For a second every one held his or her breath, then laughed heartily at Mrs. Vernon's surprised expression. Julie jumped up from the stump where she had been sitting and ran over to explain.

"Oh, I am so sorry, Verny! I forgot to tell you that the fore leg of this rustic seat was loose. I tied it on with string to make it look right, but I didn't think any one would use it."

"Good gracious, Jule! Did you think our camp wanted ornamental furniture?" demanded Joan, thinking thereby to give a strong hint to the friends who showered useless articles upon them that day.

This statement caused rather a silence in the visitors, until May said: "I hope you won't find much trouble in repairing the pieces _we_ brought for you."

"Oh, we will make some sort of use of them," replied Julie, frankly, as sisters will. "We can pull the old stuffing out of that sofa, you know, and use it for bedding for Hepsy, when we run short of dried leaves or gra.s.s."

Every eye turned to look at the old sofa, and Mr. Gilroy had great difficulty in keeping his face straight. Finally the erstwhile owner of the sofa said: "Horses don't like hair for bedding."

Julie retorted: "Because it makes them dream of what all the tails and manes come to when they die!"

This caused a laugh, and Joan added: "Anyway, a horse in camp--'specially a scout horse--can't be choosers about bedding. They are glad to get what is to be had."

Mr. Lee laughingly replied to this: "I'm glad I'm not a scout horse."

Mrs. Vernon now turned to her sister-in-law and said: "I'm curious to hear what donations you found to bring out?"

"Oh, Pete told me there was a loft full of furniture over the old stables. So I rummaged and found all I could manage."

"That reminds me, Mrs. Ormsby! We have not added your gifts to these because we could not carry them up the slope. They were too heavy,"

explained Mr. Lee.

"My goodness me! More stuff?" exclaimed Ruth.

"Yes, but I think you will be pleased with my donations," said Mrs.

Ormsby, apologetically. "I heard how you had to manage with this poor camp-fire, so I brought a kitchen stove that was stored in the loft. I also----" but the lady got no further at that time.

The scouts laughed so that some of them doubled over and rocked back and forth. Even Mrs. Vernon had to laugh at her relative's pity.

"Oh, oh! This is the funniest thing I ever heard!" said she. "Why, my dear Kate, don't you know that half the sport of camping is trying to do without modern equipment? Every camper tries to use wood-material only for home, furniture and outfit. What would the founders of the girls'

scouts say if they heard we cooked our camp meals on a kitchen range in the woods!"

"Do you really mean that you do not want it?" asked Mrs. Ormsby.

"Of course not! We have a fine fireplace and oven, so the stove and stove-pipe may as well go back on the truck."

"Maybe you will scorn the walnut bed I brought as a great surprise? I heard there was a spring and mattress, so I had the bed brought from the loft and moved here on the truck with the other things. But it is so ma.s.sive and heavy, no one could carry the head and foot boards up the hill. We thought Hepsy could do that," explained Mrs. Ormsby, dubiously to be sure, after the reception her other gift had received.

Mrs. Vernon now laughed as heartily as the scouts had done just before this. "Oh! That awful bedstead that always took an acre lot to hold it!

Where could we put it up? Our huts will never hold one section of it."

"I have a brilliant idea, Mrs. Vernon," now said Mr. Gilroy. "Suppose we put up the bed down there in some secluded nook and then with the spring and mattress I can have a wonderful suite of my own for a few nights."

"There! I knew that bed would prove useful!" declared Mrs. Ormsby, sending a look of thanks to Mr. Gilroy.

"Maybe Mr. Gilroy would like the stove, too, to dry out the dampness from the ground where he camps," suggested Julie.

Every one laughed excepting Betty; she took the idea as literal, and said: "That might be a good plan for us--to use it in front of the fireplace. You see, we can't burn wood there 'cause it smokes so, but the stove-pipe can be run right up the flues so all the smoke from the stove will manage to get up where it ought to go."

Another shout of laughter greeted this original proposition, and Mrs.

Vernon finally gasped: "If the stove goes in the hut, we will have to stay out!"

"Then I suppose the stove has to go back?" Mrs. Ormsby wanted to know.

"We can sell it in Freedom, I have no doubt, and put the proceeds in the bank for the Adirondack Camp," replied Mrs. Vernon.

"Oh, say, Verny! That's what we can do with all this furniture, can't we?" cried Julie, eagerly.

But her vivacious suggestion seemed to meet with another strange silence. Finally Mrs. Vernon broke the embarra.s.sment by saying: "We ought to get dinner, as it is long past the hour."

And Mr. Lee said: "I suppose the food-stock we brought to replenish the larder will be scorned."

"Oh, no indeed, Daddy! We _need_ things to eat!" said Betty.

As they all sat in a circle on the gra.s.s, eating and laughing, Eliza made a bold suggestion.

"Now, I sez we folks seem to be foolish over some things. One of 'em is, we h.o.a.rd ole furniture and odds and ends that even a Dandelion laughs at! We pays rent fer jes' sech useless trash that we never wants to use agin. Every house-cleanin' time we moves and cleans the rubbish what collects moths, an' finally, affer years of savin', we throws it out."

She paused to see what effect this statement had on her audience, and seeing it was politely received, she took another huge bite from the sandwich she held, and, while chewing vigorously, concluded her speech.

"Now, this is what I sez: 'Let's go home and clear out all the rubbage that clutters our attics, an' give it to the poor, or sell it to a rummitch sale such as I hears tell of in Elmertown.'"

"I second that valuable motion!" laughed Mr. Lee.

And the men voted unanimously on the plan, but the ladies were not so easily persuaded. Mrs. Ormsby quickly added: "All opposed to the motion, say 'Nay.'"

But the scouts and Mrs. Vernon shouted hilariously to drown opposition.

There were two or three faint "nays," so the motion was carried, and the men declared that they would see to it that it was fulfilled.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

A VISIT TO GRANNY DUNSTAN'S CABIN

Mr. Gilroy's "suite of rooms" was put in order by the men before they went back to Elmertown, and not only the walnut bed helped furnish the chamber, but several other pieces of furniture were carried back from the stack beside the shed, and placed to add a look of comfort to the "room."

When all was done and the visitors were ready to leave, the scouts declared they would accompany their relatives down the slope and pa.s.s judgment on the "suite" to be occupied by their guest.

"It may be healthy to sleep out under the trees like this, but I prefer a plaster ceiling," laughed Mr. Lee, waving his hand at the open woods that was to be Mr. Gilroy's chamber.

"That's because you never tried Nature's ceiling. Once you sleep out in the open, you will never want to try indoors again," replied Mr. Gilroy.

"I'd better not try it, then. I have to remain at home and see that some one provides the 'pot-boiler,'" returned Mr. Lee.