CHAPTER SEVEN

HEPSY JOINS THE SCOUTS' UNION

The next morning, after breakfast dishes were cleared away, the Captain said: "Now we will give a few minutes to reading our Scout Handbook, and then practice some new knots. After that we can choose our recreation."

"I don't want to waste any more time on recreation until our new hut is built," declared Joan.

"Neither do any one of us, Verny," added Julie.

"Well, if that is the general wish, we can work on the hut and call it recreation, you know," answered Mrs. Vernon.

The moment the knots and reading were finished, they all ran over to the tool-chest to select whatever implements they might need. Mrs. Vernon handed out a spade and a pick, but no one took advantage of them.

"What are they for?" asked Ruth.

"We will have to divide the work as we did yesterday. Two can dig the cellar while two haul timbers for the hut."

"Dig cellar! You haven't any cellar under yours," returned Joan, amazed.

"But we have! Do you suppose those timbers and flooring would have lasted as long as this if we hadn't excavated a pit under them. The hole may have filled up with leaves and dried wood material, but all the earth was cleaned out by digging a cellar at least three feet deep. This gave ventilation and kept our things from mildewing."

"Why don't we all dig foundations, then, and finish it so much the sooner?" asked Julie.

"You'll find it isn't the easiest work to stoop over with a pick or spade and move earth that is filled with heavy stones. Your backs will ache in a short time, and you'll grow tired of the task. Then I propose exchanging those weary ones for two fresh diggers," explained the Captain. "Turn and turn about keeps one from feeling any monotony in the work."

"All right--send Ruth and Joan off for the first haul of logs," replied Julie, resignedly.

"But I'd rather dig, Julie, and let you two go for wood," declared Ruth.

"Ha, ha, ha! You're so contradictory! That's just what I hoped you'd say! 'Cause I'd lots rather drive Hepsy down the hill and hitch her up to the logs she's got to haul!" exclaimed Julie, exultantly.

Ruth said nothing but took the spade and started for the newly staked out cellar of the hut. Joan scowled and followed, but she wanted to join Julie in hauling the logs. Betty understood and ran up to exchange work with her.

"I'd be a poor scout if I didn't dig alongside Ruth when it's my job!" returned Joan, when Betty said she would exchange.

"But we all will have to dig and take turns, so what difference will it make, Joan dear, if I dig now or later?" argued Betty.

"Don't you really care whether you work with Ruth or Julie?" asked Joan, skeptically, because she liked to be with Julie.

"It's all the same to me, as long as we build the house," returned Betty, taking the pick and thrusting a hook into Joan's willing hands.

"What's this for?" wondered she.

"Verny says we have to use it to move the timber."

"Great! Well, as long as you don't mind, Betty, I'll run away and find Julie."

"I can't budge a spadeful of this hard ground, Betty," complained Ruth, as her companion joined her.

"Oh, not in that way, Ruth. You'll have to remove all the roots and weeds first, and that will help break up the hardened soil, you know; 'cause the brush-roots run down real deep, you see."

"But I just hate weeding, Betty; can't I dig it up without doing that extra work?"

"You tried just now and said it was awfully hard! I am going to weed mine first, and then dig it up."

So saying, wise Betty weeded a patch and then used the pick with which to break up the ground. This done, she took the spade and, to Ruth's great surprise, the loosened earth came up readily. The energetic young scout had made good progress in this work before Mrs. Vernon came over to inspect the task.

Ruth raised no further objections when she saw how easy the digging was for Betty; so she weeded, too, and followed her chum's example. Soon she found the work was not nearly as hard as she had thought it would be. But that is because she had not stopped to complain or think how hard it was _going_ to be--she forgot all this in watching and working as Betty did.

Julie and Joan followed Mrs. Vernon as she led Hepsy down the slope to the spot where the cut timbers were piled up. Here she showed the girls how to attach the chain and tackle to a log, and then to hook the chain to Hepsy's harness.

The strong horse willingly started up the hill and dragged the long log up to the site where the hut was to be. One girl drove Hepsy carefully to avoid ruts and snags which might catch the log and thus yank Hepsy up suddenly and perhaps injure her. The other girl had to follow in the wake of the log to see that it did not roll or twist out of the pathway, causing a ruthless tearing at bushes and flowers along the way.

The two girls who were digging found it quite tiresome to lean over so constantly. When they stood erect to stretch their back muscles, their bones felt as if they would crack. Ruth complained of her aches long before the Captain joined them.

Then Mrs. Vernon said: "Ah! I think I was wise in telling you girls to take turns about. Now I will signal for the two timber-jacks to exchange work with you."

When the two girls hauling timber responded to the call, they seemed right glad to exchange labor with the excavators.

"You'll find this digging a pit is simply awful, girls!" exclaimed Ruth, pretending she could not straighten her backbone.

"It can't be a patch on the job we've been doing!" cried Joan, looking at her hands with pity in her eyes.

"That's right! When you've had to steer or roll a log a mile long, you'll have something to say about hard work!" added Julie.

"One would think, after hearing you girls, that you were too soft and delicate to proceed further in your scout tests," said Mrs. Vernon seriously. That stopped all complaints instantly.

But Ruth could not help adding: "Girl scouts never work like this in camp--I'm sure of it."

"Girl scouts would never call _this_ hard work! They'd laugh at any one for hinting at such a thing. And you'll do the same thing before the summer's over," said Mrs. Vernon.

"Ah well! Let's prepare for the end of the summer, girls," sighed Julie, ludicrously.

"Come on, Ruth--take the reins from Julie and let's start," said Betty, taking the hook and starting down the road.

"By the time you two girls get back here, Betty, we'll show you how you should dig a cellar," retorted Julie. "Why, you only managed to dig up a square yard in all this time. You should have had half of the pit finished."

Betty and Ruth smiled at each other and nodded their heads wisely, then ran off to help Hepsy with the logs. Mrs. Vernon smiled also as she saw that each couple would soon learn that nothing is easy until one learns how to do it right. Then, when that time comes, it generally happens that one is forced to go higher to a new task. And so on, eternally, for this is progress and growth.

By the time the horn sounded for another change of work, both diggers and haulers were glad to exchange back again. Mrs. Vernon was busy about dinner, for she said such hard labor deserved hearty meals. And the girls agreed absolutely with her on that statement.

"I say! I'll never find fault with your digging again, Betsy," said Julie meekly, as she displayed about eighteen inches square of dug-out cellar, and a row of water-blisters on her hand.

Betty laughed at her sister, but the work continued until the cellar was dug deep enough and a mass of timbers was waiting to be used. As they stood admiring their morning's work, Betty said:

"I think Hepsy is the best scout of all."

"Why?" asked the other girls.

"Just see how she worked! She hauled and hauled, and never asked to exchange for an easier job. And all the time she worked she never complained once of an aching back or tired muscles. Yet I am sure she wanted to kick mightily now and then."

A roar of laughter greeted her last words, and Betty guilelessly asked: "_Now_ what have I said--what is the matter with you girls?"

The call to dinner quickly changed the current of their thoughts, however, and once seated about the stone table, they fell to with a will never manifested for plain cookery at home.

"We ought to be able to lay the floor logs and get the corner posts up this afternoon," suggested Joan.

"I was going to propose a hike downhill in the opposite direction from the one we took yesterday," said the Captain. "Then, when we return, a good swim will refresh us all for supper."

"Oh, yes, we've worked enough for one day," said Ruth.

When the scouts were ready to start for the hike, Mrs. Vernon showed them a note-book. "I'm going to have you take down notes on the flowers, trees, or birds we find on these hikes. This will prove very desirable practice when you are admitted as a Troop."

They started off, while Hepsy stood leisurely nosing at her dinner of oats. This reminded Julie of the funny saying by Betty just before dinner, and she now repeated it to the Captain.

"I meant, you know, Verny, that Hepsy must have had stiff joints from all that hauling yet she never kicked once to straighten out the kinks," explained Betty, when Julie finished.

"I doubt whether Hepsy felt as tired as you think she did. You must remember that her spine is almost parallel with the ground over which she has to pull her loads, and having four legs on which to balance herself, makes it easier than only having two. The chain and tackle also simplified the work for Hepsy, but we can't say as much of the hauling an Indian Squaw has to do.

"Why, the poor squaws do all the lifting and moving of their camps, through forests, over rough land, and even carrying their papooses in the bargain. They, too, drag their burdens in a sort of 'cradle' that is hitched to their waists by means of two leather traces."

"Oh, the poor creatures!" exclaimed ever-ready, sympathetic Betty.

"I'm thankful I'm not an Indian female!" declared Julie, with such earnestness that the others laughed.

After the usual scout reading from the Handbook the next morning, the girls hurried to work because they were anxious to see their hut built and finished. The ardor of accomplishment was beginning to fill their souls.

That day the cross-beams of the floor were laid and securely fastened at the corners. Then the other logs were sawed and notched for the corner-posts. It was impossible to split the timber for rafters, so the Captain advised the use of smaller tree-trunks for this purpose.

"What shall we do to keep out the rain or wild animals?" asked Ruth, seeing that no windows had been provided for the old hut.

"We can hang up water-proof canvas in the windows if it rains, but I have an idea for a door that I want to work on to-morrow," replied the Captain.

The carpentry now went steadily on, and without friction, as each one was anxious to see a finished hut. They were tremendously interested in their work, too, and that always makes a task easy.

Mrs. Vernon superintended everything, and demonstrated a wonderful knowledge of woodcraft. Then, whenever the carpenters were cheerfully working without her help, she turned to her own plans. These had occasioned curious comment from the four girls, because they could not see what could be built with a lot of short boards which had been taken from the boxes.

"You'll see when I'm through," replied the Captain to all their questions.

The scouts worked so industriously that the new side walls were completed, and they were eager to begin work on the roof. The hut was much longer than the old one, but its width was the same, as it used the end wall of the old hut for one side of its own.

The meeting of the two front walls of the huts, however, had been a problem. The scouts could not figure out how to nail any boards or logs to a corner post already used for that purpose. But Julie thought out a scheme.

"We'll leave that meeting place in front, for the door. Then we'll use a post for the other side of our door, and begin _there_ with the wall."

This was hailed as a fine idea, so they tried it. But the door-lintel was not as secure as it might be, and the girls dodged in and out to avoid having it come down upon their heads should it topple. They had no doubt but that it _would_ fall in sooner or later.

"We're all ready for a roof, Verny, and don't know where to find any wood for rafters or ridgepole," said Joan, when the Captain walked over to pass judgment upon the structure.

"That's a dangerous looking lintel, girls."

"Best we could do with what we had," replied Ruth.

"The material is all right, but the construction is careless. Now I have finished my door, but I wouldn't dare swing it from that frame," continued the Captain.

"Oh, were you building a door of those boards?" asked the girls.

"Yes, and I feel quite proud of it, too. Come and see it."

The door was made of boards all the same lengths and thickness but of different widths. So Mrs. Vernon had grouped them to have all the wide boards at top and bottom of the door, and the others graduating in widths until a narrow center one was reached. This made a pretty effect.

They were all securely fastened to a frame made of rough planks, but this frame would be on the inside so it would not be seen. "We can hang a drapery, or some vines on this back to hide the unsightly frame," said the Captain.

Heavy leather hinges were secured to the back edge of the door, and a latch and handle made of some sheet iron, were bent and cut to fit.

"How did you ever do that without a blacksmith?" asked Joan.

"I played my own blacksmith while you were on your hike this morning. I heated an old piece of wagon-tire and hammered it flat, then heated it red-hot and cut it with tools I found in the box."

"All right, Verny! You shall take the prize this time," Julie commended heartily.

"But that doesn't give us a roof or rafters," said Ruth.

"I have them all ready for you. I remembered them to-day when I inspected your work," said Mrs. Vernon, leading the way down to the buckboard.

"Help me lift the seats off," ordered the Captain.

This was done, and the curious girls then saw Mrs. Vernon pry out some small wooden wedges and lo! a board came from the floor of the buckboard. But stay! It was not _from_ the floor, but one of the extra boards that had been laid down to form a double flooring.

Several boards were thus removed, and then it was found that the original floor of the buckboard was as good as ever.

"Why did you have another floor laid?" asked Julie.

"Jim suggested that we might need a few boards for see-saws, or some other fun, so he fitted these down over the real bottom of the buckboard. I forgot about them until I found your need of just such boards for your roof."

"They're not very thick or heavy," said Joan, doubtfully.

"You don't want them heavy for a roof. The lighter the better, as long as they are steady and secure."

The boards were carried up to the new hut, and found to be several inches too long for the roof.

"That's an error on the right side, if there can be such a 'bull,'" said Mrs. Vernon. "For now you can have overhanging eaves instead of having the roof come flush with the sides."

"We haven't half enough of these boards for a roof, if we propose covering it with tar-paper as we did the old hut," said Julie.

"We only need enough to form bases for us to nail the laths to. You will find a large bundle of laths in the material Jim sent out by the Freedom delivery-wagon. The laths are easy to nail down and then the paper goes over that, you know."

So the roof was finally completed, but it was not as neat and exact as the work on the old roof, so Mrs. Vernon wondered! The week had gone by and the next day would be Sunday, but the scouts grumbled at the forced vacation.

"Dear me! I was sure we would be through building and ready to play by this time," complained Joan.

"I think you have accomplished wonders this week. I thought it would take us two weeks, at least, to build this new hut," said Mrs. Vernon.

"If we hadn't had such glorious weather perhaps it might have taken us that long," said Betty. "But the wood was all dry, and we had no delays in any way."

"I think the door is the best-looking thing about the whole place," said Julie, with head on one side, admiring the craftsman's work.

"That commendation makes me yearn to try other ideas," laughed the Captain.

"Maybe you are thinking of building a cobblestone chimney in our house," laughed Julie.

"Why didn't we think of it in time! We could have had one as easy as anything!" exclaimed Mrs. Vernon.

"Are you joking?" asked the girls.

"No, but now we must see where we could have it. I am afraid we will have to lean it up in the corner against the stone-wall at the back of the hut."

The girls laughed at this, for now they were sure Mrs. Vernon was only fooling them.