Every one approved so the hikers were soon on the way to winning another coup for walking. Being fresh, eager, and the road shady and hard, the walk was a delight, except to Nita, who, on account of wearing French-heeled shoes, had to give up for that time and ride the last two miles in the surrey. Miss Miller permitted Cherokee to walk slowly behind the girls and the others arrived at Hamilton's farm without realising the distance walked.
Mr. Hamilton escorted the girls over the place, showing the kennels and many valuable dogs. Then Mrs. Hamilton had them sit on the verandah while she served them with home-made ice-cream.
On the drive back to camp, Jane was learning how to guide the horse and Zan sat beside her. Miss Miller sat in the back seat so Zan had to turn to look at her as she said, "Miss Miller, I need a merit badly! I have a suggestion for the benefit of the whole camp!"
The other paid attention and Jane pulled up the reins so unexpectedly that Cheokee thought he was meant to stop, so he halted in the middle of the road. No one noticed it then.
"We have oodles of ice at the farm and we all love ice-cream, so I suggest that we send home and borrow our four-quart freezer!"
While the girls "ahed" and "ummed," Miss Miller laughed heartily. "You subtract a mark with a suggestion and add one with a slang word!" said she.
"Why, how!" frowned Zan.
"Didn't you realise it? Then it shows how unconsciously this habit has taken root. You said just now, 'oodles of ice.'"
"But that isn't slang! That's English!" remonstrated Zan.
"You'll not find it in any authorised dictionary."