“When did you get up?” questioned Alice. “Oh, pretty early!” replied Marjorie, seating herself upon the ground beside Lily, and helping herself to a biscuit. “Why didn’t you let some of us in on your fun?” demanded Ethel. “Two’s a company--three’s a crowd!” teased Alice. “I should think you’d know that by this time, Ethel!” Marjorie flushed angrily, but hid her embarrassment with a smile. “I went by myself,” she said, calmly. “And Kirk came down later, and happened to find me there. It was a good thing for us all, too, that he did, because I didn’t catch a single fish till he came!” “And what magic does he use?” asked Alice, sarcastically. “Oh, Kirk and Pop Welsh are the best fishermen on the ranch!” put in Bob. “I know that from experience. It’s handy to have people like them on a pack trip.” “Well,” said Marjorie, returning to Ethel’s previous question, “I certainly did want to waken somebody to go with me, but you all seemed to be sleeping so peacefully, I just didn’t have the heart. So I went alone.” “And did you all sleep well last night?” asked Mrs. Hilton. “Was everybody warm enough?” “Yes, indeed!” cried several of the girls promptly. “And how soon are we off?” asked Marjorie. She was always anxious to be on the go. “Just as soon as the tents are down,” replied Bob, “and the horses packed. Probably in an hour or two.” “It seems to me it takes an awfully long time to put up the tents and take them down every day,” remarked Ethel. “Why couldn’t we do without them, when it is clear?” “No, it’s better to have them,” said Mr. Hilton; “but you girls really might learn to take down your own. It would save us a lot of time.” “We will! We will!” cried several; and Kirk and Tom offered to give them instructions. Doris and Mae were not, however, particularly ambitious. They were tired from the long ride of the preceding day, and their muscles were horribly stiff. Neither said anything, but neither made any move to help with the tents. “What’s the matter, Doris?” asked Marjorie. “All in?” “Yes, my knees hurt so,” she replied. “Well, I’ll take down your tent,” offered Marjorie. Then, turning to Kirk, “I really don’t think we need much instruction, because you see we’ve done it before, with tents very much like these. We didn’t have any young men to help us on our canoe trip.” This little assistance to the men saved quite a considerable amount of time, and the whole party were on their way again almost an hour sooner than they had expected. Everyone seemed quieter than they were on the day before; as they rode along they talked little, and did not sing at all. Perhaps this was because the girls who were usually the merriest were the most tired. Lily, Mae, and Doris all began to wish in their hearts that they were back at the ranch.