AMMUNITION AND CATAPULTS.
The thirteen Camp Fire Girls and their Guardian are hardly to be censured because they did little more work of a routine nature that day. One could hardly expect them to fix their minds upon any “even tenor” occupation while the thrills of recent developments supplied so much stimulus for discussion of future prospect.
They were careful in these discussions not to leave open any possibility of their being overheard. Their conversations were always held in low tones and in places where it would be difficult for any of the members of the Graham family to find positions of concealment near enough to overhear what was being said.
One thing decided upon was in line with Miss Ladd’s declaration that they must find out “what was going on in the Graham house,” having reference, of course, to the treatment received there by little Glen in view of his violent protest against being returned to the care and custody of the people whom he charged with acts of cruelty toward himself. A scouting expedition was planned for the evening, the “official scouts” of the Fire—Katherine and Hazel—being delegated to this work. Katherine proposed that two others be selected to assist them, and Miss Ladd suggested that they choose their assistants themselves.
“We’ll think it over and pick them before suppertime,” said Katherine after conferring with Hazel.
The result was that before sundown Azalia Atwood and Ernestine Johanson had been added to the spy squad. Their selection came as a result of general discussions of the work in prospect, in the course of which both Azalia and Ernestine made several suggestions that were regarded as clever and helpful for the scouting plans.
Shortly after the girls returned from the Graham cottage to their camp, “Jimmie Junior” of the “treble cleff voice” appeared with the announcement that he had brought his boat to the Camp Fire landing and moored it by tying the painter to a projecting rock. They thanked him and proceeded at once with the task of restoring the safety-guard line to their bathing place. All put on their bathing suits and went down to the beach.
With the aid of the boat their work was much easier than it had been the first time. It is no easy performance for one person to sit on the shoulders of another and wield a mallet on the upper end of a stake held by a third person in water arm-pit deep. If you doubt this assertion, just try it.
Well, this difficult feat was unnecessary this time. The stakes, rope, and mallet were put into the boat, and three of the girls got in and rowed out to the point where the southwest stake had been driven before. Then two of them plunged overboard and, while one of these steadied the boat and the other held the stake in position, the girl in the boat drove it firmly into the sand-clay bed of the lake.
This operation was repeated until the supports of the buoy-line were all restored. Then the rope was stretched from stake to stake and wooden buoys attached as before.
The work was speedily performed and then the girls all had a good swim. When they returned to their camp, it was lunch time and the “gastronomic committee,” as Harriet, the “walking dictionary,” had dubbed the commissary department, got busy. During the meal, which they ate on a “newspaper tablecloth,” picnic-style, the subject of organized self-protection against further depredations was discussed.
“I believe we ought to establish a relief watch system to be kept up all night every night as long as there seems to be any danger of our being molested by prowlers like those who paid us a visit last night,” Estelle announced.
“What would we do if we caught anybody at any mischief?” asked Azalia.
“We’d sail right into ’em and give ’em Hail Columbia,” declared Hazel like a vigilance committee chairman.
“Yes, we’d pull their hair,” said Marie Crismore.
“And scratch their eyes out,” Ernestine chimed in.
“And boo-shoo ’em away,” added Julietta Hyde.
“I’m positively ashamed of you for talking that way,” Miss Ladd interposed. “You’re laughing at yourselves because you are girls. Now, you ought not to do that, even in fun. How many of you can do some real boys’ stunts just as well as the boys can?”
“I can swim half a mile,” announced Hazel.
“I can do a fly-away from the horizontal bar,” declared Violet Munday.
“I can run a hundred-yard dash in thirteen seconds,” said Ernestine; “and that’s better than lots of boys can do it.”
“I can throw a ball like a boy,” said Helen Nash.
“So can I”—this from Marion Stanlock.
“Oh, several of us can do that,” Katherine declared. “We’ve played ball with the boys. But now you’re getting close to what I was driving at. We’ll proceed to gather a supply of ammunition.”
“Ammunition!” several exclaimed.
“Surely,” Katherine replied. “We’ll get it down on the beach.”
“Oh, I get you,” said Estelle. “You mean——”
“Rocks,” cried Marie, getting the word in ahead of Estelle.
“That’s it,” Katherine admitted. “We’ll shower rocks at anybody that makes us any more trouble.”
“Very ingenious,” Miss Ladd said approvingly. “If those persons who visited us last night come again, they’ll get a warm reception.”
“And a hard one,” Marion supplemented.
“I have another idea,” Helen announced, and everybody turned attention to her. “I have some heavy rubber bands in my grip. I always carry them because they come in very handy sometimes.”
“What can you do with them?” Estelle asked.
“What do you think?” Helen returned.
“I know,” cried Ethel Zimmerman. “Make catapults with them.”
“Good!” several of the girls exclaimed.
“The boys call them slingshots,” said the Guardian.
“How do you make a slingshot?” Julietta inquired.
“I know,” Marion announced. “You cut a forked stick, like the letter ‘Y.’ Then you tie two rubber bands to it, one to each fork. Between the other ends of the bands you tie a little sack, or shallow pocket, made of leather or strong cloth. You put a stone in this pocket and pull it back, stretching the rubber bands, take aim, and let it fly.”
“You must have had experience making those things,” Katherine suggested.
“No, I never made one,” Marion replied: “but I’ve watched my cousin make them and shoot them, too. He was very skillful at it.”
“Can you shoot a catapult?” Katherine inquired.
“I think I can,” Marion answered.
“Good,” said Katherine. “We’ll make several, and those who can’t throw stones can use slingshots.”
That was a very busy afternoon for this warlike group of girls. While the luncheon dishes were being washed and put away, Katherine and Hazel rowed the boat back to the Graham landing, thanked “Jimmie Junior” for its use, accepted with solemn countenances his “high-C” “You’re welcome,” and returned to their camp. Then the work of manufacturing arms and ammunition, in anticipation of another midnight invasion, began.