For the next half hour, the Brownies had a thoroughly enjoyable time looking over camping equipment. They tested beds, darted in and out of umbrella tents, and examined nested cooking pans.
One of the tents had not been set up very well. Veve and Eileen were giggling and laughing as they whirled around one of the supporting poles.
The support suddenly gave way, and down came the canvas upon their heads. Clawing wildly, the girls fought their way out from beneath the folds.
“Oh, see what you’ve done!” Jane exclaimed indignantly. “The salesman will think Brownies have no manners. Just look at that tent!”
“It wasn’t our fault,” Veve insisted. “The old pole slipped!”
“That’s right,” agreed Eileen. “We didn’t do a thing!”
The tent salesman was very nice about the accident. He told Miss Gordon and the Brownies that because the canvas could not be staked down, all of the support came from the center pole.
“Not a bit of harm has been done,” he assured Veve and Eileen.
After much debate, Miss Gordon finally selected a tent which was just large enough for seven Brownies and one adult “sleeping end to end.”
“We’ll have no room for beds,” the teacher said regretfully. “Each girl will have to make her own of balsam boughs.”