The troop leader instructed the girls on how to insert the butt end of the boughs into the ground at a slant, thus making a slight arch.
“The needles must point downward or they’ll work through the blanket and prick you,” she explained. “If you take care all the branches are at the right angle, and that there are no gaps, your bed should be quite springy and comfortable.”
“All this seems a lot of bother,” grumbled Veve, who was rather tired from the long automobile ride to Shady Hollow. “Wouldn’t it be easier just to sleep on the ground?”
“Easier perhaps, but not very comfortable,” replied Miss Gordon, smiling. “While you’re making up the beds, I’ll attend to supper.”
Selecting the shorter ends of balsam, the girls struggled with their beds. Although it had looked easy when Miss Gordon showed them how, they found it no simple task to place the branches evenly.
“You’re not doing it right,” Jane told Veve severely. “Pine needles are sticking out everywhere like porcupine quills.”
“I don’t care!” Veve retorted, losing patience. “Who wants an old balsam bed anyhow? I’ll sleep on the ground.”
Flinging aside a branch, she sauntered out of the tent. Miss Gordon crouched over the fire, browning steak in a frying pan.
“Why, Veve,” she said in surprise. “How quickly you made your bed.”
“I didn’t make it,” Veve replied, avoiding the troop leader’s direct gaze. “I’m not going to have a balsam bed. I’d rather sleep on the ground.”