooks will be too tired and heated afterpreparing the meals to clean up the tables and mess with thedishwashing.
"Now are those three divisions satisfactory? Every third week, you see,the two who go for the milk, etcetera, will have an easy job. Is itagreed?"
There was no objection raised to this plan, and the girls paired off asthey usually did--Wyn and Frank together, Grace and Percy, and Bess andMina.
Then they drew straws--really grass blades of three lengths--to seewhich couple should do which. It fell to the lot of Bess and Mina tocook for a week. Grace and Percy Havel were "chambermaids," and Wyn andFrank Cameron had the good luck to get the shortest blade of grass.
"Of course, _I'd_ have to work hard two weeks before getting achance to rest," grumbled Grace. "Probably something will happen afterwe're here a fortnight, and we'll all have to go home."
"It would take something _awful_ to send me home from thisbeautiful spot in a fortnight," cried Mina.
"Just my luck if you all got smallpox, or something equally contagious,"growled Grace.
"Then you certainly would be fortunate for once--if you escaped it,"chuckled Wyn.
"Not a bit of it. They'd quarantine you here, and have nurses, and lotsof nice jellies and ices for you; while poor unlucky me would be packedback to Denton for the rest of the summer--and after working like aslave, dishwashing, and sweeping, and making beds, and cooking, and thelike, for two whole weeks."
Despite Grace's complaints, the club as a whole was satisfied with thearrangements for taking care of the camp. There had been a secondaryconsideration in the minds of all their mothers when permission wasobtained for the Go-Aheads to spend the summer under canvas. Mrs. EvelynHavel was a wondrously good housekeeper. She had been trained indomestic science, too. And she had promised to have an oversight of eachgirl's work and to teach them, from time to time, many helpful domesticthings.
This phase of the camping-out plan Wyn had "played up" in getting theconsent of all the parents; and for one, Wyn was determined to carry thescheme through. When they went back to Denton in the fall she proposedto be a good "plain cook" herself, and she hoped the other girls wouldfall in cheerfully with the project also. She knew Mrs. Havel would doall she could toward teaching them.
The work once apportioned to them, the girls' minds could be given moreparticularly to the naming of the camp. But they would not decide uponit until bedtime. However, all six cudgeled their brains to inventstriking names.
It was decided that only one name could be suggested by each girl, andthis would give them a list of six to choose from. Oddly enough bothMina and Grace chose the same--Camp Pleasant. It looked as though_that_ name had a lead at the start.
Frank suggested Birch Tree Camp--for there was an enormous birch on theknoll at the foot of which Mr. Jarley had set up a bench for them.
"Now you, Bess?" said Wyn, as mistress of ceremonies.
"Camp Pleasant is all right," admitted Miss Lavine; "only it is not verydistinctive. I expect there are thousands of Camp Pleasants--don't youthink so?"
"What's the matter with _my_ name?" demanded Frank Cameron.
"I find the same fault with it," replied Bess. "It is not distinctiveenough. Now, I don't know that I have the right idea; but I believe thatcalling the camp after our club wouldn't be so bad. And it would meansomething."
"Go-Ahead Camp? Or Camp Go-Ahead?" cried Grace.
"There's nothing romantic about it, that's sure," objected Mina.
"Goodness me! we're not looking for romance, I hope," cried thestrong-minded Bess.
"Bess is a suffragette in embryo--I declare!" cried Frank, laughing.
"How does Camp Cheer sound?" suggested Percy. "Now, that's real nice,_I_ think."
"Say, we've got to vote on them, anyway," said Grace. "_We've_ gottwo votes for Camp Pleasant, Mina."
"But hold on!" cried Frank. "Here's one hasn't been heard from. Theshrinking violet of all our crew! What's the matter, Wynnie? Can't youdecide on a name?"
"I thought of one last evening when we were paddling over here from theForge--before the rain," admitted the captain.
"Well! for pity's sake!" gasped Grace. "That's before we even knew itwas to have a name."
"I didn't think particularly about naming the camp," said Wyn,reflectively, "but from the water, with the squall working up behind us,and the last light of the day lingering on this little hill, the nameflashed into my mind."
"What i
s it?" chorused the others. "Do tell us, Wyn!"
"Green Knoll."
"Just _that_?" cried Grace. "'Green Knoll'? Why! It _was_green; wasn't it?"
"I remember how green it seemed from the lake," added Bess. "It's not asilly name, either. It means something."
"I take it all back about 'Birch Tree Camp,'" declared Frank. "'GreenKnoll.' There's a dignity about that--as our assistant principal, MissHutchins, would say."
"It's a fine name, _I_ think," admitted Percy Havel, slowly. "Iwithdraw Camp Cheer. It may not be so cheerful here all thetime--especially if we catch smallpox, as Grace says. But it will_always_ be green up here on the knoll."
"As long as we are here to see it, at least," agreed Frankie, nodding.
"Say! our Camp Pleasant is swamped!" cried Grace. "What say, Mina? Shallwe surrender?"
"Green Knoll sounds very pretty," agreed the sweet-tempered MinaEverett.
"Oh, girls! do you really all like it?" Wyn cried.
"I vote aye!" said Frank, with emphasis. The other four followed inquick succession.
"Why, that's lovely of you!" cried the captain of the club. "I--I wasafraid nobody would like it but myself."
"It's so appropriate," said Bess.
"It's all _right_," Frank declared. "I wonder what the Busters willcall their camp?"
"They named it last fall," said Wyn. "Dave told me. It isCave-in-the-Wood Camp. Not so bad--eh?"
"Pretty good for a parcel of boys," observed Bess.
"Well, I'm glad the worry's over," yawned Grace. "Let's go to bed. Youknow, Percy, we've got to work like slaves to-morrow, so it behooves usto get to bed betimes."
"Mercy!" cried Frankie, "they'll be wanting to make up the cots beforewe are out of them in the morning. Come on! let's all turn in."
There was a general roll-call at daybreak the next morning. Wynifred andFrank were not the only ones to get up as soon as day approached,although to them had been allotted the task of going to Windmill Farmfor the milk and the day's supply of vegetables.
They had agreed the night before to venture into the water. The boysalways bragged about this early morning dip, which was a rule of theircamp.
"I don't see why we shouldn't be able to do anything those boys do,"declared Bess, with her usual contempt for the vaunted superiority ofthe other sex. "If they can run down and plunge right into the water,right out of bed, why can't _we_?"
So even Grace--who had her doubts about it--ventured on this secondmorning. They slipped out of their sleeping clothes and into bathingsuits. There _was_ a little chill in the air; but Wyn assured themthe water would be warmer than the air and--if they remained in half anhour, or so--the sun would be up and his rays would warm them when theycame out.
And Wyn's prophecy was proven right. The six girls disported in the lakelike a flock of ducks. Mrs. Havel, however, would not let them remainmore than twenty minutes. The sun had shot up, then, and already thegreen knoll was warm in his first rays.
Wyn and Frank scurried into their clothes and hurried away to the farmfor the milk and vegetables. Frank saw the windmill on the summit of thehill, and nothing would do but she must run up and inspect it. Thebreeze was rising and the farmer, who was likewise the miller, waspreparing to "grind a grist."
"We've got a good bit of grain on hand; but we've not had wind enough ofdaytimes lately to grind a handful," he said. "I can't invite youinside, young ladies, because when they set up this mill for me theymade the door, as you see, right behind the sails. When the arms are inmotion I am shut in till the grist is ground; or I stop the sails withthis lever just inside the door--d'ye see?"
As the girls went back toward the house the arms began turning with agroaning sound. The wind became fresher. Round and round the long armsturned, while the canvas bellied like the sails on a boat.
Louder and louder grew the hum of the mill. The miller threw in theclutch and the stones began to grind. They heard the corn poured intothe hopper, and then the shriek of the kernels as they were groundbetween the stones. The whole building began to shake.
"What a ponderous thing it is!" exclaimed Frank. "And see! there's atiny window in the roof facing the lake. I imagine you could see clearto Meade's Forge from that window."
"Farther than that, my dear--much farther," said the farmer's wife,handing Frank the basket of fresh vegetables over the garden fence. "Ona clear day you can see 'way across the lake to Braisely Park. The towerof Dr. Shelton's fine house is visible from that window. And the wholespread of the lake. But the air must be very clear."
"Goody! We'll bring the other girls up here some day when the mill isnot running and climb to the top of the mill for the view," declaredFrank.
Bess and Mina, with some advice from Mrs. Havel, made a very goodbreakfast. Although neither was very domestic in her tastes, the twoyoung cooks were on their mettle, and did the best they could. If thehot biscuits were not quite so flaky as their mothers' own cooks madethem at home, and some of the poached eggs broke in the poacher, and thebroiled bacon got afire several time and "fussed them all up," as Minasaid, the general opinion of the occupants of Green Knoll Camp was that"there was no kick coming"--of course, expressed thus by the slangyFrank Cameron.
Grace _would_ dawdle over the dishwashing, and Percy was a goodsecond. Therefore, those two still had work on their hands when Besssighted a motor boat coming swiftly toward their camp from the directionof Gannet Island.
"Now somebody's going to butt in and bother us," declared Bess. "Itcan't be the Busters, I s'pose?"
"That's exactly who it is!" cried Wyn, delightedly. "That's the _HappyDay_. Dave said if his cousin, Frank Dumont, could come up here, hewould bring his father's motor boat. And he must have come yesterdaywhen we were busy and did not see him."
"Hurrah!" cried Frank. "A motor boat beats a canoe all to pieces."
"The Busters are aboard, all right," sighed Bess, after another look."Now we'll have a noisy time."
"Now there'll be something doing!" quoth Frank. "That's the trouble witha crowd of girls. After they have played 'Ring Around the Rosy' and'London Bridge is Falling Down' they don't know another living thing todo except to sit down and look prim and be prosy. But with boys it'sdifferent. There's something doing all the time."
"You should have been a boy, Frank," declared Bess, with some disgust.
"If I was one, I'd be hanging around your house all the time, Bessiemine," laughed the other, hugging the boy-hater.
"Get away! I'd have Patrick turn the hose on you if you did!" criedBess, in mock wrath.
But secretly, Miss Lavine, as well as her mates, was glad of the breakin the quiet affairs of Green Knoll Camp made by the appearance of DaveShepard and his spirited chums.
"Oh, crackey, girls! you ought to see our camp! We've got a regularpirates' cave," declared Ferdinand Roberts.
"Did your stores get wet in that awful storm?" demanded Wyn from the topof the knoll.
"Not much. We managed to cover them with the canvas. And now we'vecleaned out the cave and it's great. All we need is some captives totake over there and chain to the rocks," laughed Dave.
"And fatten 'em up till they're fit to eat," drawled Tubby Blaisdell.
"Stop it, Tub!" cried one of his mates. "We're not going to playcannibals, but pirates."
"Well, in either case," declared Bess, "you will not get captives atGreen Knoll Camp."
"Is that what you call this pretty hillock?" cried Dave. "Well, it_is_ a beauty spot! And how nice you girls have made everything.Why! you don't need any boys around at all."
"That's what I've always told them," murmured Bess. "They're only anuisance."
"We came over to see if we could help you," continued Dave. "Here's mycousin, Frank Dumont, girls. Some of you know him, anyway. This is hismotor boat, and if there really is nothing we can do to help you here,why, Frank wants to take you all--with Mrs. Havel, if she isagreeable--for a trip around the lake. We've got supplies aboard andwe'll stop somewhere and make a picnic dinner.
"
"Goody!" cried Mina. "Then we will not have to make dinner here, Bess."
"Agreed!" announced Grace. "There will be no more dishes to wash untilevening, then."
"Well, I don't know," Dave said, slowly. "Of course we like to have yougirls go along; but usually girls do the grub-getting and dishwashing ona picnic."
"Nothing doing, then," declared Frank, laughing at him. "This crowd ofgirls are going as invited guests, or not at all. We promise to beornamental, but not useful."
"You're ornamental, all right, in those blouses and bloomers," declaredFerd, for the girls had discarded skirts about the camp, and felt muchmore free and comfortable than they usually did.
"If worse comes to worst," said Mrs. Havel, smiling, "_I_ will bethe camp drudge, boys, for I want to see the lake shore in panorama."
"Oh, let 'em come," drawled Tubby, still lying on his back on the littledeck of the _Happy Day_. "They'll get hungry some time and_have_ to cook for us."
And so, amid much bustle, and laughter, and raillery, the girls of GreenKnoll Camp joined the boys of Cave-in-the-Wood Camp in the motor boatfor a trip around the big lake.
Wyn's Camping Days; Or, The Outing of the Go-Ahead Club Page 10
