It was almost dark as they hurried along under the trees, and it was not by accident that each little girl clutched the arm of her companion. They needed the nearness on this first night, at any rate, and Cleo more than once cast a surreptitious glance back over the lake to Chipmunk cottage, where she knew, at that very moment, Daddy was looking campward and thinking of his little girl who had flown from the home nest for the first time.
But she trudged along eager for the big experience, even if conscious of its sentimental cost.
“One lantern will answer for us, I think,” said the director. “Shall we have a campfire and story to-night?”
“Oh, yes, surely!” replied Corene, who managed to frame first the same answer the others attempted.
The two big logs, between which the fire was to be built, were already in place, and it was now time for Julia to shine in her especial department. She undertook to build the stone oven for the cooking purposes, so she also included the responsibility of making place and arrangements for the campfire.
Following the camp manual “no paper nor excelsior nor other artificial means” were to be employed in the fire making, but instead the “punk” wood, gouged from the heart of a dry log, was placed in the “V” of the two big green logs; then the tiny twigs and light material were first piled up so that the “light with one match only” was successfully accomplished, and a merry blaze burst out to greet Julia and cheer her companions, almost before the others realized the fire was really started.
Every member of the little patrol stood looking on—spellbound. What is more inspiring than a campfire in the clearance, with the tent “hard by” and the sheltering trees overlooking?
“Oh, if only we could get the girl Peg, you know, to come down and join us,” sighed Grace.
“Let’s try,” suggested Cleo. “She seemed friendly and it won’t do any harm to try. I’ll go over the hill with you?”
“If Mackey will let us,” followed Grace. The other girls were finding seats on the big logs arranged at a safe distance from the fire, and when the director heard the request of Grace and Cleo, she agreed they might go over the hill to the cabin, if they kept to the path in front of the other camps and came directly back.