Girl Scouts at Dandelion Camp

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  HEPSY JOINS THE SCOUTS' UNION

  The next morning, after breakfast dishes were cleared away, the Captainsaid: "Now we will give a few minutes to reading our Scout Handbook, andthen practice some new knots. After that we can choose our recreation."

  "I don't want to waste any more time on recreation until our new hut isbuilt," declared Joan.

  "Neither do any one of us, Verny," added Julie.

  "Well, if that is the general wish, we can work on the hut and call itrecreation, you know," answered Mrs. Vernon.

  The moment the knots and reading were finished, they all ran over to thetool-chest to select whatever implements they might need. Mrs. Vernonhanded out a spade and a pick, but no one took advantage of them.

  "What are they for?" asked Ruth.

  "We will have to divide the work as we did yesterday. Two can dig thecellar while two haul timbers for the hut."

  "Dig cellar! You haven't any cellar under yours," returned Joan, amazed.

  "But we have! Do you suppose those timbers and flooring would havelasted as long as this if we hadn't excavated a pit under them. The holemay have filled up with leaves and dried wood material, but all theearth was cleaned out by digging a cellar at least three feet deep. Thisgave ventilation and kept our things from mildewing."

  "Why don't we all dig foundations, then, and finish it so much thesooner?" asked Julie.

  "You'll find it isn't the easiest work to stoop over with a pick orspade and move earth that is filled with heavy stones. Your backs willache in a short time, and you'll grow tired of the task. Then I proposeexchanging those weary ones for two fresh diggers," explained theCaptain. "Turn and turn about keeps one from feeling any monotony in thework."

  "All right--send Ruth and Joan off for the first haul of logs," repliedJulie, resignedly.

  "But I'd rather dig, Julie, and let you two go for wood," declared Ruth.

  "Ha, ha, ha! You're so contradictory! That's just what I hoped you'dsay! 'Cause I'd lots rather drive Hepsy down the hill and hitch her upto the logs she's got to haul!" exclaimed Julie, exultantly.

  Ruth said nothing but took the spade and started for the newly stakedout cellar of the hut. Joan scowled and followed, but she wanted to joinJulie in hauling the logs. Betty understood and ran up to exchange workwith her.

  "I'd be a poor scout if I didn't dig alongside Ruth when it's my job!"returned Joan, when Betty said she would exchange.

  "But we all will have to dig and take turns, so what difference will itmake, Joan dear, if I dig now or later?" argued Betty.

  "Don't you really care whether you work with Ruth or Julie?" asked Joan,skeptically, because she liked to be with Julie.

  "It's all the same to me, as long as we build the house," returnedBetty, taking the pick and thrusting a hook into Joan's willing hands.

  "What's this for?" wondered she.

  "Verny says we have to use it to move the timber."

  "Great! Well, as long as you don't mind, Betty, I'll run away and findJulie."

  "I can't budge a spadeful of this hard ground, Betty," complained Ruth,as her companion joined her.

  "Oh, not in that way, Ruth. You'll have to remove all the roots andweeds first, and that will help break up the hardened soil, you know;'cause the brush-roots run down real deep, you see."

  "But I just hate weeding, Betty; can't I dig it up without doing thatextra work?"

  "You tried just now and said it was awfully hard! I am going to weedmine first, and then dig it up."

  So saying, wise Betty weeded a patch and then used the pick with whichto break up the ground. This done, she took the spade and, to Ruth'sgreat surprise, the loosened earth came up readily. The energetic youngscout had made good progress in this work before Mrs. Vernon came overto inspect the task.

  Ruth raised no further objections when she saw how easy the digging wasfor Betty; so she weeded, too, and followed her chum's example. Soon shefound the work was not nearly as hard as she had thought it would be.But that is because she had not stopped to complain or think how hard itwas _going_ to be--she forgot all this in watching and working as Bettydid.

  Julie and Joan followed Mrs. Vernon as she led Hepsy down the slope tothe spot where the cut timbers were piled up. Here she showed the girlshow to attach the chain and tackle to a log, and then to hook the chainto Hepsy's harness.

  The strong horse willingly started up the hill and dragged the long logup to the site where the hut was to be. One girl drove Hepsy carefullyto avoid ruts and snags which might catch the log and thus yank Hepsy upsuddenly and perhaps injure her. The other girl had to follow in thewake of the log to see that it did not roll or twist out of the pathway,causing a ruthless tearing at bushes and flowers along the way.

  The two girls who were digging found it quite tiresome to lean over soconstantly. When they stood erect to stretch their back muscles, theirbones felt as if they would crack. Ruth complained of her aches longbefore the Captain joined them.

  Then Mrs. Vernon said: "Ah! I think I was wise in telling you girls totake turns about. Now I will signal for the two timber-jacks to exchangework with you."

  When the two girls hauling timber responded to the call, they seemedright glad to exchange labor with the excavators.

  "You'll find this digging a pit is simply awful, girls!" exclaimed Ruth,pretending she could not straighten her backbone.

  "It can't be a patch on the job we've been doing!" cried Joan, lookingat her hands with pity in her eyes.

  "That's right! When you've had to steer or roll a log a mile long,you'll have something to say about hard work!" added Julie.

  "One would think, after hearing you girls, that you were too soft anddelicate to proceed further in your scout tests," said Mrs. Vernonseriously. That stopped all complaints instantly.

  But Ruth could not help adding: "Girl scouts never work like this incamp--I'm sure of it."

  "Girl scouts would never call _this_ hard work! They'd laugh at any onefor hinting at such a thing. And you'll do the same thing before thesummer's over," said Mrs. Vernon.

  "Ah well! Let's prepare for the end of the summer, girls," sighed Julie,ludicrously.

  "Come on, Ruth--take the reins from Julie and let's start," said Betty,taking the hook and starting down the road.

  "By the time you two girls get back here, Betty, we'll show you how youshould dig a cellar," retorted Julie. "Why, you only managed to dig up asquare yard in all this time. You should have had half of the pitfinished."

  Betty and Ruth smiled at each other and nodded their heads wisely, thenran off to help Hepsy with the logs. Mrs. Vernon smiled also as she sawthat each couple would soon learn that nothing is easy until one learnshow to do it right. Then, when that time comes, it generally happensthat one is forced to go higher to a new task. And so on, eternally, forthis is progress and growth.

  By the time the horn sounded for another change of work, both diggersand haulers were glad to exchange back again. Mrs. Vernon was busy aboutdinner, for she said such hard labor deserved hearty meals. And thegirls agreed absolutely with her on that statement.

  "I say! I'll never find fault with your digging again, Betsy," saidJulie meekly, as she displayed about eighteen inches square of dug-outcellar, and a row of water-blisters on her hand.

  Betty laughed at her sister, but the work continued until the cellar wasdug deep enough and a mass of timbers was waiting to be used. As theystood admiring their morning's work, Betty said:

  "I think Hepsy is the best scout of all."

  "Why?" asked the other girls.

  "Just see how she worked! She hauled and hauled, and never asked toexchange for an easier job. And all the time she worked she nevercomplained once of an aching back or tired muscles. Yet I am sure shewanted to kick mightily now and then."

  A roar of laughter greeted her last words, and Betty guilelessly asked:"_Now_ what have I said--what is the matter with you girls?"

  The call to dinner quickly changed the current
of their thoughts,however, and once seated about the stone table, they fell to with a willnever manifested for plain cookery at home.

  "We ought to be able to lay the floor logs and get the corner posts upthis afternoon," suggested Joan.

  "I was going to propose a hike downhill in the opposite direction fromthe one we took yesterday," said the Captain. "Then, when we return, agood swim will refresh us all for supper."

  "Oh, yes, we've worked enough for one day," said Ruth.

  When the scouts were ready to start for the hike, Mrs. Vernon showedthem a note-book. "I'm going to have you take down notes on the flowers,trees, or birds we find on these hikes. This will prove very desirablepractice when you are admitted as a Troop."

  They started off, while Hepsy stood leisurely nosing at her dinner ofoats. This reminded Julie of the funny saying by Betty just beforedinner, and she now repeated it to the Captain.

  "I meant, you know, Verny, that Hepsy must have had stiff joints fromall that hauling yet she never kicked once to straighten out the kinks,"explained Betty, when Julie finished.

  "I doubt whether Hepsy felt as tired as you think she did. You mustremember that her spine is almost parallel with the ground over whichshe has to pull her loads, and having four legs on which to balanceherself, makes it easier than only having two. The chain and tackle alsosimplified the work for Hepsy, but we can't say as much of the haulingan Indian Squaw has to do.

  "Why, the poor squaws do all the lifting and moving of their camps,through forests, over rough land, and even carrying their papooses inthe bargain. They, too, drag their burdens in a sort of 'cradle' that ishitched to their waists by means of two leather traces."

  "Oh, the poor creatures!" exclaimed ever-ready, sympathetic Betty.

  "I'm thankful I'm not an Indian female!" declared Julie, with suchearnestness that the others laughed.

  After the usual scout reading from the Handbook the next morning, thegirls hurried to work because they were anxious to see their hut builtand finished. The ardor of accomplishment was beginning to fill theirsouls.

  That day the cross-beams of the floor were laid and securely fastened atthe corners. Then the other logs were sawed and notched for thecorner-posts. It was impossible to split the timber for rafters, so theCaptain advised the use of smaller tree-trunks for this purpose.

  "What shall we do to keep out the rain or wild animals?" asked Ruth,seeing that no windows had been provided for the old hut.

  "We can hang up water-proof canvas in the windows if it rains, but Ihave an idea for a door that I want to work on to-morrow," replied theCaptain.

  The carpentry now went steadily on, and without friction, as each onewas anxious to see a finished hut. They were tremendously interested intheir work, too, and that always makes a task easy.

  Mrs. Vernon superintended everything, and demonstrated a wonderfulknowledge of woodcraft. Then, whenever the carpenters were cheerfullyworking without her help, she turned to her own plans. These hadoccasioned curious comment from the four girls, because they could notsee what could be built with a lot of short boards which had been takenfrom the boxes.

  "You'll see when I'm through," replied the Captain to all theirquestions.

  The scouts worked so industriously that the new side walls werecompleted, and they were eager to begin work on the roof. The hut wasmuch longer than the old one, but its width was the same, as it used theend wall of the old hut for one side of its own.

  The meeting of the two front walls of the huts, however, had been aproblem. The scouts could not figure out how to nail any boards or logsto a corner post already used for that purpose. But Julie thought out ascheme.

  "We'll leave that meeting place in front, for the door. Then we'll use apost for the other side of our door, and begin _there_ with the wall."

  This was hailed as a fine idea, so they tried it. But the door-lintelwas not as secure as it might be, and the girls dodged in and out toavoid having it come down upon their heads should it topple. They had nodoubt but that it _would_ fall in sooner or later.

  "We're all ready for a roof, Verny, and don't know where to find anywood for rafters or ridgepole," said Joan, when the Captain walked overto pass judgment upon the structure.

  "That's a dangerous looking lintel, girls."

  "Best we could do with what we had," replied Ruth.

  "The material is all right, but the construction is careless. Now I havefinished my door, but I wouldn't dare swing it from that frame,"continued the Captain.

  "Oh, were you building a door of those boards?" asked the girls.

  "Yes, and I feel quite proud of it, too. Come and see it."

  The door was made of boards all the same lengths and thickness but ofdifferent widths. So Mrs. Vernon had grouped them to have all the wideboards at top and bottom of the door, and the others graduating inwidths until a narrow center one was reached. This made a pretty effect.

  They were all securely fastened to a frame made of rough planks, butthis frame would be on the inside so it would not be seen. "We can hanga drapery, or some vines on this back to hide the unsightly frame," saidthe Captain.

  Heavy leather hinges were secured to the back edge of the door, and alatch and handle made of some sheet iron, were bent and cut to fit.

  "How did you ever do that without a blacksmith?" asked Joan.

  "I played my own blacksmith while you were on your hike this morning. Iheated an old piece of wagon-tire and hammered it flat, then heated itred-hot and cut it with tools I found in the box."

  "All right, Verny! You shall take the prize this time," Julie commendedheartily.

  "But that doesn't give us a roof or rafters," said Ruth.

  "I have them all ready for you. I remembered them to-day when Iinspected your work," said Mrs. Vernon, leading the way down to thebuckboard.

  "Help me lift the seats off," ordered the Captain.

  This was done, and the curious girls then saw Mrs. Vernon pry out somesmall wooden wedges and lo! a board came from the floor of thebuckboard. But stay! It was not _from_ the floor, but one of the extraboards that had been laid down to form a double flooring.

  Several boards were thus removed, and then it was found that theoriginal floor of the buckboard was as good as ever.

  "Why did you have another floor laid?" asked Julie.

  "Jim suggested that we might need a few boards for see-saws, or someother fun, so he fitted these down over the real bottom of thebuckboard. I forgot about them until I found your need of just suchboards for your roof."

  "They're not very thick or heavy," said Joan, doubtfully.

  "You don't want them heavy for a roof. The lighter the better, as longas they are steady and secure."

  The boards were carried up to the new hut, and found to be severalinches too long for the roof.

  "That's an error on the right side, if there can be such a 'bull,'" saidMrs. Vernon. "For now you can have overhanging eaves instead of havingthe roof come flush with the sides."

  "We haven't half enough of these boards for a roof, if we proposecovering it with tar-paper as we did the old hut," said Julie.

  "We only need enough to form bases for us to nail the laths to. You willfind a large bundle of laths in the material Jim sent out by the Freedomdelivery-wagon. The laths are easy to nail down and then the paper goesover that, you know."

  So the roof was finally completed, but it was not as neat and exact asthe work on the old roof, so Mrs. Vernon wondered! The week had gone byand the next day would be Sunday, but the scouts grumbled at the forcedvacation.

  "Dear me! I was sure we would be through building and ready to play bythis time," complained Joan.

  "I think you have accomplished wonders this week. I thought it wouldtake us two weeks, at least, to build this new hut," said Mrs. Vernon.

  "If we hadn't had such glorious weather perhaps it might have taken usthat long," said Betty. "But the wood was all dry, and we had no delaysin any way."

  "I think the door is the best-looking th
ing about the whole place," saidJulie, with head on one side, admiring the craftsman's work.

  "That commendation makes me yearn to try other ideas," laughed theCaptain.

  "Maybe you are thinking of building a cobblestone chimney in our house,"laughed Julie.

  "Why didn't we think of it in time! We could have had one as easy asanything!" exclaimed Mrs. Vernon.

  "Are you joking?" asked the girls.

  "No, but now we must see where we could have it. I am afraid we willhave to lean it up in the corner against the stone-wall at the back ofthe hut."

  The girls laughed at this, for now they were sure Mrs. Vernon was onlyfooling them.