"Well, so it is, when the boys are in a hurry to get to the bungalow."
"We've been five hours coming, and had to stop for lunch along the way, too," said Judith, eager to talk about the beefsteak.
The boys stared. "Why, you were to have dinner with us! Didn't Mr. Gilroy tell you that?"
"Yes, but we couldn't wait so long. We're ready for more dinner, now," said Joan.
"What did you cook for luncheon?" asked Alec, the oldest boy in the Troop.
"Oh, only a beefsteak-mushroom and a scout-twist," returned Julie, nonchalantly.
The boys exchanged glances. "Did you find the mushrooms along the way?" asked another boy named Bob.
"Sure! Did you think they came preserved?" laughed Joan.
"No, but we have never found any on this side of the hill. Bob often goes out to hunt, but so far we've never seen any," explained another boy, Ned Thompson.
"When we go back, you can go with us a ways, and we will show you where we found the ones we had for luncheon," said Betty.
"Is dinner ready, boys, or will there be time to show the girls about the camp?" asked Mr. Gilroy.
"Show them about, as it will take us ten minutes more to finish everything in style," replied Alec.
So the girl scouts were invited to pass judgment on the fine camp the boy scouts had made. Everything was neat as wax, and the boys had constructed many convenient articles from wildwood material only.
"Last year we had eight boys in camp, but this season only four could come in the beginning; so they have lots of room in their big tee pee. When the other boys come out, they will have to make another tent. They made and water-proofed this one themselves," explained Mr. Gilroy, showing the visitors the fine big tent.
"They built this dining-room, too, to use if the weather is very bad. I told the boys about your corduroy floor
that you made in your huts last summer, so they tried it here with very good result."
The girl scouts now saw their own idea put into use in a different manner. The log floor was hard and dry, but at each corner rose a stout pole, and upon the tops of the four pole ends was stretched a canvas roof, making a shelter underneath.
"Girls, we ought to do the same thing, to use for meal time when it rains, or if the rays of the sun are too hot," observed Mrs. Vernon.
Mr. Gilroy then pointed out to the girls how careful the boys had been in selecting this camp-site. They had high, dry ground, near plenty of fine spring water, on the same lake where the girl scouts camped, but an arm of high land extended out into the water and separated the two camps.
"You see, they have ample firewood about without cutting down any trees; they get the early morning sun, and shade all the rest of the day. They ditched the entire place to carry off all the rainwater that might wash down from the crest during a heavy storm. And they built a refrigerator to keep things cold; and over there they have a chicken-coop."
"A chicken coop! where did they get the chickens?" asked Julie.
"Ned had some at home and he crated them and brought them along. The boys get fresh eggs in this way, and when the season is over, they will kill the hens for a special occasion and eat them."
"Verny, that's what we need, a few chickens in camp," was Joan's decision, the moment she saw the hens scratching.
"I noticed Gilly had a lot of chickens running about the barnyard. Maybe he will loan us a few, just to provide us with eggs this summer. We can return them in the fall, you know," ventured Julie, daringly.
"Who will buy their corn?" asked he, laughingly.
"No one. We will feed them scraps and they can scratch!" promptly replied Julie.
"You'll starve them and then they won't lay any eggs," now said Alec, joining the party.
"We'll smile on Hiram and get him to bring us some corn from the barn, now and then," said Ruth.
"I came over to tell you dinner was ready to serve. We had better go now, and eat it while it's good," said Alec.
The boys had various things hanging over the fire, but the great novelty that caught the girl scouts' attention, at once, was the roaster upon which a nice brown chicken was swinging before the fire.
"There! That's a fine idea. How did you make it?" asked Mrs. Vernon, looking closely at the contraption.
Alec described to the Captain the method of making the roaster. "We took a forked stick, as you see there, of about a two-foot length. We drove that down into the ground about six inches. Next we took a long pole, six or eight feet long, and drove the end down into the ground just back of the short stick with the forks. It rested in the crotch made by the forks so that its tapering end slanted upward at an angle, as you see here.
"From the end of this long pole we hung the cord that holds the chicken. Wire is just as good to use. Then we arranged that flat, paddle-like fan halfway between the top and the rope end where the roast will hang. As your chicken roasts before the fire, that mill-fan keeps it perpetually turning about so it browns alike all over."