The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-01-22

hands with us In the most friendly fash
ion, and our deputy chaperon, with
wave Of his hand toward demure dansei
with very stiffiy starched and immacu-
late shirt-front, and with each particular
hair in its own particular place under her
trim little fore-and-aft cap. "Bess can
do propIiety for the whole camp, so we
have elected her deputy chaperon Our
genuine chaperon is lying down in her
tent She does not seem" 0his in con-
fdental Whisper ito enjoy camp life as
thoroughly as we anticipated; you see
she is about fifty years old and very
rheumatic and unfortunately 1t rained
the first few days we camped, and then
her tent leaked a little and she said she
sat up ell one night wringing the water
out of her bedclothes, and the first day
we had no fly over our dining table, and
the rain rather cooled off our meals be-
fore we could eat them, and now she IS
talking of going home, so we are train
ing Bess in readiness TO I'll her place"
Here he was interrupted by energetic
cries Of "Old IT IN, old man, are you
never coming, don't you know that you
have got the keys" And with a wave
of his hand and hasty instructions to Bess
to see that the rest Of the party We're
introduced to us the old man departed
in the direction Of the mess tent. and
promptly invited the men to come and
have something" which invitation they
ss promptly accepted, but before reoairing
TO the mess tent" the "old man" per-
formed his duties as host by introducing
the rest Of his party in O. fashion that
was TO say the least OF ii, original.
This" h said, leading forward digni-
fed young woman with large gray eyes,
lis our camp beauty; she Is not quite up
to the mark OF our last years beauty
eyeirg her critically, "but we always have
a camp beauty and camp sister and
chaperon--it gives the camp q sort or
prestige. you know.
l wish could begin 10 describe all that
was crowded into the next two weeks or
camp life.
OF course the great event OF the meet
was the trophy race. The old mans son
was the lucky winner OF this, and the
old mans excitement during the race was
intense. He was out in canoe with the
Beauty" and Bess, and they seemed In
an exhausted condition when they brought
him home They said afterward that the
old mans behavior had been something
awful; he had bet freely with all the peo-
pie in the adjacent boats. quarrelled with
some OF them as to which canoe had been
the first to turn the buoy, shouted him
self hoarse when his son took the lead
and when he won the race and the IN
ternational Trophy Cup, the old man
stood up IN his canoe, gesticulatinS
wildly. and finally threw his hat In the
air and hurrahed. while the Beauty"
and Bess sat In the bottom OF the canoe
In mortal terror of being upset ana
clasped the old mans legs In a vain en-
deavor TO steady him. Finally they were
compelled TO pull him bodily into sitting
~ fhaX naHdlf6 him 10
shore.
That night was to be our last night In
camp, and a great many Of our things
were already packed so our consterna-
ton can be pictured when we heard the
old man giving invitations right and left
for farewell supper in our mess tent
ito christen the trophy cup" IL was weii
for him that we all rather adored him, or
else he would have probably heard some
forcible language from the feminine por-
ton of the camp, as we fastened to warn
Burney OF the invasion that was to take
place that night. Well, at 10 that evening
they assembled, some fifty OF them. and
they brought banjos. guitars and other
instruments Of torture with them, ana
they sat at the door Of the mess tent and
serenaded us in the first place. and then
they drank che mpagne cup and proposed
toasts. and gave three cheers and
tiger for the winner OF the trophy cup
and In short kept II up until o'clock In
the morning, when with very enthusias-
tic but shalSy rendering OF
Good night. ladies';
Good night. ladies'"
they departed 10 their several tents.
We broke up camp the next day and re-
turned from whe we came" think
we were all sorry to leave the lovely
river and our jolly camp: we looked for
ward to another cruise the next summer
hut that was TO be on Lake Champiain.
not on our grand old river, among our
lovely islands.
II was O thoroughly happy three weeks
that we spent. and the consequences were
well. Charlie made a capital paddler;
Burney is Burrey no longer. but Mrs.
Daniel Waters; and I-weil, Jack says
we paddle so we'll together we should al
ways do IT.. and after next spring ! think
perhaps-we will.