“You’ll have to stow your clothes underneath the cots,” explained Mrs. Bryan. “And I expect each of you to learn how to put up and take down her own tent.”
“Beads!” exploded Louise.
“Exactly,” said Mrs. Bryan.
“We only have extra under-things,” said Marie, “and one dress-up frock apiece, besides our camp clothes and ceremonial dresses. We don’t need much room.”
By the time the tents had been assigned and the cots made up, supper was ready, and Mrs. Bryan summoned them to it by blowing a clear little whistle she wore. The girls had expected to turn to and get their own supper. So they were very much surprised to find Mrs. Bryan’s black maid Grace, and Mrs. Hunter’s Jenny smiling behind the long trestles in the mess-tent, setting steaming dishes up and down the table.
“This is a special treat,” explained Mrs. Bryan. “We’re all tired to-night, and we hadn’t time to do any cooking ourselves anyway, so I let Grace and Jenny do it. But to-morrow morning camp life begins. We’ll draw lots for assignment to duties, after supper.”
The girls stood up behind their seats for a moment and said grace, then sat down, and ate as if they had never seen food before. It was a very civilized meal, soup, roasts and dessert, all sent over by the mothers in the tonneau of the Bryan car, as the cooks and the provisions had been. It tasted good, but everyone looked forward with joy to real camp cooking.
“Wait till you see how I can broil venison steak,” threatened Louise, as she ate a very large helping of despised roast beef from a mere unromantic cow.
“Where’ll you get the venison? Pick it?” called back Winona from the other side of the table.
“No, she’s going to grow it!” said Elizabeth.