“There are five boats in the boathouse; three of them are for your use; two of them, the cedar ones, are reserved for the faculty. The scow is for general use, but no one runs the engine except Professor Roberts, Mr. Sturgis or myself. The old tub of a sail boat you can rig up if you want to. It is not much good, but the fellows usually manage to get some fun out of it. Whether you are in a boat or swimming, be careful. You may think that you are too old for that warning, but two men have been drowned in that lake in the past four years, and they were both as old as you are. Never go swimming alone and never ‘rough-house’ in a boat.
“Next, be careful about fire, both around the buildings and the woods. The woods are very dry now and a match thrown down carelessly may mean a fire which will cost several hundred dollars to put out. You will probably have a chance to fight one somewhere before long and then you’ll understand. Never throw down a match until it is out completely.
“Another thing. Don’t peel every birch tree you see. It will be a big temptation at first to get bark for postal cards, etc., but don’t peel the trees along the roads or trails. It destroys the looks of the woods and is disgusting to woodsmen. When you want some bark find a tree in some out-of-the-way place—there are thousands of them—chop it down and peel the whole of it. This is a park, you know, and we do not want to be accused of vandalism.
“Lastly, remember that you are responsible for the camp. We furnish you with a good equipment and it is up to you to see that the camp is kept in shape, the buildings clean and everything orderly. We’ll help you all we can, but remember that it is your camp.
“I won’t preach to you any longer. You can have tomorrow to get things straightened out and get your bearings. The next day we’ll have a dendrology excursion to catch these trees here before the leaves come out. If you want me you’ll find me in that third cottage.”
The professor chatted awhile before he walked away to let the boys adjust their own affairs—for it was the policy of the camp to interfere with them no more than was absolutely necessary; it helped to develop their independence. On this particular occasion chance deprived them of very much choice in the matter, for hardly had they started a discussion of detailed organization than a rattling of wheels announced the arrival of the wagons with the supplies.
“Talk about your quiet places in the backwoods,” Morris exclaimed, as he ran out with the rest of the crowd, “there’s something doing every minute. You no sooner finish one thing that you have never done before than another turns up.”
“Yes,” Bill retorted sarcastically, “always something new. You’ll have to unload a wagon and then the first thing you know you’ll be eating supper.”
With so many zealous workers the baggage was soon unloaded and stowed away in the bunkhouse; the provisions were neatly arranged under the cook’s directions on the shelves of the little storeroom in the back of the cookshack.
Scarcely had they finished admiring their work when a terrific din broke forth on the other side of the building, a vibrating, metallic clatter that must have startled the deer a mile away. When they tore around the corner to investigate they found the cook grinning from ear to ear, belaboring with an old ax a four-foot circular saw, which was hung from the corner of the building on an iron pipe.