The Girl Scouts at Camp Comalong Part 14

Honking of auto horns soon warned the Bobbies that their company was coming, and when the honking swelled into a concert, and the concert swelled into a volley, the campers realized they were due to enjoy a surprise.

No less than eight cars were finally driven up, and each carried a capacity load of pa.s.sengers--the whole company representing a surprise party on the Bobolinks.

"Surprise! Surprise!" called out the visiting girls, quite like the old time gayety, when country folks came to a party and brought the refreshments with them.

So many friends entirely unexpected!

It seemed the home folks had sent out the invitations and managed to corral friends for every single Bobbie, not forgetting Mackey, who was so glad to welcome Molly Burbank, a friend of her high school days.

And the boxes and the bundles!

"A regular picnic!" sang out Louise. "Let's put everything on the big table."

"And Helen!" chuckled Cleo. "I am so glad to see you! When did you come back to the lake?"

"Isabel, dear, ducky Izzy!" chirped Grace. "We have been talking about you a lot. Can you stay?"

Then there was Mary, Carol, Annette, and so many other school and home-town friends that for a little time the mothers seemed neglected, but presently Louise was "hanging on her folks" with such enthusiasm she threatened to do damage to something, while Cleo hugged her mother and her big coz Alem, and Grace almost strangled her mother, so that it all looked like a new version of Mother's Day.

The inspection was punctuated with constant exclamations of wonder and applause, and that the Bobbies would find themselves expected to shoulder added responsibilities when they should return home was very evident.

"If they can do so well in camp we may hope for great things at home,"

remarked more than one delighted visitor, but the Scouts shook their heads and refused to promise.

Miss Mackin was arranging "the treat." She and her friends had taken over all the tasks so that the younger girls might more fully enjoy the company. The long table, with its dainty paper table cover, was arranged with paper plates (for company only), and the bunches of rarest wild flowers Miss Mackin had gathered the day before gave a real festive look to "the board."

"I know I'm going to have my favorite cake," crowed Cleo. "Did you ever see such a perfectly scrumbunctious food shower?"

"Never," agreed Grace, "and I do hope there's something to keep in my box, for we can't be sure of our own cooking all the time, you know."

"Don't you like it?" defied Corene. She was not willing to have the commissary department thus suspected.

"Oh, yes, Corey, and your codfish made with condensed milk is so--new, and sweetish----"

Corene threw a paper box cover at the head of her tormentor but Miss Mackin did not see the deprecation.

Then the spread was ready, and the company sat down to a camp table laden with home made goodies.

"This is one real joy of the small camp," Miss Mackin explained. "In the larger camps they do not generally permit the importing of food; but for Comalong it's a real blessing. You see, we have just been experimenting with our little furnace, and there's the camp kettle,"

she pointed out the inclined pole with its kettle on end, that hung over one of Julia's furnaces. "And we haven't tried baking cakes since we came," she admitted with an explanatory laugh.

"But the pan cakes? Aren't they all right, Mackey?" asked Cleo. She had "tried" pan cakes once or twice.

"Yes, indeed, Cleo. You did very well with those," praised the director, "but for real chocolate cake----"

"And fudge cake!" exclaimed Louise.

"And angel cake!" added Grace.

So it went along the table, each Scout acknowledging her particular gift with a special exclamation.

There was so much to talk about. And what a buzz and hum of voices surprised the little wood creatures! Not even the pet bunny ventured out from his hollow stump while all that party talked and talked.

"If only we could have company?" proposed Julia. "I mean overnight company."

"Perhaps we can," whispered Cleo.

"Where would they sleep?" Grace queried.

"We have hammocks, and maybe we could make room between the cots, by pus.h.i.+ng them up together."

"Oh, Cleo," Grace broke out. "How could we make room between the cots unless you mean to put someone on the floor?" and she howled at the idea.

"Of course, I don't mean that," protested Cleo, between her cake bites. "I mean to tie two cots together and put blankets between the edges, I mean over the edges. There would be room for Helen in that s.p.a.ce."

"But fancy Izzy sleeping on the rail!" Grace was bound to ridicule the idea.

"At any rate I'm going to ask Mackey!" declared Cleo. "Helen would love to stay, and we would love to have her. We could put hammocks up if it didn't rain."

At this juncture Grace was asked to refill the water pail, so she and Madaline raced off to the spring. Both cast furtive glances over the hill to Peg's cottage, but not even s.h.a.g was in sight to indicate life around the log cabin.

"Queer where she keeps herself," remarked Grace, "but I'm going to fetch her some cake, anyhow."

"I would too," agreed Madaline. "She doesn't seem like a girl who could bake a good cake."

"No," added Grace, "but she surely can ride horseback. I just wonder where she goes every day."

"The girls are going riding to-morrow. Perhaps they'll find out."

"Maybe. But aren't we having a lovely picnic?"

"Wonderful. We'll have enough cake for all week."

"I never thought sandwiches could taste so good. I suppose it's because we haven't had any homemade bread since we came."

"And Cleo's mother brought jam; Cleo hid it in her box back of the cupboard," said Madaline.

"Hurry, they may want the water; at any rate we can treat them to that," declared Grace, and the water bearers made all possible haste over the trail back to camp, spilling just enough of the fresh fluid to tickle the spangle-weed along the way.

"They're going to stay! They're going to stay!" Cleo ran to meet Grace with the good news, for lovely as camp had seemed with the patrol as its sole occupants, the prospects of company "to stay," and that the guests should be "Dare-to-do-Izzy" as Isabel was popularly called, and jolly little Helen would could "see a joke half a mile off"; no wonder there was new joy apparent in camp.

"Everyone is going," chirped Julia, "and I hope they all saw how much we have improved."

"Your pounds, do you mean, Jule? Maybe they couldn't see them. You should have pointed them out," teased Louise.

"Now, Weasy, maybe you think they all saw your inches," returned Julia. "There's mother's handkerchief, I know she didn't intend to leave that to me," and she hurried to the big gray car, with the dainty speck of lace and linen.

"Give them a cheer," prompted Miss Mackin.