Jane L. Stewart

“ The root had been good to the fugitives, sure enough, for the men who followed kept their eyes on the ground, looking out for it, since they had no desire to share the tumble of the man in front, and neither of them so much as looked at the cave.
"My, but they're brave men!" said Jack. "Three of them, all to chase one little girl!"
Zara, her fears somewhat relieved, laughed as she looked at her rescuer.
"I'm bigger than you are," she said, smiling.
"Yes, but you're a girl," said Jack, in a lordly fashion that would have made Bessie laugh if she hadn't been afraid of hurting his feelings. ”

“ And, holding Zara's arm, she led her away. For a long time, until Bessie judged that it was safe to return to the road, they kept on through the woods. And, when they came out on the road, the moon was up.
"The world's a beautiful place after all, Zara," said Bessie. "It can't be so bad when everything's so lovely. Come on, we'll walk a little further, and then we'll come to a place I know where we can sleep to-night—a place where wood cutters used to stay. No one's there now, and we'll be dry and safe." ”

“ Not a bit, Zara. Because the Camp Fire isn't a new thing, really. Not the big idea that's back of it, that you'll learn as you stay with us, and get to know more about us. All we hope to do is to make our girls fine, strong women when they get older, like all the great brave women that we read about in history. They've all been women who loved the home, and all it means—and the fire is the great symbol of the home. It was fire that made it possible for people to have real homes. ”

“ Camp Fire Girls, Zara," she said, suddenly. "They belong to one another, and they do things together. That's what counts—that's why they look so happy. We've never had anything to belong to, you and I, anything like this. Don't you see what I mean?"
"Yes, I do, Bessie. And that's what makes it seem so easy when they work. They're doing things together, and each of them has something to do at the same time that all the others are working, too." ”

“ You act as if you ought to be grateful to Maw Hoover for looking after you. Don't she make you work like a hired girl, and pay you nothin' for it? You work all the time—she'd have to pay a hired girl good wages for what you do, and treat her decently, beside. You're so nice that everyone picks on you, just 'cause they know they can do it and you won't hit back."
Glad of a chance to rest a little, Bessie had stopped her work to talk to Zara, and neither of the two girls heard a stealthy rustling among the leaves back of the woodshed, nor saw a grinning face that appeared around the corner. ”

“ Even as the two girls climbed up the steps the brakeman gave his signal, the conductor flung out his hand, and the wheels began to move. And Farmer Weeks, jumping out of his buggy, raced after it, yelling, but in vain.
Swiftly the heavy cars gathered speed. And Bessie and Zara, frightened by their narrow escape, were still too delighted by the way in which Farmer Weeks had been baffled to worry. They felt that they were safe now. ”

“ They sat down, cross-legged, near the fire, and the girls of the camp, quiet and competent, and asking them no questions, waited on them. Bessie and Zara weren't used to that. They had always had to wait on others, and do things for other people; no one had ever done much for them. It was a new experience, and a delightful one. But Bessie, seeing Wanaka's quiet eyes fixed upon her, realized that the time for explanations would come when their meal was over. ”

“ I'm just like a sign of bad luck—I make trouble for everyone who's good to me. Like Paw Hoover! He was always good—and the fire hurt him more than it did anyone else, though it was Maw Hoover and Jake who made all my trouble. ”

“ Jack flushed with pleasure. He had liked Bessie from the start and now he adored her.
"You're Zara's true knight, Jack, and she'll give you that ribbon from her hair. But you mustn't let anyone see it, or tell about this adventure, unless your father asks you. You mustn't say anything that isn't true, but only answer questions. Don't offer to tell people, or else you may be punished, because Farmer Weeks would say we were bad, and that it was wrong to help us."
"I wouldn't believe him, and neither would my pop, I know that. He's the greatest man that ever lived—greater than George Washington. ”

“ Zara trusted me, and if I don't help her now, just think of what will happen."
"You must keep calm, Bessie, that's the first thing to think of. If you let yourself get excited and worked up you won't help Zara, and you'll only get into trouble yourself. You say she trusted you—now you must trust me a little. Tell me, first, just what this man will do and if he has any right at all to touch her."
"Why, he's the meanest man in town, Wanaka! He really is—everyone says so! None of the men would work for him in harvest time. They said he worked them to death and wouldn't give them enough to eat." ”

“ I believe she can do anything if she makes up her mind she will."
"Did she hear anything about him in Hedgeville?"
"Only what we knew before, Zara, that they'd come for him and taken him to the city. But Wanaka said she was sure that it is only gossip, and that he needn't be afraid. And we're going to the city, too, you know, so you'll be able to see him."
"Will I, Bessie? Then that won't be so bad. If I could only talk to him I'm sure it would seem better. And you must be right—they can't punish a man when he hasn't done anything wrong, can they?"
"Of course not," said Bessie, laughing. ”

“ Sometimes it takes a long time, but Paw Hoover says he's never known it to fail that a bad man gets found out sooner or later."
"Then Jake Hoover'd better look out," said Zara, viciously. "He's lied so much, and done so many mean things that you've got the blame for, that he'll have an awful lot to make up for when he starts in. What would Paw Hoover do to him if he knew he'd set the woodshed on fire, Bessie?"
"I don't know. He'd be awful mad. He hasn't got so awful much money, you know, and he needs it all for the farm. But Maw Hoover thinks Jake's all right. She'd find some excuse for him. ”

“ She knew that in Wanaka she had found, by a lucky chance, a friend she could trust and one who could give her good advice.
Wanaka smiled at her as she led the way to the largest of the tents.
"Just call me Wanaka, not Miss Wanaka," she said. "My name is Eleanor Mercer, but here in the camp and wherever the Camp Fire Girls meet we often call one another by our ceremonial names. Some of us—most of us—like the old Indian names, and take them, but not always."
"Now," she said, when they were alone together in the tent, "tell me all about it, Bessie. Haven't you any parents? ”

“ And wherever did you get all that dirt on yourself?"
"Oh, in the woods," said the small boy. "Say, my name's Jack Roberts, and my pop owns that hotel there. What's your name? Do you like cherries? Can you climb a tree? Did you ever go out in the woods all alone? Can you swim?"
"My, my! One question at a time," laughed Bessie. "I love cherries. Have you got some?" ”

“ It was just before Zara came out here. Someone was out in the woods hunting, or something like that, and they left a fire, and the wind came up and set the trees on fire. It burned for three or four days, and all the men in the town had to turn out to save some of the places near the woods."
"Almost all the big fires in the forests start because someone is careless just like that, Bessie. They don't mean any harm—but they don't stop to think."
Then all the girls gathered about the fire, and each in turn did her part in stamping out the glowing embers. ”

“ It's going to be a long day's trip, but it's cool, and I think a good long tramp will do us all good."
"That's fine," said Bessie. "No one over there will know anything about us. Is that why we made so many sandwiches and things like that—so that we could eat our lunch on the way?"
"Yes, and we'll build a fire and have something hot, too. Now you can watch us put out the fire."
"I hate to see it go out," said Zara. "I love the fire."
"We all do, but we must never leave a fire without someone to tend it. Fire is a great servant, but we must use it properly. ”

“ You've been a good friend to Bessie, and I know you've cheered her up and helped her to get through days when she was feeling pretty bad."
"Indeed she has, Miss Eleanor! Many and many a time! Since I've known her I've often wondered how I ever got along at all before she came to Hedgeville!" [178]
"You see, Zara, doing things for others doesn't mean always that you're spending money or actually doing something. Sometimes the very best help you can give is by just being cheerful and friendly." ”

“ Bessie laughed. For once Zara seemed to have trapped her and beaten her in an argument.
"But I don't like to be angry, and to feel revengeful," she said. "It hurts me more than it does the other person. When anything happens that isn't nice it only bothers you as long as you keep on thinking about it, Zara. Suppose someone threw a stone at you, and hit you?" ”

“ I've been frightened since Jake locked Zara up in the woodshed, awfully frightened. And I've been unhappy, too. But I've been happier in these last two days than I ever was before."
"That's the right spirit, Bessie. Make your [188] misfortunes work out so that you think only of the good they bring. That's the way to be happy, always. You know, it's an old, old saying that every cloud has a silver lining, but it's just as true as it's old, too. ”

“ Clouds had been gathering for some time but the sun was still out, and there seemed no reason to fear any storm.
But now there was a sudden roughening of the smooth surface of the water; white caps were lashed up by a squall that broke with no warning at all. And Bessie, filled with horror, saw the canoe overturned by the wind. She saw, too, what [66] eyes less quick would have missed—that the paddle, released from Minnehaha's grasp as the boat upset, struck her on the head. ”

“ What are we going to do now?"
"We're going to join the big camp not far from here. Three or four Camp Fires are there together, and Mrs. Chester, who is Chief Guardian in the city, wants us to join them. I talked to her about you two over the long-distance telephone before we got on the train, and she's so anxious to see you, and help me to decide what is best for you to do. You'll love her, Bessie; you're sure to. She's so good and sweet to everyone. All the girls just worship her."
"If she's half as nice as you, we're sure to love her," said Zara. ”

“ Bessie and Zara followed Eleanor shyly, but Mrs. Chester put them at their ease in a moment.
"I've heard all about you," she said. "And [197] I'm not going to start in by telling you I'm sorry for you, either, because I'm not!"
Had it not been for the laugh that was in her eyes, and her smile, the words might have seemed unkind.
"I don't believe in being sorry for what's past," the Chief Guardian explained at once. "If people are brave and good, trouble only helps them. And it's the future we must think about, always. ”

“ Miss Eleanor, when can we be real Camp Fire Girls?"
"I talked to Mrs. Chester about that to-day, and I think it will be to-night, Bessie."
"Oh, that will be splendid!"
"Yes, won't it? You see, it's the night for our Council Fire—that's when we take in new members, and award honors and report what we've done. We hold one every moon. That's the Indian name for month. You see, month just means moon, really. This is the Thunder Moon of the Indians, the great copper red moon. It's our month of July."
"And will we learn to sing the songs like the other girls?" ”

“ How [181] does one get to be a Fire-Maker? One begins by being a Wood-Gatherer, doesn't one?"
"Yes, and all one has to do to be a Wood-Gatherer is to want to obey the law of the Fire—the seven points of the law. I'll teach you that Desire before the Council Fire to-night. To be a Fire-Maker you have to serve faithfully as a Wood-Gatherer, and you have to do a lot of things that aren't very easy—though they're not very hard, either."
"And you talked about awarding honors. What are they?"
"Have you seen the necklaces the girls wear?" ”