A Summer in a Canyon: A California Story

A CALIFORNIA STORY: By KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN
GAY AND HANCOCK, LTD. 12 AND 13 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN LONDON 1914
All rights reserved
Popular Edition 1914 Reprinted 1914
Scene: A Camping Ground in the Cañon Las Flores .
PEOPLE IN THE TENTS.
“One to make ready, and two to prepare.”
It was nine o’clock one sunny California morning, and Geoffrey Strong stood under the live-oak trees in Las Flores Cañon, with a pot of black paint in one hand and a huge brush in the other. He could have handled these implements to better purpose and with better grace had not his arms been firmly held by three laughing girls, who pulled not wisely, but too well. He was further incommoded by the presence of a small urchin who lay on the dusty ground beneath his feet, fastening an upward clutch on the legs of his trousers.
There were three large canvas tents directly in front of them, yet no one of these seemed to be the object of dissension, but rather a redwood board, some three feet in length, which was nailed on a tree near by.
“Camp Frolic! Please let us name it Camp Frolic!” cried Bell Winship, with a persuasive twitch of her cousin’s sleeve.
“No, no; not Camp Frolic,” pleaded Polly Oliver. “Pray, pray let us have Camp Ha-Ha; my heart is set upon it.”
“As you are Strong, be merciful,” quoted Margery Noble, coaxingly; “take my advice and call it Harmony Camp.”