Supper had been prepared and disposed of, and the dishes washed and cleared away before darkness invited every one to sit down and listen to the Captain's stories of girlhood days in this very spot. But she had rather a drowsy audience that night. Four girls were so tired out with healthy exercise and the mountain air that the fire gave them a feeling of peace and rest.

Not a demur was heard when Mrs. Vernon suggested bed, and the hard cots must have felt like a nest of feathers to the newly-fledged scouts, for soon every one was fast asleep.

CHAPTER SIX

FIRST LESSONS IN SCOUT WORK

A loud drumming on a tin pan roused the would-be scouts in the morning, and each girl tumbled out of her cot feeling as if she had slept on roses. The invigorating air and the benefit of sleeping out-of-doors began to be felt. Then the odor of cooking was wafted in through the tent opening, and Joan ran to look out.

"Oh!" sniffed she, "Verny's up and dressed and has something _awfully_ good cooking for breakfast!"

"Um-m--I should say she has!" added Julie, running over to join Joan at the tent door.

"What is it, Verny?" called a chorus of girls, and as the Captain turned to reply she saw four tousled heads crowded out of the opening.

"Can't tell secrets until you've washed and dressed!" laughed Mrs.

Vernon.

It was not long, therefore, before the hungry campers joined her about the fire and wanted to know what smelled so good. The Captain was adding a pinch of salt to the "something" in the pot, so she did not look up, but said hastily:

"Will some one watch that toast--it seems to be scorching."

"Did you ever! Making toast on a stone!" laughed Julie, trying to turn over the slices with a stick.

"But the stone's as hot as any stove-lid," commented Betty, as she saw the smoke rise from the crumbs that burned on the rock.

"Is that cereal standing off on that other stone?" now inquired Ruth.

"Yes, but who'd a thought a stone would ever be used for an oven?"

laughed Joan, stirring the cereal with a long spoon.

"The oven won't retain heat long after the stone is removed from the embers. Better be ready to serve yourselves as soon as I say 'ready,'"

said Mrs. Vernon, as she removed the pot that had given forth such appetizing odors from the fire, and stood it upon a heated rock.

"Now--all ready!" laughed she, and every girl made a dash for the cereal.

"Here--let me dish it up and pa.s.s it along. The whole mess will be in the fire if we all struggle to be first," added Joan.

The cereal disappeared like snow in July, and then four eager girls were asking for the next course.

"This food, fit for the G.o.ds, is composed of the leavings of supper last night. But you girls will never dream that it goes by a homely name,"

said Mrs. Vernon, as she ladled a goodly portion upon each plate which was thrust out under her nose.

"What _is_ it called?" asked Ruth, tasting a bit that fell upon the edge of her plate.

"It smells heavenly, Verny!" sighed Julie, rolling her eyes skyward.

Every one laughed, for Julie always was extravagant in her language.

"In boarding-houses the guests object every time it is served, but we have the great advantage over city boarders whose hash is made merely with chopped meat and eggs and milk! We have Nature's appetizer to season our dish, so that it becomes nectar and ambrosia in this camp,"

explained the Captain, smilingly.

The hash went the way of the cereal, and the girls looked anxiously in the pot to see if there could be a second helping.

"Oh, thanks to our lucky stars and Verny, she made a lot of it!" called Julie, waving a spoon at her comrades.

"But where is the toast? Verny--the toast is gone!" shouted Joan, gazing fearfully under the stones to see if it could have slipped from the oven-rock.

"Ha! that's my secret! Eat the hash, girls, and I will tell you where the toast is."

It needed no second invitation to finish all signs of hash, then Ruth demanded to know where the toast was hidden.

The Captain ran over to Ruth and touched the spot where the stomach is located. "You've had your share of toast and it is in there!" laughed Mrs. Vernon.

"We haven't! We only had hash!" retorted Ruth, wonderingly.

"The hash was made of toast and other things. I only had about a spoonful of corned beef left from last night. But toast, when broken into bits, will taste so like meat that few people know the difference.

That's how I managed to cook a second helping."

"As long as it was not wasted I don't care much whether I ate the toast in hash or had it with tea," said Julie.

"But I can eat more breakfast," commented Joan.

"'Enough is as good as a feast,' and I'm sure you girls must admit you've had enough to sustain you until noon," said Mrs. Vernon.

"Oh, certainly!" agreed Joan, "making the best of a famine is my especial virtue."

This started a laugh, and merry words were exchanged while the dishes were cleared away and the camp was left in good order.

"Now shall we start in to finish the hut, Verny?" asked Betty.

"I thought I'd like to read aloud from the handbook, 'Scouting for Girls,' and see how many of the laws and customs you girls know."

"You'll find us in the A-B-C-cla.s.s, I'm afraid," said Joan.

"Then the sooner you are promoted out of it the better," declared Mrs.

Vernon, seating herself on a stump and opening the manual.

"First question: 'How do you start a Patrol?'" asked the Captain.

"Oh, we know that, Verny, 'cause we had to learn it by heart in order to advise those girls who wanted to join, you see," chorused the girls.

"Well, then, are we a Patrol now?" asked Mrs. Vernon.

"In the real sense, we are not, as there are only four members at present; but we are _going_ to be one, aren't we?" said Julie.