The arrangements for cooking and eating were of the simplest; yet
everything was neat. Using oilcloth saved laundry, and using paper
napkins was likewise a help. The food was served daintily, if simply,
and although all the girls were used to much finer table service at
home, the hearty appetites engendered by the pure air of lake and forest
made even coarse food taste delicious.
They were all instantly enthusiastic over their chaperone's suggestion.
Half a dozen names were suggested on the spur of the moment; but no
particular one met the approval of all the girls, immediately.
"We'll have to draw lots," suggested Mina.
"No! let's each write down the best names we can think of, and then vote
on them," said Bess.
"Goody!" cried Frank. "We must have a name that fits, but is pretty and
not too 'hifalutin',' as my grandmother would say."
"Naming the camp is all very well, girls," said Wyn, seriously, rapping
on the table for order. "But there are more important things to decide.
The work of the camp is to be properly apportioned----"
"Oh, dear me!" groaned Grace. "Have we _got_ to work? After
traipsing over four miles of huckleberry pasture all the morning I feel
as though I had done my share for to-day."
"And she ate as many as she picked!" cried Bess. "Oh, I'm going to tell
on you, Miss! You're not going to crawl out of your fair share."
"I didn't enlist to work," declared Grace, with some sullenness. "What's
the fun of camping out if one has to work like a slave all the time?"
"And we haven't even begun!" cried Frank. "For shame, Gracie!"
"Now, none of the members of the Go-Aheads, I feel sure," quoth Wyn,
quietly, "will try to escape her just burden. To have the fun of camping
out under canvas we must each do our share of the work quickly and
cheerfully. We will divide up the tasks, and change them about weekly.
Of course, Mrs. Havel is not supposed to lift her hand. She is our
guest."
"Oh, but auntie is going to show us how to make pancakes," cried Percy.
"I'll learn to do _that_," said Grace, brightening up. "For I love
'em."
"Of course--piggy-wiggy!" scoffed Bess. "Come, Wyn, you set us our tasks
and any girl who kicks about 'em shall be fined."
"We'll do better than that. We will use Mina's idea of drawing lots
about the work. There are certain things to be done each week--each day,
of course. Two girls must 'tend fires and cook; two girls must air and
make beds, clean up about the tents, and wait on table if needed; the
other two must get up early and go for the milk and vegetables, gather
berries, and do odd jobs. The girls who do the 'chamber work' should
wash the dishes, too, for the cooks will be too tired and heated after
preparing the meals to clean up the tables and mess with the
dishwashing.
"Now are those three divisions satisfactory? Every third week, you see,
the two who go for the milk, etcetera, will have an easy job. Is it
agreed?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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