Migwan gazed upon her in mingled awe and veneration. A famous author--one who had realized the ambition that was also her cherished own! She almost stopped breathing in her emotion.
"Isn"t she lovely?" breathed Hinpoha to Agony, her eye taking in the details of Miss Amesbury"s camping suit, which, instead of being made of serge or khaki, like those of the other councilors, was of heavy j.a.panese silk, with a soft, flowered tie.
Smiling a smile which included every girl in the room, she cordially invited them all to come and visit her balcony and share the beautiful view which she had of the river and the gorge. Then she added a few humorous comments upon camp life, and sat down amid tumultuous applause.
Then Dr. Grayson asked her if she would play for the singing, and she rose graciously and took her place at the piano. The Sing leader stood up on a bench and directed with a wooden spoon from the craft table, and the first Sing-Out began. For half an hour the mingled voices were lifted in glee and round, in part song and ballad, until the roof rang.
The new girls, spelling out the words in the song books by the rather pale lamplight, came out strongly in some parts and wobbly in others, producing some tone effects which caused the old girls to double up with merriment, but the new girls showed their good sportsmanship by singing on l.u.s.tily no matter how many mistakes they made, a fact which caused Dr. Grayson to beam approvingly upon them. In the midst of a particularly hilarious song the bugle suddenly blew for going to bed, and the old girls, still singing, began to drift out of the house and make for the tents in groups of twos and threes, with their arms thrown around each other"s shoulders. The new girls followed, some feeling shy and a bit homesick this first night away from home; others already perfectly at home, their arms around a new friend made in the short time since their arrival. One such was Jean Lawrence, who, upon being informed that she was to be "tenty" to Katherine and Oh-Pshaw in Bedlam, expressed herself as being unutterably delighted with her tent mates and walked off with them chattering as easily as though she had known them all her life.
There was more or less confusion this first night before everyone got settled, for many of the girls had never camped before and were unskilled in the art of undressing rapidly in the close quarters of a tent, and "Taps" sounded before a number were even undressed. The Lone Wolf was lenient this first night, however, and did not insist upon prompt lights out, an act of grace which added greatly to her popularity.
Sahwah"s bed sagged somewhat in the middle and she was not able to adjust herself to its curves very well; consequently she did not fall asleep soon. Camp quieted down; the last rustle and whisper died away; silence enfolded the tents around. Sahwah, lying wide awake in the darkness, her senses alert, heard the sound of footsteps running at full speed along the top of the bluff and across the bare rocks at the edge.
Here the footsteps seemed to come to a pause, and an instant later there came a sound like a loud splash in the water below. Filled both with curiosity and apprehension, Sahwah leaped from bed and raced for the edge of the bluff, where she stood peering down at the river. No unusual ripple appeared on the placid surface of the river; as far as she could see it lay calm and peaceful in the moonlight.
A footstep behind her startled her, and she turned to see Miss Judy coming toward her from the tent.
"What"s the matter?" called Miss Judy, when she was within a few yards of Sahwah.
"It sounded as though someone jumped off the cliff," replied Sahwah. "I heard footsteps along the edge of the bluff, and then a splash, and I ran out to see what was going on, but I can"t see anything."
To Sahwah"s surprise, Miss Judith laughed aloud. "Oh," she said, "did you hear it?"
"What was it?" asked Sahwah, curiously.
"That," replied Miss Judy, "is what we call the Great Mystery Sound. We hear it off and on, but no one has ever been able to explain what causes it. Our "diving ghost," we call it. Father wore himself to a frazzle the first year we were here, trying to find out what it was. He used to sit up nights and watch, but although he often heard it he never could see anything that could produce the sound. Some people about here have told us that that sound has been heard for years and they say that there is an old legend connected with it to the effect that many years ago an Indian girl, pursued by an unwelcome suitor, jumped off this bluff and drowned herself to escape him, and that ever since that occurrence this strange sound has been noticeable. Of course, the people who tell the legend say that the ghost of the persecuted maiden haunts the scene of the tragedy at intervals and repeats the performance. Whatever it is, we have never been able to account for the sound naturally, and always refer to it as the Great Mystery Sound."
"What a strange thing!" exclaimed Sahwah in wonder. "Those footsteps certainly sounded real; and as for that splash! It actually made my flesh creep. I had a panicky feeling that one of the new girls had wandered too near the edge of the bluff and had fallen into the water."
"It used to have that effect upon us at first, too," replied Miss Judy.
"We would all come racing down here with our hearts in our mouths, expecting we knew not what. It took a long time before we could believe it was a delusion.
"And now, come back to bed, or you"ll be taking cold, standing out here in your nightgown."
Still looking back at the river and half expecting to see some agitation in its surface, Sahwah followed Miss Judy back to Gitchee-Gummee and returned to bed.
CHAPTER IV
THE ALLEY INITIATION
Folk-dancing hour had just drawn to a close, and the long bugle for swimming sounded through camp. The sets of eight which had been drawn up on the tennis court in the formation of "If All the World Were Paper,"
broke and scattered as before a whirlwind as the girls raced for their tents to get into bathing suits. Sahwah, as might be expected, was first down on the dock, but close at her heels was another girl whom she recognized as living in one of the Avenue tents. This girl, while broader and heavier than Sahwah, moved with the same easy grace that characterized Sahwah"s movements, and like Sahwah, she seemed consumed with impatience to get into the water.
"Oh, I wish Miss Armstrong would hurry, hurry, hurry!" she exclaimed, jigging up and down on the dock. "I just can"t wait until I get in."
"Neither can I," replied Sahwah, scanning the path down the hillside for a sight of the swimming director.
"Do you live in the Avenue or the Alley?" asked the girl beside her.
"In the Alley," replied Sahwah.
"Which tent?"
"Gitchee-Gummee. Which one are you in?"
"Jabberwocky."
"That"s way up near the bungalow, isn"t it?"
"Yes, where are you?"
"The very last tent in the Alley, that one there, buried in the trees."
"Oh, how lovely! You"re right near the path to the river, aren"t you? I wish I were a little nearer this end. It would save time getting to the water."
"But you"re so near the bungalow that you only have to go a step when the breakfast bugle blows. You have the advantage there," replied Sahwah. "We down in Gitchee-Gummee have to run for all we"re worth to get there before you"re all a.s.sembled. We have hard work getting dressed in time. We put on our ties while we"re running down the path, as it is."
The other girl laughed, showing a row of very white, even teeth. "Did you see that girl who came running into the dining-room this morning with her middy halfway over her head?"
Sahwah laughed, too, at the recollection. "That was Bengal Virden, the one they call the Elephant"s Child," she replied. "She lives in Ponemah, with some friends of mine. She had loitered with her dressing and didn"t have her middy on when the breakfast bugle blew, so she decided to put it on en route. But while she was pulling it on over her head she got stuck fast in it with her arms straight up in the air and had to come in that way and get somebody to pull her through. I never saw anything so funny," she finished.
"Neither did I," replied the other.
They looked at each other and laughed heartily at the remembrance of the ludicrous episode.
All this while Sahwah was trying to recollect her companion"s name, but was unable to do so. It was impossible to remember which girls had answered to which names at the general roll call on that first night in Mateka.
Just then the other said, "I don"t believe I recall your name--I"m very stupid about remembering things."
"That"s just what I was going to say to you!" exclaimed Sahwah, with a merry laugh. "It"s impossible to remember so many new names at once. I think we all ought to be labeled for the first week or so. I"m Sarah Ann Brewster, only they call me Sahwah."
"What a queer nickname! It"s very interesting. Is it a contraction of Sarah Ann?"
"No, it"s my Camp Fire name."
"Oh, are you a Camp Fire girl?"
"Yes."
"How splendid! I"ve always wished I could be one. What does the name mean?"
"Sunfish!" replied Sahwah. "The sun part means that I like sunshine and the fish part means that I like the water."
"Oh-h!" replied the other with an interested face. Then she began to introduce herself. "I haven"t any nice symbolic name like yours," she said, "but mine is sort of queer, too."
"What is it?" asked Sahwah.