12.30
Mess call for dinner. This meal should be the heartiest meal of the day, and plenty of time given to the eating of the food. Mail is usually given out at this meal in camps where there is but one delivery a day.
1.15, "Siesta."
"Siesta," or rest hour, follows dinner. In the early days of boys' camps this suggestion would have been laughed at, but today it is looked upon as highly hygienic and considered one of the best things of camp and strongly to be commended. The boy is advised to lie down flat on his back, in his tent or under the shade of a friendly tree, and be quiet. He may talk if he wishes, but usually some one reads aloud to his fellows. This gives the food a chance to digest, and the whole body a nerve and muscle rest before the active work of the afternoon.
2.00 to 4.30
These hours will be spent in various ways. Usually it is the time for athletic sports, baseball games, quoit[1] tournaments, tennis tournaments, excursions afield, boat regatta, archery, water sports, scouting games and other activities in which most of the campers can engage. The big outdoor events should occupy this time of the day.
[Transcriber's Footnote 1: Flat rings of iron or rope are pitched at a stake with points for encircling it. A ring used in this game.]
4.30
Where daily inspection is a part of the camp plan the boys will begin getting everything in readiness for that important event. A general bustle of activity will be in evidence and every boy on the qui vive[2] to have his tent win the coveted honor pennant, usually given for the neatest tent,
[Transcriber's Footnote 2: Sentinel's challenge. On the alert; vigilant.]