CHAPTER VIII: THE G. A. A. BREAKFAST HIKE
Dear me--the hosts of things to be decided during these first weeks ofschool! But wasn't it interesting?
There was talk of a new sorority. There was the revelation of some thathad existed before, _sub rosa_. Indeed everything was secret and the waythe rules were substantially avoided without breaking the letter of thelaw was another astonishing feature. Betty Lee did not quite understandthat yet. The sorority fever had not struck the little group of herespecial friends in their freshman year. There had been some of thegirls who were what the rest called "snooty" or "high hat," the terms incommon parlance for a species of snobbery. But as "little freshmen"their assumptions made small impression on their associates of thefreshman class.
Prominent juniors had been paying some attention to Lucia Coletti andincidentally to Betty and Mathilde and Carolyn. Peggy and Kathryn seemedto be left out. Nothing had been said so far, but notice had been taken,no doubt. Betty was thoughtful. She had been thrown with Lucia firstbecause she could be of service to her. Now no delicate withdrawal waspossible because Lucia, naturally depending upon Betty for muchinformation and liking Betty very much, a fact that Betty did notrealize, turned to her for companionship whenever their work made itpossible.
Betty saw that her first impression of Lucia had not been entirelycorrect. To be sure, Lucia had been spoiled, as an independent Americangirl would view her upon first acquaintance, adding the feeling of rankto that of the superiority of wealth and opportunity. But in somerespects Lucia was timid, and Betty had some idea now of how she haddreaded the new environment. Any timidity was hidden, however, behind areserve which had a little dignity and which Betty told herself was abit of the Count Coletti.
Then again Lucia would be impulsive and in high spirits with Betty'sfriends and tell them little things about her old schools abroad, forshe had been in several, owing to the travel of her parents. This wasall very interesting and Betty was becoming fond of Lucia, though shewas sure that Carolyn, Kathryn, and Peggy would always stand first. ButBetty liked "lots of friends."
How high school affairs were impressing themselves upon Lucia Colettishe did not say and the girls did not ask, though they could see thatshe was interested. She spoke English very well indeed and madeexcellent recitations in her different studies. To every one she wasuniformly polite, but not even Betty was invited to her confidence,though it must be said that Betty, absorbed in putting through her ownwork, did not notice it.
Among other things difficult to get started early, the G. A. A. hike wasnumbered. The heavy work of the opening weeks hindered the teachers whowere in charge of athletics. Then _Jupiter Pluvius_ took a hand andthere was a week of almost steady rain. But warm days in October withbright sunshine came along and at nearly the end of the month the daywas "actually appointed," said Peggy.
"It's a shame that we couldn't have had it when it was so nice andwarm," said Mathilde, who was privately intending to offer Lucia a rideto the spot chosen for the breakfast.
"But it would have been too warm for the hike," answered Lucia herself,who was a member of the Girls' Athletic Association by this time and onone of the committees. "I think that I shall enjoy that."
"Won't it be too far for you?" asked Mathilde, who was lazy, and only"going in" for the easiest form of athletics she could find, though shewas fond of games, which saved the day for her, and she liked theinterpretive dancing, in which she was quite graceful.
"Only five miles?" asked Lucia. "Why, we think nothing of that in----"
Lucia broke off, for her mother had warned her not to compare anythingto her life abroad. She made an excuse of speaking to Miss Fox, who hadthis expedition in charge, and moved away from Mathilde quite naturally.Lucia, however, was quite friendly with Mathilde. What girl would notlike another who was flatteringly attentive and evidently impressed withher? Moreover, Mathilde was a fair, prettily-dressed girl, attractiveenough when she chose to be.
"Listen, Finny," said Dotty Bradshaw, coming up to Mathilde. "You can beon the soup committee if you like and ride out with us."
"'Soup Committee!' I hope you are not going to have soup for breakfast!"
"Don't be so literal, Finny. Of course we are not going to have soup oranything like it. Can you cook wieners?"
"I should _say not_!" Mathilde started away in disgust. "Besides, I wantto take the hike and get credit for it."
"Haw, haw, haw," said Dotty in low tones to her friend Selma, who knewMathilde almost as well as Dotty did. "When I get outdoors I shallindulge in 'laffcher,' I think. But wouldn't I have been sold if she hadtaken me up? It would just about have spoiled the fun the committee isgoing to have!"
"Dotty, Dotty, Dotty!" reproved Selma; but a smile and dancing eyesshowed that she did not blame the irrepressible Dotty too severely.
This took place at a meeting of various committees on the Friday beforethe breakfast hike. Betty had been persuaded to be on the committee forrefreshments, though she, too, would have liked to take the entire hikeand earn the points for it. But it would be fun. Kathryn said that anygirl who had really done any cooking was capable of bossing the entireaffair and if Betty would be chairman of the committee, she would impartall her own valuable knowledge of what to cook and how on picnics.
"Kathryn Allen, I've never been to a camp and all you other girls have.I simply can't be chairman!" This was Betty, in the corner of the bigroom where the refreshment committee was getting together to discussarrangements.
"Listen, Betty. The chairman _bosses_ the rest. _They_ do the work!"
Betty laughed. "On that basis, then, Gypsy, I don't care, but I thinkone of you ought to be chairman just the same. Will Miss Fox know howmuch of everything we ought to have?"
"Of course she will. She's got the names of everybody that signed up togo. I don't know whether we ought to allow for girls coming at the lastminute, or bringing company, or allow the other way for those that thinkthey'll go and won't."
"Always better to have too much, than not enough," said Betty, thinkingof one or two tight squeezes when her mother had had the missionarysociety and more came than usual.
"Yet that is very wasteful, Betty."
"Yes, Dotty, it is. I think _you_ ought to be chairman."
"No, thanks. Some time I'll tell you how narrowly we escaped havinganother member on this committee."
"You are a case, Dotty Bradshaw. What have you been doing now?"
"Nothing much, Kathryn. Somebody call this meeting to order."
"All right. Betty, you're chairman."
"Honestly, I wasn't named chairman, girl. Ask Miss Fox whom she intendedfor chairman--_please_, Gypsy."
"All right--to settle it."
Kathryn dashed across the room, stopping behind Miss Fox and waiting foran opportunity to speak to her. There was a brief conference and Kathrynreturned to tell Betty triumphantly that she was chairman.
"Yes, of course," returned Betty. "I saw you fix it up with her. Did youtell her that I would be deeply disappointed if I didn't have thehonor?"
"Something like that," laughed Kathryn. "Now let's get down tobusiness."
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The morning of the hike was clear and sunny, when the sun finallydecided to get up. Fifty girls were up first, getting ready. The "bunch"who hiked were to meet at the school, but the committee on refreshmentswas to drive with their supplies. Miss Fox had accepted the offer ofKathryn's brother to drive the Allen car out for them and to helparrange their temporary camp. Lucia Coletti, interested and anxious tohelp, had begged her uncle for the use of his car. "It will be ready foryou to go to business," she said, "for it is only to take out boxes offood and perhaps a few rugs."
"Why turn my car into a grocery delivery wagon?" teasingly Mr. Murchisonasked Lucia.
"Because the groceries will not deliver the things for us."
"Very well, then, Lucia, if you can make your peace with the chauffeur."
"Oh, Horace! He will d
o anything! But I will tell him to come backimmediately."
"Will there be no one to come back, nothing to bring?"
"Oh, no--no--no, we all hike back, even those who ride out to do thebreakfast."
"I see; and the food will have been disposed of. See, Lucy, sister, howAmerican your daughter is becoming? She talks of hikes and things."
"I am only part American, Uncle," said Lucia, soberly and with emphasis."I am also the daughter of Count Coletti!"
Chauncey Allen, understanding that only Kathryn and Betty would be intheir car, asked two of his friends to accompany him. When they appearedat the Allen house Kathryn wanted to know "how come," as Chaunceyreported to Chet Dorrance later on.
"I have to have somebody, don't I, to keep me in countenance before allthose girls. Moreover, I want help in making the fires."
"We girls are perfectly capable of making the fires."
"Honestly, Kit, don't you like it?"
"Yes, I really do, but I don't know whether it's proper or not, orwhether Miss Fox will like it or not."
"She knows I'm going to drive, don't she?"
"Doesn't she, you mean. Yes. Oh, I suppose it's all right, if we can getall the things in."
"Wait till you see us fix 'em!"
Thus Kathryn and Betty had three escorts and a goodly amount ofsupplies. It was cold riding in the early morning, but the girls worewarm knickers and sweaters and drew over the blankets which the car wasfurnished. It was a jolly ride. Betty had scarcely seen all summer theseboys with whom she had become acquainted at the freshman parties andother meetings of her first year at Lyon High. Kathryn's brother hadbeen at a boys' camp. Chet had been away with his mother and brother,Ted, of the romantic disaster. The other boy was "Mickey" Carlin, whomBetty did not know so well; but Mickey was full of fun and contributedhis share of life to the occasion.
The five miles were quickly covered by machine and as the spot chosenwas a picnic resort on the river, it was not difficult to dispose of thesupplies which they had brought. They arrived at about the same time asMiss Fox and more of the committee in two other cars, and while theywere unloading, here came the Murchison car and its colored chauffeur inuniform.
Miss Fox was not only not annoyed at the presence of the boys but wasglad to accept their services. "We need some camp-boys," said shelaughingly. "It isn't going to take our hikers so long to cover fivemiles, though I told them to take their time and see whatever there wasto see on the way."
"Don't worry, Miss Fox," said Chauncey with a chuckle. "They'll waittill they hike back to see things, and believe me they'll have anappetite for breakfast!"
"All right, Chauncey. I shouldn't be surprised but you're right. By theway, you are invited for breakfast with the other boys, and you mightjust consider yourselves added to the refreshment committee. Yes, girls,all the milk and stuff can be carried to those picnic tables under theshelter house. We'll mix the cocoa there and open up the buns. Carefulto wipe off the tables and put papers under everything, girls. If we eatour peck o' dirt we'll do it without germs, I hope."
Pans, stacks of buns, paper plates, pickles (so appropriate for abreakfast, Dotty said), eggs to be scrambled, bacon to be cooked, andgreat sacks of apples and bananas were sorted and arranged under thedirection of Betty, who sprang to the fore when she saw that Miss Foxwas going to leave it to her. Betty had learned that summer that orderlyarrangement was half the battle in getting a meal. Quickly, from herlittle note-book, in which she had carefully written the names of thecommittee assigned to the various tasks, she told each one her duty anddivided the supplies accordingly. Fun was held in abeyance for a little,till things were fairly started. Oh, it would work out all right, Bettytold herself. The girls would select each a plate and visit "each potand pan," in due order.
The sun was up and it grew hot near the fires, but sweaters could bethrown aside. The cooks were adorned with a pointed head-dress of whitewith G. A. A. in blue letters printed upon it. Dotty called it the G. A.A. crown and fastened one around Betty's locks, saying that she waschief cook and bottle-washer and must have one whether she really cookedor not.
"I'm floor-walker, Dotty, but I'm going to oversee the scrambled eggbusiness, because if we have 'em at all they want to be good. I'vepracticed at home several days under Mother, so I'm going to do themixing up. Gracious, did we bring the salt!"
For a minute Betty looked blank, while Dotty consolingly remarked thatthe bacon would be salty enough anyhow. But the salt was discovered inone of the cars, a whole container of it, and Betty's moment of panicwas over. This was to be a real breakfast, Dotty declared, and severallittle squirrels dashing up and down the trees nearby were doubtlesshoping that they would be invited.
Betty Lee, Sophomore Page 8