by Morgan Scott
CHAPTER II.
MAKING CAMP.
Carl, the German boy, was dozing again upon the wagon-seat. When theyawoke him he grumbled a little, but they did not ask him to assist inunloading, knowing that he would simply be in the way. It required onlya few minutes to remove the boxes, bales and bundles, which were piledtogether promiscuously.
“Is there a spring near by, Carl?” asked Grant.
“Vot does a spring vant uf you?” returned the German lad in surprise.
“We must have water to drink.”
“Vater? Goot cracious! Didt you oxpect to up drink der whole lake rightavay soon?”
“Not exactly, but we weren’t right sure it was suitable for drinkingpurposes. It’s all right, is it?”
“Vale, it vas vet, undt uf you drink it I don’t peliefe it villdisagreement by you. Howefer, uf it didt not like you, there vas aspring in der voods pack somevhere. I could not say how near it vasavay.”
“Well,” laughed Rod, “although that’s plenty indefinite, I reckon we canfind it. You’ll come early in the morning with the butter, eggs andmilk, will you?”
“Yah, der putter, eggs undt milks vill pring me early,” assured Carl.
“And then you are to hike to Pemstock and tote our canoe in to us.”
“‘Hike’ and ‘tote’ didt not understood me,” replied Carl; “but I vill goundt dot canoe get tomorrow as soon as possibility.”
“That’s what I mean,” said Grant.
As the German boy gathered up the reins to back the wagon round, Piperstepped forward and checked him with an uplifted hand.
“Stay,” said Sleuth. “Pause a moment. Would you inform us if there areany dangerous wild beasts in this virgin forest? Are there likely to beanimals prowling about against whose attack we should keep a nocturnalvigil?”
“Vot vas dot, a dog?” asked Carl wonderingly. “Didt you mean vas you tokeep a dog to out vatch for vild animals? I didt not observation dot youhad a dog aroundt anyvhere. Maype, howefer, you have vun your pocketin.”
Sleuth shook his head sadly. “It’s evident,” he returned, “that you arenot wise to the delicate shadings of the English language. By anocturnal vigil I mean a night watch.”
“Oh, yah,” nodded Carl. “Now I understooded it. You haf a night vatchyour pocket in, in order dot der time can see you ven it iss dark. Ipeliefe maype it vas a goot kindt uf a vatch to have.”
“You haven’t answered my interrogation concerning the before-mentioneddangerous wild animals,” persisted Piper, unheeding the half suppressedmerriment of his companions. “Are there any around these parts?”
“Last vinter,” was the answer, “my oldt man he didt see der feetprintsuf a gouger, undt dot gouger didt off carry vun uf our sheeps.”
“A gouger?” cried Sleuth. “What is that?”
“It vas a gouger; a vild peast mit four feets undt claws undt two eyesundt teeth undt a goot appetite for meat undt plood.”
“A-a-ah!” breathed Sleuth, with a long, shuddering intake of his breath.“I knew there must be such ferocious creatures in this wild and desolatewilderness, but what a gouger can be has got me guessing.”
“Perhaps,” suggested Grant, “he means a cougar.”
“Dot peen vot I said already,” persisted the German boy. “Vale, I mustalong go uf I vill home get pefore dark. Goot py, undt don’t let dotgouger catch you.”
Turning with some difficulty, he drove away into the stilly woods, thebumping and creaking of the old wagon drifting back to the ears of thecampers a long time after it had disappeared from view. Ere those soundsfully died out Piper brought forth his jack-knife, hastily cut open oneof the burlap-covered bundles, and extracted a hatchet, with which heattacked one of the smaller wooden boxes.
“Here, what are yeou tryin’ ter do?” cried Crane. “Don’t go ter stavin’up that box; we may need it. What be yeou after?”
“The ammunition—the cartridges for the gun,” palpitated Piper. “As ameans of defense against a ravenous cougar, the weapon is practicallynull and void unless loaded.”
Stone seized the hatchet and wrested it from the hand of the agitatedyouth. “When we’re ready to open that box,” he said, “we’ll do sowithout smashing it into kindling, for we’re going to need it again whenwe pack up. Have some sense, Sleuth. There are no cougars in theseparts.”
“Nun-never heard of one,” said Springer. “There might be woodchucks orhedgehogs, or even, sometimes, a wildcat; but I’ll bub-bub-bet nobodyever saw a cougar around here.”
“Nevertheless,” declared Sleuth grimly, “I intend to stand on guardtonight with this loaded weapon. Many a foolish, reckless man has losthis life by carelessness in the wild regions of an unknown land.”
“As fur as I’m consarned,” said Crane, “yeou can stand on guard if yeouwant to; but when it comes time to turn in, you’ll see me hittin’ theblanket.”
“The first thing to be done,” said Grant, who seemed to be the naturalleader of the party, “is to pitch our tent and prepare for supper. Let’schoose a camping spot. I reckon it won’t be hard to find a good onehere.”
“What’s the mum-matter with this place right where we are?” askedSpringer. “It’s all cleared up excepting a few rocks, and it’s prettynear level.”
“I judge we can find a better place,” was the opinion of the Texan.“This is too far back on the point; we should get out where we can feelmore of the breeze, which will help to drive away flies and wingedinsects. Furthermore, this is in a slight hollow that would get mightywet if it rained hard. We must look out for drainage in case of rain. Ithink I can see a good place.”
The spot he chose needed to be cleared of some low bushes and a fewsmall loose rocks that were not difficult to remove. By using thatlocation, as Rod explained, not only would they get the benefit ofwhatever breeze might be stirring and have dry ground beneath them if itrained, but the tent could be so pitched that the early morning sunwould shine full upon the front of it, and some near-by trees wouldprovide cool shelter throughout the warm middle hours of the day.Furthermore, two low, flat-topped rocks, at a distance of some fifteenfeet from where the tent would stand, formed a sort of triangle, which,partly closed in with some more stones that might be found near by,could readily be made, with the aid of the sheet-iron top they hadbrought, into a combined cook-stove and fireplace. Four or five feetfrom the rocks grew three stout saplings, likewise in a triangle andclose enough together so that, by nailing cross-pieces to them andspanning those cross-pieces with boards from one of the boxes, a handycook’s table might be constructed in a few minutes.
The boys listened to Rodney with increasing respect for his judgment andsound horse sense.
“Gall dinged if yeou don’t seem to know jest haow to do these things,Texas,” drawled Crane. “I guess we’ll foller yeour lead.”
“All right,” nodded Grant briskly. “Do you know how to rustle firewood?”
“I was brung up on a farm, and I cal’late I know as much abaout thedifferent kinds of wood as anybody here.”
“Then get the axe out of that bundle Piper cut open and go foraging forwood. Stone, can you cook any at all?”
“Not much,” confessed Ben; “but I suppose I can fry bacon, and that’sabout all the cooking there’ll be to do tonight.”
“That’s right. We’ve bread and some canned stuff. You can get out thestove top and cooking utensils and build the fireplace, with the help ofPiper, who will bring such extra stones as you may need. Springer, Ireckon you and I had better clear away here, unpack the tent and get itready for pitching. When we need the others we can call them to give usa helping hand.”
In this manner he set them all at work, and, to their credit, everyfellow took hold with a will. While Springer and Grant were ripping upthe small bushes by the roots, removing the loose stones and smoothingout the ground for the tent floor, Piper, red-faced and grunting,brought rocks for Stone to build the fireplace
, and, that being done,aided him in constructing the cook’s table. The ring of Crane’s axeresounded through the near-by woods, and presently he appeared with ahuge armful of dry sugar maple cut from a fallen tree.
“If this ain’t as good firewood as anybody can find araound here,” hesaid, dropping it on the ground near the fireplace, “I’ll eat everystick of it.”
“Where’s the axe?” questioned Grant.
“I left her stickin’ in the log.”
“Get it. Cut a chopping block if you can find anything suitable, andbring it along with the axe, which we’ll need when we come to drive thestakes for pitching the tent. I don’t reckon it’s a good plan to leavean axe out in the woods away from camp.”
Two minutes later the strokes of the axe were again ringing through thewoods, and in less than quarter of an hour Crane reappeared with theimplement in his hand, rolling along the ground before him a choppingblock, which he had cut from the small sugar maple.
By this time the fireplace was constructed and a fire already started init. Furthermore, the cook’s table was almost ready for use. The tent hadbeen unpacked, shaken out and spread on the ground with the ridgepolelying in position beneath it. At each end of the tent lay the uprights,ready to be raised into position. The axe and the smaller hatchet wereplaced handy for use at either end of the tent, after which the tent flywas spread in its proper place, with the loops of the long guys over thefront and rear pole pins. Stout stakes had been driven at both ends ofthe tent, and to these the guy ropes were made fast. The loops at thefour corners of the tent were likewise made fast to stakes, the pins ofthe uprights were slipped through the ridgepole ends, and Grantannounced that everything was ready for the raising.
It is probable that the fellow who has never pitched a tent in the woodswill not understand the thrill of that moment which was experienced bythe young campers as, directed by Grant, they placed themselves inposition to hoist away. As only four were required for this part of thework, Piper stood back and awaited orders. The others, two at each end,grasped the front and rear uprights and lifted the ridgepole, bearingthe tent and fly. As soon as convenient, two of the boys slipped insideand seized the poles to assist, after which the uprights were hoistedinto a vertical position. Those within remained holding them thus untilthe four corners were carried out and made fast to the ground pins.After this, the tent being thus temporarily secured, all went about thework of setting the guy pins and making the ropes fast to them.
The wall pins were next driven into place and the walls roped down tothem. Then the fly was lifted to a proper height and guyed off, Piperkeeping busy assisting to make everything staunch and taut.
“There she is, fellows,” said Grant proudly, stepping away and runninghis fingers through his damp hair, “and it sure is my opinion that for abunch of novices we’ve made a right good job of it. She stands as squareand true as anybody could ask, and I opine she’ll provide shelter aslong as we want it, in any kind of weather.”
“You bub-bet,” exulted Springer. “Don’t it look fine? It’s a dandy,fellows.”
“The teepee is erected,” said Piper.
“What be we goin’ to call our camp?” asked Crane.
“Let’s call it Camp Oakdale,” suggested Stone.
“That’s it; that’s the name,” cried the others.
“A cheer, then, for Camp Oakdale,” proposed Grant.
They responded right lustily.
