The girls hailed the treat with many varied expressions, but the days immediately preceding the Holidays grew so cold that most mothers objected to having the girls sleep out in the open.
“They can camp in the Council House,” said Mrs. Remington over the telephone, when Miss Miller told her of the trouble.
“Oh, yes, yes!” cried everyone at that.
Beaded Ceremonial Costumes were finished but had not yet had an opportunity to be worn, so these were packed in the suit-cases with head-bands, moccasins, coup-sticks, and many other fine articles of Indian costume.
Wednesday was a beautiful day but so cold that Dr. Baker said he was relieved to know the girls would be in the Council House at night. The boys refused to be so molly-coddled, they averred, and so they camped out in the woods. However, Mrs. Remington whispered to the girls the next morning that Fred had made use of two Sibley stoves brought from Maine for camp use.
“There will be skating on the lake if we have another day and night of this cold,” said Mr. Remington, rubbing his ears to keep up the circulation as he stood in front of the Council House early Thursday morning.
“I say, girls! Want your picture took? Get into your robes and pose out in the sun, if you do!” shouted Elizabeth, from the porch of the house.
It did not take long for the Woodcrafters to change to their Woodcraft costumes and when they ran over to the group of pine trees where Elizabeth stood waiting, they found the boys had decorated the place with totems, shields, and coup-sticks to create a genuine Woodcraft atmosphere.
Zan’s costume, with its picturisation of the camp on the farm, was pronounced the handsomest of all, although Elena’s ran a close second. So these two girls were selected for individual pictures which could be used in the Tally Book of the Tribe. Zan held Elizabeth’s coup-stick, her own only having a few feathers on it, and the former being well-decorated by marks of achievement, for Elizabeth was a zealous Woodcrafter.
Thanksgiving dinner was not to be served until four that afternoon, and it was only ten when many of the campers began to wish it was late afternoon. Mrs. Remington was a perfect hostess and, having five healthy children, she suspected the gnawings under many belts. Hence her next suggestion: