“Hey, you fellows!” he cried. “Who is going to take their morning dip in Bear Creek?”
A medley of groans greeted him and he grinned. “We ought to toss you in for even suggesting such a thing!” grinned Buck, as he fried the bacon.
The touch of the sun turned the camp into a new place. Their spirits rose visibly and all the uncertainty of the night passed away. No one felt the loss of sleep, and while the breakfast squad was busy another detachment took the wet canvas and spread it out to dry. The blankets and all personal effects were next in line and were hung on convenient limbs to partake of the beneficial sun.
Fortunately for them it was a warm day and things began to dry at once. As the heat increased they began to shed outer garments so as to give them a chance to dry also. The chill was out of their bodies and they felt perfectly normal.
“I feel better than I did before I got all wet!” declared one boy.
“You’ll probably have a reaction later on,” advised Ted. “I mean that you’ll probably get tired and want to sleep. We’ll all try a little sleep after we get the tents up again.”
The call for breakfast was now issued and disregarded by no one. With whoops of delight they trooped around, tin plates thrust forward, and for several minutes the cooks were busy young men. Never before had breakfast tasted so good, and there was a general satisfaction expressed.
“The cooks are putting their best into it this morning,” said Drummer.
“No differently than other mornings,” smiled Ted. “But you are hungrier.”
After breakfast the camp was cleaned up, the canvas reversed and the blankets treated in the same manner. There was also another problem before them and this had to do with the icebox. It had filled up with water and they had to take everything out of it, pull out some of the tin sheeting, and allow the water to seep into the ground.