The Carter Girls' Week-End Camp

by Nell Speed

  CHAPTER VIII

  THE DAMAGE DONE

  Jeffry Tucker and his daughter Caroline, otherwise known as Dee, weresurely the most tactful human beings in the world. They could almostalways gain any goal by tact. They set out now to make the grouchyweek-enders dry up and cheer up, and in half an hour after the storm wasover they had attained their object. Page overheard Mr. Tucker pacifyinga very disconsolate maiden lady whose hair had come out of curl andwhose rosy cheeks had run off--not far, however--only to her jaws.

  "This is a most outrageous way to treat boarders!" she exclaimed. "Theidea of having no proper shelter for them--charging an enormous price,too! I certainly intend to leave tomorrow and I will stop some friendsof mine who were planning to come up next week. Isn't it strange howthese places are overrated? Anyhow, I'll not give it a good name butwill get out the first thing in the morning."

  "Oh, don't do that," begged the wily Zebedee. "I had planned to get youto take a walk with me tomorrow evening. The moon will be gorgeous andthere are some wonderful spots around here--romantic spots."

  "Well, of course I wouldn't think of going if it clears up."

  "It has already cleared up! Just look at the moon! I almost think wemight take a walk now, but it might be very muddy. Let's fox trotinstead."

  "'Done, for a ducat!'" laughed Page to herself, as Mr. Tucker and themuch mollified week-ender danced off together. "I am afraid poor Zebedeewill have his whole holiday taken up showing the moon to wet hens."

  What Mr. Tucker accomplished with the females, Tillie and Dee didlikewise to the males. Tillie exercised all her fascinations on somehallroom boys, while Dee went in for some old bachelors who loved theirease and comfort and did not at all relish the idea of wet sheets onsoggy cots.

  "Here is some hot coffee!" she said, with a very winning smile. "Twolumps, or one?"

  "None for me, miss," from a terrible old grouch who had beenparticularly loud in his praise of Nature before Nature had shown whatshe really could do. "I don't expect to sleep a wink as it is. I amperfectly sure the beds will be damp."

  "But I am sure they will not be. Douglas is seeing about it now and shesays they have plenty of dry bed linen. You had better have some coffeeand I will dance with you until you get sleepy."

  "Egad, that would be very pleasant! I am going back to the city tomorrowand I could sleep on the train, perhaps."

  "Oh, please don't go tomorrow. I thought you would be here over Sundayand we might get up a little crowd and go sit on the rocks and readaloud or something."

  "Well, if it clears I may change my mind."

  "It has already cleared! Goody! Goody! Now you will have to stay.Wouldn't the old-fashioned waltz go well with that record Helen has justput on? Do you know I adore the old-fashioned waltz?"

  As the old-fashioned waltz was the only thing that staid bachelor coulddance, never having been able to master the new dances, this put him inrare good humor. He swallowed his coffee hastily, pronouncing itexcellent, and in a twinkling he and Dee were dancing the dances of theearly eighties and one more week-ender was saved to the Carters to givethe camp a good name.

  After a severe storm sometimes it is more of a wonder what the damageisn't than what it is. It seems at the time that nothing will ever bedry and straight again, and then in a very short while the world looksnormal once more.

  Camp Carter recuperated in a miraculous manner. Only one tent had beenblown away and those that stood the test of wind had also stood the testof rain. Some of the blankets were damp but most of them, thanks toLewis' foresight, had been protected. The drainage on the side of amountain is naturally perfect so there were no disconcerting puddles,and the rocky paths were hardly muddy, so hard and driving had been thedownpour.

  Lewis and Bill Tinsley went with Douglas and Nan to take stock of thedamage and to repair what they could. Their relief was great at thestate of affairs until they entered the cabin. The wind and rain hadgone straight through it. The pretty rag rugs were sopping wet and, as Ihave said before, all the dainty finery spread out on the bed, was blownhither and yon. Douglas looked at the havoc in dismay. Would her motherwant to buy more things to replace these that were ruined? She missedthe pretty hat intended for her own fair head and was in a measurerelieved that she would not have to wear it.

  "Let's build a fire immediately," and Nan began to pile up paper andchips in the open fireplace, the cabin boasting the one chimney in campwhere a fire was possible. "Now this will dry out the room before mothercomes in to go to bed."

  "Yes, and we had better put a cot in here for Bobby, now that our tentis blown off," suggested Lewis.

  "But where will you and Bill sleep?" asked Douglas.

  "Oh, we can curl up on the floor of the pavilion. Our cots are soaking.I kept the blankets dry, though."

  "But I am so afraid you won't be comfortable."

  "Oh, that's all right! Get us in training for the border! Bill and Ihave been living so soft I fancy a little roughing it will be good forus."

  Lewis sounded rather bitter and Douglas felt that she would give worldsif she could tell him that she had decided she did care for him as hewanted her to. Other girls pretended, why not she? But there was anuprightness about Douglas Carter that would not let her be a party toany form of deceit. She was sorry, very sorry, but she could not belike Tillie Wingo and engage herself to anyone on a moment's notice.

  "We are going to miss both of you ever and ever so much. Think what itwould be in a time like this without you to help! I can hardlycontemplate running the camp without you."

  "Oh, that will be easy enough! Skeeter and Frank can do what we havedone. You won't miss us at all."

  "I didn't mean just the work you do," faltered poor Douglas.

  "Oh, well, the rest won't amount to much," declared Lewis, determined tobe difficult.

  Bill listened to his chum in amazement. He was in such a seventh heavenof bliss himself that he could not understand anyone's being anythingbut happy. For his part he could not see why Lewis didn't settle matterswith his cousin before going to the border. It never entered his headthat anyone could refuse a Greek god of a fellow like Lewis Somerville.If a belle like Tillie Wingo could put up with him, why, there was nota girl living who would not jump at his friend.

  Nan sniffed a romance in the air where she had not expected to find it.She, like all her family, was so accustomed to the friendship betweenher elder sister and Lewis that she had not thought of a more seriousrelationship being the outcome. Lewis was certainly sounding cold andformal and Douglas was looking distressed.

  "I see how it is," she said to herself; "Lewis has proposed to Douglasand Douglas has turned him down. He told her he was going to enlist andproposed all in one breath and poor old Doug couldn't adjust herselffast enough. She no doubt does love him but doesn't know it. Just waituntil he gets out of sight!"

  The week-enders were finally all put to bed in dry sheets and warmedblankets, after having drunk hot coffee and eaten a rarebit that was sotender even the grouchiest of the grouchy could not get up indigestionover it. The leaven of good-humor spread by the Tuckers and Page Allisonhad begun to work and all were rising to the occasion and quite proudof themselves over taking everything so philosophically.

  The maiden lady who had threatened to leave on the morning train but hadbeen persuaded by Zebedee to stay over to take a moonlight walk with himwas now loud in her praise of camp life.

  "I say the only way to get along is to take things as they come. I wasjust telling Mr. Tucker that one can't expect the comforts of theJefferson Hotel up in camp, but then if one wants the comforts of theJefferson one had better go there and not come to the country. Now Iwould give up any comforts for the beauties of nature!" and so on, andso on!

  Dee danced the old-fashioned waltz until she almost forgot how to do asingle modern step. The grouchy bachelor forgot to worry about thepossibility of damp sheets and babbled along about the dances of theeighties, and promised to teach his young partner the racket and theheel an
d toe polka if any of the records would fit those defunctdances.

  The sprightliness of that particular bachelor was catching, and the twoothers, who had begun to inquire about time tables with a view tobeating a hasty retreat to the safety-firstness of the city, foundthemselves cheering up, too; and warmed by the good hot coffee, theybegan to dance with youthful ardor and actually grumbled when the crowdbroke up for needed repose.

  "Aren't the Tuckers splendid?" said Douglas, when she and her sisterswere undressing.

  "Indeed they are," agreed Helen, "and I like that little Allison girl alot, too. She waltzed in and helped with the eats as though she were oneof us."

  "I think Mr. Tucker is kind of gone on her," drawled Nan.

  "Nonsense! You are always thinking somebody is gone on somebody,"laughed Helen.

  "Well, somebody always is. He treats her just like he does the twins,only different."

  "How's that, like triplets?"

  But Nan had gone to sleep before she could formulate her ideas about howMr. Tucker treated Page. She only devoutly hoped he would devise somemethod by which he could persuade her mother to give up the idea ofgoing to White Sulphur and let Douglas alone about making her debut thefollowing winter.