"But why do they give it that uncivilized name?" continued Miss Campbell
in an injured tone of voice. "Why not Sunset Camp or Meridian Camp or
even Moonrise Camp? There is nothing restful to me in the name of
'Sunrise.'"
"It will be restful, indeed it will, dear cousin, once you are used to
the life, and it couldn't be called any of those other names because
they would not be appropriate. You see there is a wonderful view of the
sunrise from the camp, and every morning if you wake early enough you
see a beautiful pink light all over the sky and you wonder where the sun
is; and suddenly he comes shooting up from behind the tallest mountain
in the range across the valley, and it's really quite late by then. He
has been up ever so long, but he's been hiding behind the mountains."
"And we are to sleep on the ground under those flimsy tents, I suppose?"
asked Miss Campbell, who was not taking very kindly to the camping
proposition.
"No, no," protested her young cousin, laughing, "you're thinking of
soldiers, and they do have cots. This camp is a log house, a really
beautiful log house. There is one immense room without any ceiling, and
you look straight up through the beams into the roof. Papa says it's
splendid."
Miss Campbell bestowed upon Billie a tolerant, suffering smile.
"And back of that room," continued Billie, speaking quickly, "is a long
sleeping porch that can be partitioned off into bedrooms----"
"No protection from rain and wild animals, I suppose?" put in Miss
Campbell sadly.
"Oh, yes. There is a roof overhead and a floor underneath, and it's all
enclosed with wire netting to keep out mosquitoes. It can't rain in far
enough to wet the beds and, of course, nothing else matters----"
"Clothes?" groaned the little lady.
"But khaki skirts, cousin, and rubber-soled shoes and pongee
blouses,--water couldn't injure things like that."
"I went camping once forty years ago," went on Miss Campbell, without
seeming to notice Billie's reply. "It was terrible, I assure you, it was
quite too dreadful. One night there was a storm, and the tents that were
not blown away by the high winds were swamped by rain. Our clothes all
mildewed, and the flies! I shall never forget the disgusting
flies,--they were everywhere."
"This camp couldn't possibly be blown away even by the strongest wind,"
broke in Billie, ready to refute every argument, "and the screens make
it just as comfortable as your own home would be."
"How far is it from anywhere?" demanded Miss Campbell suddenly.
Billie hesitated.
"It's twenty-five miles, but there is a good road from the railroad
station and the 'Comet' can take us across in no time. You see, there is
a little village in the valley at the foot of our mountain, and in
summer a 'bus runs twice a day with passengers and the mail, so the road
must be fairly good. Papa says lots of automobiles go over it."
"Twenty-five miles," groaned Miss Campbell.
"Twenty-five miles from a telegraph station----"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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