The Woodcraft Girls in the City

Miss Miller said good-night to them and left them wondering at her displeased tone of voice.

“What did you do, Zan Baker?” cried Jane, amazed.

“I – I never did a thing to her!” said Zan half-crying with mortification.

“If Miss Miller is mad at us for anything I am going to ask her pardon ’cause I’d rather keep in with her than all the Woodcraft in the world!” declared Nita.

Which all goes to show that the five girls did not stop to consider how deeply the Guide felt over the careless manner in which they treated the new members of the Tribe. Possibly, had they realised the truth they would have swung over to the opposite extreme and dropped the Brownies to make up to the other girls to please the Guide.

But Miss Miller finally decided to take Mrs. Remington into a secret plan she had devised. After the letter was written to her friend on the Palisades, she called Mrs. Remington up on the telephone and they talked some time. When the conversation ended the plot was laid.

The week-end camp on the Hudson River Cliffs proved to be very entertaining, as the friend mentioned had provided the tents and camp-kits, and the girls only had to provide food and fun.

The Little Lodge was well started on flowers, birds, trees and other coups for Brownies, and on Sunday, the blue prints were made and admired. Not only did the children make simple prints but the five older Woodcrafters made several exquisite ones for their Tally Books.

The evening before the Band broke camp, they were all seated about the embers of the camp-fire when the Guide addressed them:

“You girls will not have much time to give the Little Lodge after this week – you have to study for Exams. you know.”

“Dear sakes, that’s so! I tried to forget it,” sighed Elena.

“This is the last of May and preliminary examinations start the first week of June this year,” the Guide reminded.

“I have to work up some of those last Fall studies, too,” murmured Hilda.

“Have you thought of any plan for the Brownies while you are occupied with lessons? I shall not be able to meet with you again or waste any time on Woodcraft from now on till school closes,” ventured Miss Miller.

“You won’t! Goodness what will we do?” asked Zan.

“Why, do what I will do – study like mad!” retorted Jane.

“That’s what you all had better do if you expect to go on with your class next year. You can’t afford to drop behind in your school-classes on account of these children,” advised Miss Miller.

“Maybe they’ll forget all they learned from us – and maybe they’ll not want to bother with a Little Lodge if we have to leave them a whole month,” said Nita.

“I thought of a way to handle the situation but Zan ought to arrange about it without delay – that is, if it meets with the approval of you all.”

“It is sure to – what is it, Miss Miller?” said the girls.

“Ask Mrs. Remington to watch over and take charge of your Little Lodge until school is over. She can teach them lots of good things and they can be handed back to you in fine feather when your time is yours to enjoy again.”

“What a dandy idea! I’ll do it the moment we get home,” exclaimed Zan.

And the other girls agreed with her that the plan was great! Miss Miller meekly looked at the fading pink ashes of the camp-fire and mentally thanked the Watchful Spirit for a hope of peace that was held out to Wako Tribe.

Monday night Mrs. Remington accepted an invitation from Zan to call and talk over Little Lodge matters, and the result was that the Brownies were turned over to her personal charge and the Chief congratulated herself on her tact in arranging matters so nicely for the Brownies and for her friends.

The following day, Tuesday, Eleanor met the Mason girls. “I hear those five girls had a wonderful time at camp on the Palisades last week. Just got home late Sunday night.”

“Yes, and what is more it was the last outing with their Brownies this season. They have turned over affairs to Mrs. Remington till school closes,” retorted Anne.

“So, you see, that doesn’t look much like being so taken up with the Little Lodge that they were jealous of us, as you intimated some time ago,” added Frances.

Eleanor was taken by surprise as she had heard nothing of the transfer. She said nothing more but changed the subject.

For the month following the camp on the Palisades, every school girl was busy with studies and examinations, and little heed was paid Woodcraft interests. Miss Miller, too, had much extra work to do as she generally assisted the high-school teachers in reading papers and marking percentages for pupils. But she took time to visit the doctor one afternoon and outline to him the fears and worries she felt over the schism in the Tribe.

“I am sorry to hear my girl is so thoughtless of others’ rights in this matter, but I think I can suggest a way out of further misunderstandings,” said the doctor when the Guide had concluded her tale of trouble.

“Oh, if you could! Your letter last Summer was so full of sensible advice regarding Nita that I felt sure you could offer some way out of this difficulty,” said Miss Miller.

“The last week of school – immediately after exams. are over, so the girls will not be distracted by my plan during any important test – I will send an invitation to every girl in Wako Tribe asking them to visit Wickeecheokee for a camp party. Mrs. Baker is not going to take her boys there to camp until the day following the Fourth, and the girls can have the use of the place until that time. They can start as soon as they wish to after school closes.”

“Oh, that is just what we need – a close companionship such as a camp at the farm will give. Then the crisis will be passed without danger,” sighed Miss Miller, gratefully.

“As a physician would say, ‘with no fatalities to record!’ and patients all doing well!” laughed Dr. Baker.

So it happened that the last Monday of the school-month, the hard tests all over for the term, Miss Miller sent word by Billy Remington, that the members of the Tribe were to meet her the next afternoon – Tuesday – in the gymnasium.

It seemed a long time since the girls had met and everyone was present to hear what was the cause of the call.

When all were present, the Guide read an invitation from the doctor, which included every girl in the Tribe, as well as the Little Lodge members.

“Oh, how lovely of the doctor!” cried several voices.

“If only it was for some other time, Miss Miller! We have company coming to spend the Fourth,” complained one of the Suwanee members.

“And we are going to the seashore next Monday for a month!” added another girl.

“Well, let us only consider the reply just now – those who will not be here to go with us, can explain later,” said the Guide, fearful lest the principal cause of the meeting be lost.

“Oh, we’ll go, of course! Who’d think of refusing?” laughed Jane.

“Is that what everyone present thinks? Remember girls – this is for everyone in the Tribe – not for a few,” said the Guide very plainly.

The vote showed that every girl was glad and grateful to accept the invitation, so it was accepted and the letter handed Zan to give her father that night. Then the individual members would have to arrange their personal matters at home as best they could. This meeting over, the Guide felt that she had won another victory over the subtle temptations of evil to destroy any good work that would lift the individual out of its power for all time.

It finally transpired that beside the five old members and the Little Lodge Brownies, but six of the new members could arrange to go to camp with the Tribe. The others had promised visits to pay, or were leaving the city with their families, for the entire Summer vacation.

From the day the invitation was read to the day the girls planned to start, Eleanor was very attentive to Zan, effusing over everything the Chief did or said, until Zan grew annoyed and felt like asking her what it was all for.

The last day in the city, however, Eleanor met Zan on the street, and said: “Are all the Brownies going with us?”

“Sure! There aren’t enough to go around as it is – so we couldn’t spare one, you know.”

“They are such darlings! I am so glad they will be with us!” exclaimed Eleanor.

“I thought you detested them. I heard that you preferred leaving our Tribe if we continued having a Little Lodge,” said Zan.

“What! Who dared say that of me? It is false!” cried Eleanor, furious to find she had been found out.

“Oh, never mind who. You’ll get over this, just as we get over everything unpleasant. Stick to your present desire of being glad the kiddies are with us, and forget the others!”

So Zan, with all her frankness, averted an unpleasant scene with Eleanor. But she mentioned it to the Guide who nodded and said: “Eleanor will climb out of this mire just as Nita got out last Summer, but it seems to cling more tenaciously to Eleanor.”

The short interval given the girls in which to prepare for the camp on the farm, soon passed and amid a chorus of happy good-byes and some regrets from those who remained at home, the Tribe left the city. After several hours of motoring through the lovely country districts of New Jersey, they reached Wickeecheokee.

“You five girls sure were lucky to have a whole summer at this grand old place,” said a member of Suwanee Band, as she admired the old colonial house, the ancient trees, the fine green lawns and the glimpse of gardens back of the barns.

“If you think this is fine, just wait till you see the Bluff and Falls where we camp. That’s something worth while!” bragged Zan, who was pleased at the admiration from the girls.

“The water rushes right down the mountain-side from Fiji’s Cave and falls over a great boulder into a pool below that we use for a swimming pool,” added Jane.

“And we have a large Council Ring there, and a ready-made fire-place,” said Hilda.

“That reminds me! We all ought to feel hungry by this time, so we could have lunch on the lawn and start for the Bluff later, to get settled for the night,” advised the Guide.

“I think I can eat a morsel, if coaxed hard enough,” said Jane, laughing.

“I can eat everything in sight – even the grass,” declared Billy.

“You won’t have to stoop to the meek little blades, Billy, as we brought plenty of sandwiches and cake,” said Zan.

As they enjoyed the luncheon brought from home, Miss Miller asked: “Who would like to visit the gardens after we’re through with refreshments?”

“Oh, yes; I can’t tell an onion from a gooseberry,” laughed Eleanor.

“You ought to if you did your cookery work properly this winter,” Miss Miller reproved.

An hour was devoted to trying to identify the many vegetables of the garden, and at the same time, enough fruit and other things were gathered for supper and breakfast.

“Funny how different lettuce, radishes, beets, and other things look to us when growing in the garden and when we have them ready served on the dinner table,” commented one of the girls.

Then the Guide described the habits of many vegetables and explained how they grew and should be cared for and harvested. She touched upon the national interest taken in canning and preserving and hinted that the Wako Girls might start a class for themselves early in the Fall.

Bill Sherwood had erected tents and brought the cots from the cabin, so all was ready for the Tribe when they reached the Bluff. The Council Ring had been cleared of debris and the camp-fire place ready for supper, so that the Guide smiled and thanked Bill for his trouble to have everything in order for them.

That night the girls sat star-gazing when Zan said: “We must start the new members and the Brownies on mat weaving and willow bed making, the first thing, Miss Miller.”

“Yes, the rushes and willows ought to be just about right this time of year,” added the Guide, delighted that Zan was taking a normal interest in her Woodcraft again.

So immediately after breakfast, they all started down the slope to the Big Bridge where the reeds grew thickest and longest. In passing, the Guide called the attention of the Brownies and new members to the trees: Oak, hickory, maple and others were identified and described.

Then Billy tried to show his superiority over the other Brownies, by saying: “That is a red maple, and over there – that’s a swamp maple.”

“What’s this, Billy?” asked Elizabeth.

“Oh, that’s a mountain maple.”

“What was the grove we came through last night?” said she.

“Sugar maples for maple syrup! Don’t I know! I’ve tapped them enough when out with Fred,” giggled Billy.

While they were all engaged in cutting rushes some of the girls gazed about now and then. In one of these wayward glances, May saw some green leaves growing in the brook.

“What are they, Miss Miller?”

“That is water-cress – would you like to gather it?”

“Water-cress! Oh, I love it in salad!” cried May.

“Then pull off your shoes and stockings and wade in and gather all you want. We’ll have it instead of lettuce this noon.”

Two of the girls preferred to help May gather cress as they thought they had enough reed and rush for a mat, so by the time the cutting was done, the three girls had a large basketful of water-cress.

That afternoon, they began weaving mats on the looms constructed that morning. As they were working for coups they applied themselves carefully to the work. Even the Little Lodge tried the mat weaving but soon wearied of it.

Eleanor took an enthusiastic interest in the mats until she found it was tedious work and made her back ache with bending over the looms.

“It seems so silly to waste time on this stuff when you really do not need them or want them for anything,” said she.

“We’re not weaving a doormat but working for an honour,” retorted May.

“But it is foolish – an empty honour,” laughed she.

“I never think anything foolish that creates a desire to do perfect work, or apply yourself and overcome impatience,” said Miss Miller.

“But where’s the honour come in?” insisted Eleanor.

“It is an honour always to follow the Bible’s injunction – ‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.’”

“Oh, you’re talking of religion – this is different,” argued Eleanor, not to be silenced.

“Our Master felt that the two went together – honour and religion. If one does what is honourable and right in small things he can be depended upon for greater things, too.”

“Well, weaving grass mats won’t count,” scorned Eleanor, pushing at her badly woven mat impatiently.

“Everything counts. If you can’t be patient and do a simple thing like a grass mat how do you expect to be promoted? It is the promotion that gains us honours but if one fails to do the best he can with anything given to do, how can one hope to go higher in the scale of progress?

“In Woodcraft, it is not the grass mat we weave that counts for the coup or honour, it is the general improvement in one’s moral and spiritual life that really counts. And the uplift in mental and characteristic desires brings about the higher basis for the next step.

“You mistake, Eleanor, when you think you are weaving grass mats or willow beds – you are weaving qualities of thought, good or bad, and each pattern produced only shows what thoughts, upbuilding or destructive, you are allowing yourself to weave into the warp and woof of your future life. And this pattern is all there is to our temporal lives, but it is everything when we seek promotion to our eternal and spiritual life!”

Eleanor lifted her delicate eyebrows with a disdainful manner and pretended to stifle a yawn as she gazed away to Pine Nob.

The Guide saw the expression of being bored but she said nothing, being too noble a character to take offence or feel sensitive over the girl’s rudeness. The other girls had heard the short lecture and pondered deeply as they worked.

Miss Miller saw the thoughtful girls in one comprehensive glance, and thanked the Great Spirit that the seed had not all fallen on barren ground.

Eleanor noticed the silence after a time and remarked:

“Have you girls lost your tongues?”

“Why-hy, no-o! I guess we were thinking.”

“Thinking – what of?” wondered she.

“Why Miss Miller’s words, to be sure. She is wonderful, that way, and we love to hear her explain things spiritual in such a simple way. It really makes religion attractive, I think,” said Jane.

“Now, if Jane Hubert thinks that, and she lives in the finest house belonging to any of the girls, and she has more money than any, there must be more to the Guide’s words than I thought of. What was it she said to me, anyway?” thought Eleanor to herself as she began pulling out the strands she had woven into the mat.

Then she tried to remember and in so doing she took in more of what Miss Miller had really said than she thought possible. Even as she pondered, she finished unravelling the mat and began over again to weave the work correctly and neatly.

Nita noticed this silent weaving and the thoughtful mien of Eleanor, and she left her own loom to join the girl and tell her of her experience while at Camp with Miss Miller the previous Summer.

Eleanor kept her eyes upon the weaving as she listened, and when Nita said: “I never was so contented and happy in my life as now, and it is only because I tried to do just as Miss Miller taught and showed me to do.”

The days passed only too quickly for the busy Woodcrafters until the day before the Fourth. Then the Doctor telephoned just before noon and told the Guide that the friends and families of Wako Tribe were coming down to hold a Council on the afternoon of the Fourth.

When this unexpected news was transmitted to the girls, such a bustle and excitement as it created! Everyone wanted to do something fine to show the visitors what progress had been made in the past week.

Some of the girls went to the house to bake cake for refreshments, some hurriedly sawed and painted crude totems to make the Council Ring appear decorated. The Brownies thrashed through the woods gathering wild flowers and fern, and arranging them in pails and jars of water. Mrs. Sherwood skimmed the rich cream from several pans of milk and offered to freeze the ice-cream. Everyone managed to get in everyone else’s way, and the merry confusion was as enjoyable as a surprise party.

The girls expected the visitors about noon, but it was almost two o’clock before a maddening sound reached them.

“Good gracious! That isn’t our siren!” cried Jane.

“Nor ours – and it isn’t the Remingtons’, either,” said Zan.

Then another terrific blast sounded from the Big Bridge, and the girls saw three large jitneys turn in from the main road and pull up before Bill’s cottage.

“Did you ever see such a crowd?” exclaimed May, as the visitors jumped out and looked about.

“‘Everybody and his uncle’ came, I guess!” laughed Elena.

“And in jitneys! Isn’t it a scream?” added Jane.

As they spoke, the girls were hurrying down the slope to welcome the friends and soon after, the Council Ring was filled and the entertainment began.

Nita danced, the Tribe sang, the boys had sham-battles, games were enjoyed, and refreshments, – not the least of the fun – were quickly disposed of and the visitors complimented the cooks.

“I hear those jitneys calling ‘Ole Black Joe,’” sang the doctor, as a horn sounded from the foot of the slope. “But I must say my little say before I go. And this is my speech!”

Dr. Baker then told the girls that they, as a Tribe, were invited to accompany Mrs. Hubert to the Adirondack Camp for the Summer. She expected to leave the city on the following Thursday and anyone intending to go must be ready and waiting at the car.

This wonderful news was wildly received and the visitors were sent off in a hurry, as the girls wanted time to consider ways and means of going to Woodchuck Camp.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN – THE ADIRONDACK CAMP

When the girls returned to the city the day following the Fourth, they heard that Mrs. Remington and Anna, the governess, were going to assist them in Woodcraft that Summer, and incidentally look after Teddy and Tammy, the babies of Little Lodge.

Mrs. Baker was invited but she declined as she had already arranged to start a boys’ camp for her sons at the farm. All the members of Wako Tribe were invited but many of them could not go, as other plans had been made by mothers. So on the day of departure, Miss Miller, the other ladies, and Brownies, with the five old members and some of the new ones, boarded the express.

It was a long wearisome ride but the wonders expected when all should reach the mountains buoyed them up. As Zan said: “It was just like journeying hopefully through earth’s tribulations for the joy and peace waiting in Heaven.”

It was dark when the campers reached the Huberts’ place and not much could be seen, but early in the morning every girl was out and exclaiming at the beauty of the forest camp. The lake was a short walk from the long cabin, and a swim was the first thing on the programme. After that a hearty breakfast, and a hike through the woods.

As they merrily ran hither and thither in the cool bowers of green, the Brownies gathered flowers and leaves. Billy brought Miss Miller a sprig of green and she cried:

“Ha! Who knows what this is – don’t tell them, Billy!”

“Do you know – it smells like mint of some sort?” said Nita, sniffing at the green leaves.

“It’s sassafras. The juice of these leaves flavours the chewing gum Zan told us of in her essay,” said the Guide.

“Then it is used for candy, too,” added Billy.

“Yes, and peppermint and birch found in these woods can be used for flavouring, too,” said Mrs. Remington.

“Did I hear you say we had all the makings of some candy the first rainy day?” laughed Zan.

“Having the flavouring at hand – why not?” retorted Jane, well knowing the Brownies would take up the cry.

Even as she turned to nudge Billy, a drop of rain splashed down upon her face. She looked up and saw a heavy cloud sweeping over the sun and the others turned and looked also.

“Run everybody, or we’ll have to swim back!” cried Zan.

“Run for the house – not for the camp! Remember that sassafras candy!” merrily shouted Jane.

So the first day at Woodchuck Camp ended with a candy-pull and sticky hands and faces of Wako Tribe members.

No one could settle down to any planned Woodcraft work that first week in the Adirondacks as the call of the forest and lake proved irresistible. But the second week the novelty had worn off enough to allow the girls to start some active work.

“We must have a good cabin to hold our tools and work during the Summer – what do you say to building one at once?” asked Miss Miller.

“Oh, yes, let’s!” replied the girls who had built the cabin at Wickeecheokee Camp.

“Won’t it be awfully hard work?” queried Anne.

“And so senseless when you have tents and a house near enough to place things,” added Eleanor, peevishly. “It will be more fun to swing in a hammock and read stories.”

“One can read books in the Winter but who wants to do it in camp?” scorned Hilda.

“My mother sent me a box of novels and I shall take it easy and read – you girls can do as you like,” retorted Eleanor.

Miss Miller heard the conversation and was on guard at once. “Who is your favourite author, Eleanor?”

“I have so many, I hardly can tell,” said the girl, not aware of the Guide’s intentions to draw her out.

“What style of book do you prefer? Travel, history, or love stories?”

“Oh, love, to be sure! The kind that are run serially in the ‘Cosmo’ Magazine. I adore them and the moment the books are out I buy them to read again. I can devour the love scenes again and again, and enjoy them!” sighed Eleanor, sentimentally.

“When that box of books arrives, Eleanor, will you allow me to look them over first?”

“Of course you may, but I can’t see why you would want to read them first – you couldn’t finish them all in a month!” laughed Eleanor.

“I have no desire to read them, but I must see what you intend bringing into camp. From your words, I should say the books are unworthy the name. I have long taken up the crusade against the trash that some magazines publish as it is unhealthy for young people. There are scores of other periodicals just as bad but they haven’t the wealth or influence to advertise and put over their injurious reading that this one you mention has.”