Harriet had left that fire and was laying another. She called to Jane to get the supper things ready for cooking.
"Margery, you and Hazel set the table. If you can't find a dry blanket, simply clear away a place on the ground. We shan't be so particular about our table this evening."
"What about it? Do we stay here all night, or are we to go on?" asked the guide.
"I think we had better make camp for the night," decided Miss Elting.
"I reckon it would be a good idea. I'll make a line and dry out the stuff. It's pretty wet," decided the guide.
Janus drove some stakes that he had cut down. Then, stringing a rope between them, the two proceeded to hang up the wet bedding, which consisted solely of soft, gray army blankets. He took the wet clothing of the girls from the packs, hanging this on the line also, and a few moments later the blankets and the garments were steaming. So was the coffee pot. Bacon was the only other food put over for cooking. The travelers were too hungry to care to wait long for their supper.
It was not long after Harriet and Jane had begun cooking the bacon before they sounded the supper call. No one was late for supper that night, and each sat down tired and travel-stained, but there was not a word of complaint from either men or girls. They made merry over the meal, made light of their misfortunes, and altogether enjoyed themselves fully as well as if their circumstances had been different.
"What I should like to know is how those things got in the river?" demanded Janus as the meal neared a close.
For a moment no one spoke. The guide's question was one which no member of the little party was prepared to answer. So many unpleasant events had occurred in such rapid succession that it was difficult to place the cause of this latest disaster.