"You might try," said Hinpoha doubtfully. Mrs. Evans thought it was worth trying. She found a house with a telephone and got Aunt Phoebe on the wire. With the utmost tact she explained how they had met the girls accidently, and that she had taken a notion that she would like to spend the day with them, but of course she could not do so unless Hinpoha would be allowed to stay with her, as she had charge of her for the day.
What was Aunt Phoebe to do? She was not equal to telling the admired Mrs. Evans to forego her pleasure because of Hinpoha, and gave a grudging consent to her keeping her niece with her on the condition that she would bring her home in the machine and not let her come back in the launch with the Winnebagos. Jubilant, they returned to the girls in the gorge and told the good news.
"Cheer for Mrs. Evans," cried Sahwah, and the Winnebagos gave it with a hearty good will.
Hinpoha, with Sahwah close beside her, began I searching for firewood industriously. "It seems just like last summer," she said, chopping sticks with Sahwah"s hatchet. The two had wandered off a short distance from the others, following a tiny footpath. Suddenly they came upon a huge rock formation, that looked like an immense fireplace, about forty feet wide and twenty or more feet high. Under that great stone arch a dozen spits, each big enough to hold a whole ox, might easily have swung. Sahwah and Hinpoha looked at it in amazement and then called for the other girls to come and see.
"Why, that"s the "Old Maid"s Kitchen,"" said Mrs. Evans, when she arrived on the scene. "I"ve been here before. Just why it should be called the _Old Maid"s_ Kitchen is more than I can tell, for it looks like the fireplace belonging to the grand-mother of all giantesses."
"Let"s build our fire inside of it," said Nyoda.
"The original "Old Maid" had a convenience that didn"t usually go with open fireplaces," said Gladys, "and that is running water," and she held her cup under a tiny stream that trickled out between two rocks, cold as ice and clear as crystal.
"Wouldn"t this be a grand place for a Ceremonial Meeting?" said Migwan, as they all stood round the blazing fire roasting "wieners" and bacon.
The Kitchen had a floor of smooth slabs of rock, and the arch of the fireplace formed a roof over their heads, while its wide opening afforded them a wonderful view of the gorge.
"Whenever you want to come here again, just say so," said Mrs. Evans, "and I"ll bring you down in the machine." Mrs. Evans was enjoying herself as much as any of the girls. It was the first time she had ever cooked wieners and bacon over an open fire on green sticks, and she was perfectly delighted with the experience. "If my husband could only see me now," she said, laughing like a girl as she dropped her last wiener in the dirt and calmly washed it off in the trickling stream. "How good this hot cocoa tastes!" she exclaimed, drinking down a whole cupful without stopping. "What kind is it?"
"Camp Fire Girl Cocoa," answered the girls.
"What kind is that?" asked Mrs. Evans.
"It is a brand that is put up by a New York firm for the Camp Fire Girls to sell," answered Nyoda.
"Why have we never had any of this at our house?" asked Mrs. Evans, turning to Gladys.
"You have always insisted that you would use no other kind than Van Horn"s," replied Gladys, "so I thought there would be no use in mentioning it."
"I like this better than Van Horn"s," said her mother. "Is there any to be had now?"
"There certainly is," answered Nyoda. "We are trying to dispose of a hundred-can lot to pay our annual dues."
"Let me have a dozen cans," said Mrs. Evans. "I will serve Camp Fire Girl Cocoa to my Civic Club next Wednesday afternoon. I----"
Here a terrific shriek from Migwan brought them all to their feet. She had been poking about in the corner of the Kitchen, when something had suddenly jumped out at her, unfolded itself like a fan and was whirling around her head. "It"s a bat!" cried Sahwah, and they all laughed heartily at Migwan"s fright. The bat wheeled around, blind in the daylight, and went b.u.mping against the girls, causing them to run in alarm lest it should get entangled in their hair. It finally found its way back to the dark corner of the Kitchen and hung itself up neatly the way Migwan had found it and the dinner proceeded.
"What kind of a bat was it?" asked Gladys.
"Must have been a _bacon bat_," said Sahwah, dodging the acorn that Hinpoha threw at her for making a pun.
"Tell us a new game to play, Nyoda," said Gladys, "or Sahwah will go right on making puns."
"Here is one I thought of on the way down," answered Nyoda. "Think of all the things that you know are manufactured in Cleveland, or form an important part of the shipping industry. Then we"ll go around the circle, naming them in alphabetical order. Each girl may have ten seconds in which to think when her turn comes, and if she misses she is out of the game. She may only come in again by supplying a word when another has missed, before the next girl in the circle can think of one."
"And let the two that hold out the longest have the first ride in the canoe," suggested Sahwah.
The game started. Nyoda had the first chance. "Automobiles," she began.
"Bricks," said Gladys.
"Clothing," said Migwan.
"Drugs," said Sahwah.
"Engines," said Hinpoha.
"Flour," said Mrs. Evans.
"Gasoline," said Nakwisi.
"Hardware," said Chapa.
"Iron," said Medmangi.
Nyoda hesitated, fishing for a "J." "One, two, three, four, five, six,"
began Sahwah.
"Jewelry!" cried Nyoda on the tenth count.
"Knitted goods," continued Gladys.
"Lamps," said Migwan.
"Macaroni," said Sahwah.
"That reminds me," said Mrs. Evans, "I meant to order some macaroni to-day and forgot it."
"N," said Hinpoha, "N,--why, Nothing!" The girls laughed at the witty application, but she was ruled out nevertheless.
"Nails," said Mrs. Evans.
"Oil," said Nakwisi.
"Paint," said Chapa.
Medmangi sat down. Nyoda began to count. "Quadrupeds!" cried Medmangi hastily.
"Explain yourself," said Nyoda.
"Tables and chairs," said Medmangi. The girls shouted in derision, but Nyoda ruled the answer in, and the game proceeded.
"Refrigerators," said Nyoda.
"Salt," said Gladys.
"Tents," said Migwan, with a reminiscent sigh.
"Umbrellas," said Sahwah.
Mrs. Evans fell down on "V." "Varnish," said Chapa.