"What"s this for?" wondered she.
"Verny says we have to use it to move the timber."
"Great! Well, as long as you don"t mind, Betty, I"ll run away and find Julie."
"I can"t budge a spadeful of this hard ground, Betty," complained Ruth, as her companion joined her.
"Oh, not in that way, Ruth. You"ll have to remove all the roots and weeds first, and that will help break up the hardened soil, you know; "cause the brush-roots run down real deep, you see."
"But I just hate weeding, Betty; can"t I dig it up without doing that extra work?"
"You tried just now and said it was awfully hard! I am going to weed mine first, and then dig it up."
So saying, wise Betty weeded a patch and then used the pick with which to break up the ground. This done, she took the spade and, to Ruth"s great surprise, the loosened earth came up readily. The energetic young scout had made good progress in this work before Mrs. Vernon came over to inspect the task.
Ruth raised no further objections when she saw how easy the digging was for Betty; so she weeded, too, and followed her chum"s example. Soon she found the work was not nearly as hard as she had thought it would be.
But that is because she had not stopped to complain or think how hard it was _going_ to be--she forgot all this in watching and working as Betty did.
Julie and Joan followed Mrs. Vernon as she led Hepsy down the slope to the spot where the cut timbers were piled up. Here she showed the girls how to attach the chain and tackle to a log, and then to hook the chain to Hepsy"s harness.
The strong horse willingly started up the hill and dragged the long log up to the site where the hut was to be. One girl drove Hepsy carefully to avoid ruts and snags which might catch the log and thus yank Hepsy up suddenly and perhaps injure her. The other girl had to follow in the wake of the log to see that it did not roll or twist out of the pathway, causing a ruthless tearing at bushes and flowers along the way.
The two girls who were digging found it quite tiresome to lean over so constantly. When they stood erect to stretch their back muscles, their bones felt as if they would crack. Ruth complained of her aches long before the Captain joined them.
Then Mrs. Vernon said: "Ah! I think I was wise in telling you girls to take turns about. Now I will signal for the two timber-jacks to exchange work with you."
When the two girls hauling timber responded to the call, they seemed right glad to exchange labor with the excavators.
"You"ll find this digging a pit is simply awful, girls!" exclaimed Ruth, pretending she could not straighten her backbone.
"It can"t be a patch on the job we"ve been doing!" cried Joan, looking at her hands with pity in her eyes.
"That"s right! When you"ve had to steer or roll a log a mile long, you"ll have something to say about hard work!" added Julie.
"One would think, after hearing you girls, that you were too soft and delicate to proceed further in your scout tests," said Mrs. Vernon seriously. That stopped all complaints instantly.
But Ruth could not help adding: "Girl scouts never work like this in camp--I"m sure of it."
"Girl scouts would never call _this_ hard work! They"d laugh at any one for hinting at such a thing. And you"ll do the same thing before the summer"s over," said Mrs. Vernon.
"Ah well! Let"s prepare for the end of the summer, girls," sighed Julie, ludicrously.
"Come on, Ruth--take the reins from Julie and let"s start," said Betty, taking the hook and starting down the road.
"By the time you two girls get back here, Betty, we"ll show you how you should dig a cellar," retorted Julie. "Why, you only managed to dig up a square yard in all this time. You should have had half of the pit finished."
Betty and Ruth smiled at each other and nodded their heads wisely, then ran off to help Hepsy with the logs. Mrs. Vernon smiled also as she saw that each couple would soon learn that nothing is easy until one learns how to do it right. Then, when that time comes, it generally happens that one is forced to go higher to a new task. And so on, eternally, for this is progress and growth.
By the time the horn sounded for another change of work, both diggers and haulers were glad to exchange back again. Mrs. Vernon was busy about dinner, for she said such hard labor deserved hearty meals. And the girls agreed absolutely with her on that statement.
"I say! I"ll never find fault with your digging again, Betsy," said Julie meekly, as she displayed about eighteen inches square of dug-out cellar, and a row of water-blisters on her hand.
Betty laughed at her sister, but the work continued until the cellar was dug deep enough and a ma.s.s of timbers was waiting to be used. As they stood admiring their morning"s work, Betty said:
"I think Hepsy is the best scout of all."
"Why?" asked the other girls.
"Just see how she worked! She hauled and hauled, and never asked to exchange for an easier job. And all the time she worked she never complained once of an aching back or tired muscles. Yet I am sure she wanted to kick mightily now and then."
A roar of laughter greeted her last words, and Betty guilelessly asked: "_Now_ what have I said--what is the matter with you girls?"
The call to dinner quickly changed the current of their thoughts, however, and once seated about the stone table, they fell to with a will never manifested for plain cookery at home.
"We ought to be able to lay the floor logs and get the corner posts up this afternoon," suggested Joan.
"I was going to propose a hike downhill in the opposite direction from the one we took yesterday," said the Captain. "Then, when we return, a good swim will refresh us all for supper."
"Oh, yes, we"ve worked enough for one day," said Ruth.
When the scouts were ready to start for the hike, Mrs. Vernon showed them a note-book. "I"m going to have you take down notes on the flowers, trees, or birds we find on these hikes. This will prove very desirable practice when you are admitted as a Troop."
They started off, while Hepsy stood leisurely nosing at her dinner of oats. This reminded Julie of the funny saying by Betty just before dinner, and she now repeated it to the Captain.
"I meant, you know, Verny, that Hepsy must have had stiff joints from all that hauling yet she never kicked once to straighten out the kinks,"
explained Betty, when Julie finished.
"I doubt whether Hepsy felt as tired as you think she did. You must remember that her spine is almost parallel with the ground over which she has to pull her loads, and having four legs on which to balance herself, makes it easier than only having two. The chain and tackle also simplified the work for Hepsy, but we can"t say as much of the hauling an Indian Squaw has to do.
"Why, the poor squaws do all the lifting and moving of their camps, through forests, over rough land, and even carrying their papooses in the bargain. They, too, drag their burdens in a sort of "cradle" that is. .h.i.tched to their waists by means of two leather traces."
"Oh, the poor creatures!" exclaimed ever-ready, sympathetic Betty.
"I"m thankful I"m not an Indian female!" declared Julie, with such earnestness that the others laughed.
After the usual scout reading from the Handbook the next morning, the girls hurried to work because they were anxious to see their hut built and finished. The ardor of accomplishment was beginning to fill their souls.
That day the cross-beams of the floor were laid and securely fastened at the corners. Then the other logs were sawed and notched for the corner-posts. It was impossible to split the timber for rafters, so the Captain advised the use of smaller tree-trunks for this purpose.
"What shall we do to keep out the rain or wild animals?" asked Ruth, seeing that no windows had been provided for the old hut.
"We can hang up water-proof canvas in the windows if it rains, but I have an idea for a door that I want to work on to-morrow," replied the Captain.
The carpentry now went steadily on, and without friction, as each one was anxious to see a finished hut. They were tremendously interested in their work, too, and that always makes a task easy.
Mrs. Vernon superintended everything, and demonstrated a wonderful knowledge of woodcraft. Then, whenever the carpenters were cheerfully working without her help, she turned to her own plans. These had occasioned curious comment from the four girls, because they could not see what could be built with a lot of short boards which had been taken from the boxes.
"You"ll see when I"m through," replied the Captain to all their questions.