The Camp Fire Girls in the Maine Woods; Or, The Winnebagos Go Camping

. Sometimes the sunlight was darkened for a few minutes and the lake looked gray and cold, but on the opposite shore a tiny village nestled at the foot of a mountain, and over there the

e and then back at Migwan. "What are you always w

know, though!" replied

ou write and I never make fun of it, you know that. Please do." After a little more coaxing Migwan r

er on the other side, and a tiny, round red face nodded cheerfully at me. Visions of wood sprites went through my head and I sat perfectly still, so as not to frighten him away. He had retired behind his leaf after that last nod, but as I made no sound he soon looked out again to see if I was still there. This time I got a good look a

ou must let the other girls read this. Wouldn't you like me to illu

e depended upon it, but her talent with the brush was unmistakable. With a few deft strokes she pictured Migwan sitting in the woods

ground. 'Oh, I must get a closer view,' I said, half aloud, and immediately my wish was grante

ling on the ground. "Haven't you some more stuff I can illustrate? There's such a

ant. I am leaning against a big tree with my feet stretched out in front of me. There is a spider weaving a web from one foot to the other. I hate to break down his handiwork, or rather, his footi

Lazy girl,' he seemed to say, 'idling away this beautiful summer weather when you ought to be storing nuts for the winter

es. I never saw blueberries in their native wilds before. I had a sort

ar time for our promised trip to Blueberry Island." She painted

. I thought all acorns aspired to be oak trees. Think of being a nut half an inch long, and in that half inch to have the power of becomi

we'll do when we grow up," she said, leaning back and surveying

ad grounded on a sharp rock that jutted up just underneath the surface, ripping a hole in the bottom of the canoe nearly a foot long. Now she and Nyoda

ce something worth while in time." Then she added: "Wouldn't it be a fine idea for you to make an illustrated book of the camp doings and send it to Professor Bentley and Professor Whe

left it lying on the tent floor, she paddled her out in the heavy sponson when she was dying to skim over the lake in the sailing canoe, and in short, sacrificed herself at every turn for Gladys. And Gladys in time began to look on her as a sort of

inted in her and it made her cross with herself. Then the first thing that morning she had received a letter from her mother chiding her for not having written home for two weeks. That made her crosser yet. During the folk dancing hour she could not keep her mind on her feet, and blundered so many times that Gla

dove off the high tower, right on top of her and Nakwisi, carrying them both under the surface and breaking up the test. Nyoda uttered an impatient exclamation and sent Sahwah out of the water as a reminder to look before she dove the next time. Sahwah's heart was nearly broken and she could hardly eat her dinner. She and Gladys were washing dishes that day, but when the time came Gladys ple

want?" said S

or a ride in the sp

rest hour," a

adys, "Let's go anywa

er know the

matter whether any one knows it or not," she said stiffly. "I

we are have to take a nap after dinner like babies. I for one won't stand for it. I don't want to lie down for an hour every afternoon and I'm not going to do it, so there! If you had any spirit you'd rebel, too. But y

on her beloved Nyoda. "Dare all you like," she said in a

a good time it's your loss, not mine. I wouldn't be such a baby." She went back to her bed and lay down with the

er admiration for Gladys vanished when she tried to lead her into dishonor. As she lay there thinking over her attempts to win Gladys's friendship she saw clearly how Gladys had been working her all this time, getting her to wait on her hand an

r. She opened one eye slightly and then opened both very wide in surprise. Gladys was in the act of drawing a box of candy from under he

e of candy?" she said mockingly, holding out

nt. "Where did you get tha

the village, Miss S

ad

uy candy and eat it between meals,

ny one dictate to me whether or not I shall eat candy. I've eaten candy all my life and

like that?" said Sahwah in a husky voice. If she had held Gladys i

?" said Gladys, putting another piece into he

Nyoda say?"

t she says," said

d her so much," said

nstantly fawn

ys loftily, "but that's no sign she can order me a

d Nyoda, appearing in

nd keep it in my bed to eat during

eld up the box. Nyoda said nothing, but merely looked at her, and before

candy," she said, looking

until supper time and

here was a note in h

her air

ted it now," s

girls that I could in any way prevent and that we should all come back in better health than we went. Now, a change of climate and drinking water is hard on any one, and you girls have enough to do adjusting your systems to the new order of things even with a carefully regulated diet. Eating candy between meals is one good way to produce an upset stomach, and up here we can't take any chances. It would be inconvenient to take care of a sick person in camp, and besides, think of all the fun you would lose! So when we were discussing the di

r. Your racket stroke is weak and your paddle stroke is weak, and exertion which does not affect the other girls at all leaves you exhausted. That is a condition of which you should be ashamed, inasmuch as you have no definite ailment. 'Hold on to Health' is o

y and pass it around to the girls at meal time as long as it lasts. After that I must request you not to

dy, and while they were too polite to make any remarks their attitude plainly showed their disapproval, and this state of things galled Gladys more than

on't feel like going on a nature walk, either," said Sahwah, when they were ready to start. This was so unusual from

el well, dear

y well," said Sahwah.

ll to go on a

ature walk!" repeated Nyoda

el so full of-of something that I'

said lightly. "You might do some damage to us peaceful citizens. By the way, have you ever swum as far as Blueberry Island? It's a mile, I think. That ought to work off some of your superfluous energy. You have special

herself gracefully across the sparkling lake, feeling the absolute mastery of her muscles, changing regularly from left to right in her side stroke, she might ha

y, and was furious at the thought of having been caught in an undignified position. The tears, which she had managed to hold back in front of Nyoda, came now, and she cried herself into a genuine headache. But it was all self-pity; there was

to a perfect fury, and blamed Sahwah for all of her troubles. "I'd give a whole lot to get even with her," she said to herself, and immediately began looking around the tent for something of Sahwah's which she could damage. The only thing in evidence

out and cold and tries to make me swim when it's impossible for me to learn. She takes me out beyond my depth and ducks me under when I don't make my hands go right. She treats me as if I were a baby and won't trust me out of her sight. It seems they have a rule here about not eating candy between meals and I didn't know it and I bought some and ate

serable

LA

ng to Atlantic City in A

ake. She was lonesome; and in spite of the fact that she had stayed home of her own accord she resented the fact that the girls had gone off and left h

tyranny on Nyoda's part. She could paddle pretty well, as Sahwah had taught her to handle the sponson, and she saw

fun even than she had imagined, and the canoe seemed so light in comparison to the sponson that she sent it flying through the water with little effort. "I'll bet they're keeping me out of the canoes on purpose, so

rry Island and the dock she noticed with terror that the canoe was leaking. She had not been in the group when Nyoda had warned them about not using the one canoe for several days, and as luck would have it, the canoe she picked out was the very one which Sahwah had grounded on the roc

waited a little while and then slid off the rocks into the water. "I'll swim out and meet her," she said to herself. When she had gone about half the distance she saw that it was not Nyoda in the canoe, but Gladys, and an exclamation of astonishment escaped from her lips. Coming nearer yet she saw that Gladys was in distress and had dropped her paddle overboard, and she doubled h

until they could come for it. So, turning Gladys over on her back, she bade her float while she kept one hand on her to keep her above water and reached out for the canoe with the other. Gladys struggled and choked, but Sahwah paid no attention to her, for she knew that she was sa

rdinarily now became an endless stretch. The pain in her arm made her feel faint, and her limbs, tired from her long swim, seemed suddenly to have turned into lead. The clouds above turned black, then blood red, then every color of the rainbow. Strange lights and shadows danced in front of her eyes, and there were strange noises in her ears. Her breath came in long, sobbing gasps. The arm that was hold

was being towed for fun. "Sahwah, you naughty girl, what did you swim all the way home for?" she began, and then gasped in astonishment as Sahwah stiffened out in

ight. "She broke her arm and held me up with the other while she swam with her legs."

en bravery, the envier of heroines, was t