The Woodcraft Girls in the City Part 40

After preliminaries were disposed of, Mrs. Remington addressed the Tribe.

"Now that you girls have your two Bands in good standing and have a Charter from the League authorising you to be established as Wako Tribe, your next step should be to organise a Little Lodge.

"It behooves a first-cla.s.s Tribe in good standing to start and supervise a Little Lodge as soon as is reasonable. These little ones can range in age from three to twelve, and are called 'Brownies.' They usually are the sisters and brothers or friends of the Big Lodge members. Thus the little children are early taught to be good citizens-as Woodcraft teaches everyone that.

"With the affectionate help from older girls, and the a.s.sociation with and experience from Big Lodges, these Brownies soon acquire an aptness for the things taught their elders. My own little ones, Billy, Edith, and Teddy, have acquired all they know to-day from watching us at home, or mimicking the Woodcraft things they see accomplished by my Tribe, or the Black Bears.

"I have been thinking that my three children, who are not yet twelve, can join your Little Lodge and be of great help to you in successfully founding a Brownie Band of your Tribe. I asked them what they thought of it, and they are delighted with the prospect."

The Woodcraft girls heartily applauded this idea and Miss Miller thought it a splendid suggestion. She saw the great possibilities it would offer the girls to train themselves in patience, sacrifice, and many other qualities that make for good womanhood.

In an aside to Mrs. Remington she whispered: "Nothing like the responsibility of children to bring out dormant strength of character in a girl!"

"Exactly! That is why this plan was adopted for Big Lodge Girls."

"We have been discussing this novel plan and we all wish to ask some questions," now announced the Chief.

"The meeting is open for questions," said the Guide.

"Can my brother Paul join?" asked Hilda.

"Sure-we'll soon teach him to quit his peevish ways," replied Zan, frank but thoughtless in her answer.

Hilda instantly closed her lips tight and looked highly insulted. "The idea of Zan Baker speaking like that of our little Paul!" said she to Nita.

"'Little Paul' is almost as old as Billy Remington, but see the awful difference," retorted Nita, for she disliked the selfish, whining boy as heartily as Zan did.

Hilda turned away but felt ill-treated by her friends. Then Jane Hubert said:

"Maybe my little cousin Dot Hubert will join! Goodness knows she needs this training almost as much as Paul does."

Some of the girls giggled, for they had noticed Hilda's offended manner, but Miss Miller quickly added:

"With the three little Remingtons, that will make five. We are progressing splendidly, girls."

"And I believe I can interest my sister in this Lodge so that Betty and Tammy Fullerton will be allowed to join the Band," ventured Mrs.

Remington.

"How old are they?" eagerly asked the girls.

"Tammy is only a little past three years, and Betty is about seven. Our Teddy is four, Dot Hubert is eight, Edith is nine, Paul is almost eleven, and Billy past eleven, so you see you have a fine range of ages to experiment with."

"Oh, I'm crazy to see them all together and try to have them to do some Woodcraft stunts!" cried Zan, clasping her hands in delight.

"Let's hope your enthusiasm keeps up!" grumbled Eleanor, who had not favoured the new departure very much.

The next week the Brownies all attended the weekly meeting and the ceremony of enrolling them as a Little Lodge took place. But as this is all told in detail in the story called "Little Woodcrafters' Book," in which the cares and troubles of the self-appointed Woodcraft mothers fill more than 350 pages and are ill.u.s.trated by numerous pictures, we will omit repeating it in this volume.

With the advent of the Brownies and the conversion of seven active little bundles of mischief into becoming normal, ambitious, _coup_-winning Woodcrafters, the time flew by as if on wings. Every spare moment found from regular studies and Woodcraft work was filled in by attending to a Brownie need.

Thus February, March, and April came and pa.s.sed like a mist before the rising sun, and the month of May was ushered in and found the five original girls of Wako Tribe so completely absorbed with the progress the Brownies were making that the other members were ignored and left to work as best they could with the help they could find in the Manual or from Miss Miller.

The Guide saw the unexpected schism created in the ranks of the Tribe, but she had to use utmost wisdom in handling this peculiar situation-all interest shown the Little Lodge by the five girls, and a lack of concern about the new members of their own Big Lodge.

The problem was mentioned to Mrs. Remington and that lady suggested a visit to Council House where Wako Tribe could hold a Grand Council and exhibit work accomplished during the Winter. This was planned to draw the factions together again by a mutual pride and interest in their Tribe activities.

Besides the friends of the members of Wako Tribe, there would be the Black Bears (Fred's Tribe), Elizabeth's Tribe, some guests from Headquarters in New York, and a few neighbours of Mrs. Remington's who were deeply interested in Woodcraft work.

The girls of Wako Tribe were delighted to hold a Spring Council at this place and everyone worked with a will to make the event a memorable occasion. The Guide heaved a deep sigh, for she saw them all united again and seeking the advancement of the Tribe as a unit. But she sighed too soon.

An elaborate programme was evolved and the visitors were impressed by the exhibits of Woodcraft work of every kind made and displayed by the members of the Tribe.

As one entered the Council House a long table was the first attraction.

Tomtoms, simple or elaborate according to experience and ability of the makers, beautiful sets of bows and arrows that would carry 100 yards or 150 yards and win _coups_ or grand _coups_, respectively; fire-sets of rubbing sticks and their leather bags, decorated as the individual preferred; birch-bark articles made from the Alpine harvest of the preceding Fall; many kinds of knots tied in rope and tagged as mentioned in the Manual; individual Tally Books showing what each girl had accomplished since joining the Tribe; and last but not least on this table was an enlarged photograph of the little cabin built on Wickeecheokee Bluff by the five girls during the Summer of their first camp.

Back of the first long table of exhibits, the wall was covered with gra.s.s mats, willow beds, decorated blankets, totems, s.h.i.+elds, carefully mounted and framed collections of moths, b.u.t.terflies, insects of various kinds, leaves, flowers, forestry, etc. These made an impressive showing, and many had _coups_ or _grand coups_ attached.

Next to the long table stood the book-shelves, tabourets, benches, stools, bird-houses, and other decorative or useful articles in carpentry.

A second long table exhibited the pottery work, bowls, fire-urns, candle-sticks, weaving, bead-work, looms, Indian Sun-dial; work in bra.s.s, silver, copper, and other metals, the designs made, hammered, and etched by the girls themselves.

Then an old-fas.h.i.+oned bookcase with gla.s.s doors had been brought from the house-attic and the shelves of this large cabinet were filled with jars of canned fruit, preserves, pickles, dried and canned vegetables, dried or salted meats, cakes, bread, and other housekeeper's craft learned and practised by the members of Wako Tribe.

On the floor beside the cabinet were hand-made rush brooms, willow-ware of all kinds, Indian tools for gardening, and the tents made at such expense of labour and patience during January.

There were exhibits of _coups_ and degrees and honours for swimming, star-gazing, farming, archery, nursing, needle-craft, marketing, singing, dancing, Indian Lore, hostess, cooking, fis.h.i.+ng, gardening, carpentry, camper-craft, bird sharp, art crafts, and minor works so arranged that the lists seemed endless. In fact, the Big Chief from Headquarters said he had never witnessed so many achievements accomplished by one Tribe in so short a time, and he added that it spoke well for the zeal and application of the members.

The entertainment now began with the usual ceremonies of Grand Council, followed by reports and other business. Then the girls performed the Green Corn Dance, which is especially a Spring Dance. After the Big Lodge finished this graceful dance, the Brownies of the Little Lodge acted Nana-bo-jou with great vim and energy.

Immediately following this dance, the Chief said: "One of our Brownies wishes to win a _coup_ for storytelling, so I will introduce Edith Remington to the audience. She will tell you what happened to her last Winter."

Edith was acquainted with most of the visitors present, so she felt no self-consciousness in addressing them. In fact, bashfulness and over-sensitiveness are two of the undesirable failings eliminated by Woodcraft, so that a child can do what is expected of it without the agony brought out by self-consciousness.

"It was a very cold day-so cold that the ground was frozen hard-but no snow had fallen yet. I wanted to call Billy 'cause we were invited to spend the day with my little cousins, so I ran out of the front door to find him in the woods at the foot of the lawn.

"Just as I hurried under a big oak tree that stands by the drive, I heard a queer scratching noise, and some loose pebbles flew in front of me.

"I looked over at the foot of the tree-trunk and there was a little squirrel trying to dig up the hard frozen ground. I s'pose he had some nuts buried there and wanted to get them out for his dinner. As I stood watching him for a few minutes, my hands grew cold, so I pulled the mittens out of my coat pocket.

"Out flew a peanut with one of the mittens and no sooner did it roll on the ground than Mr. Squirrel hopped over and had it. He jumped back to the tree and sat upon his haunches cracking and eating the nut.

"He must have been awful hungry, 'cause he hurried back to me the minute he finished the peanut, and jumped upon my arm, looking in my pocket for more.

"I waited, as still as a mouse, so he wouldn't get 'fraid, then he looked up in my face as much as to say: 'Haven't you any more?'

"I laughed at that, and he jumped away and sat a few yards off watching me. Then I had an idea. I ran in and asked Mose for some nuts, telling him about the squirrel. He gave me a handful from the pantry and I ran back to feed the little fellow.

"He came right up and took them from my hands and when he had carted most of them over to the foot of the tree and eaten some, he carried one at a time to a bough and sat eating it. When that was gone he ran down and carried another nut up and ate it.