The Nevada County picayune., 1911-08-18
The Disturbing
 Element

paraSol and proceeded 10 hunt down half a dozen hatpins lost In the maze of tiny green buds on the gray hat. I'm through camping!"
 Her audience sat up and gasped In wonder, The girl in the gray pongee was the champion camper of the neigh borhood.
 I've camped for the last time!" she said. emphatically. after allowing a proper time to elapse, for the sake of impressiveness. It's grown worse and worse every year. but this year 1t was positively unbearable
 When We first started camping" !" explained the girl in the gray pongee, i've made an ironclad rule that we would lead the simple life. We would live in our gym clothes, eat our meals in -you-please fashion and pass the evenings in whatever garb pleased us most; in fact, be perfectly natural for the whole two blessed weeks.
 Tt was such relief to know that you could luxuriate for those two weeks in boomers and blouses, or in wet bathing suits, without having to worry lest somebody accidentally see you. l used to count on it all winter when I went around strapped into dresses that would have burst If had had another eighth of an inch of circumference!
 Then last year some of the girls Informed us that a crowd of young men were going to camp near us. and we'd have to entertain them once in a while. Some of us baked. not so while as at the fact that there were going to be men in the neighborhood. It meant that we'd have to think about our looks and that spoiled the camp ing!
 Well. we had to endure the inflic- ton. The men were there and when they weren't invited they came any way and sang silly songs under our windows.
 The girls they knew thought it was so romantic. The rest of us, however. were simply disgusted and we told the girls so. too. But do you suppose 1t did any good? They just smiled sweetly and went and covered their faces with cold cream and powder be- fore going sailing. for fear they'd get sunburned!
 The rest of us made up our minds that we'd not be-shall I say bullied? into dressing up every evening, even . their mornings to ironing and washing to make themselves lovely. We deter mined to go on dressing as we had dressed before and merely to shun the men.
 But do you suppose we could? Mercy! We'd go for stroll down by the bay and there we'd meet one of our girls all in white with a man. We'd dart behind trees until they'd passed and then we'd go back along the path thinking that we'd get into a dark corner of the porch and have a good time talking. But the darkest corners were always filled with couples and of course we couldn't sit in the light in our bloomers! It was simply case of dress up or go to bed so we finally chose the former, for 1t was too hot to swelter in bed. and the men came awfully early!
 This year. when we went out, the girls all promised faithfully that they wouldn't invite single man. We were going to have a real old fashioned camp, and. oh! how I was looking for ward to it!
 Well, the very first evening who should happen to pass b. in an auto girls called out to him-and l just know she had been expecting him. We all had to run in and dress in skirts, while he sat in his car and waited for us.
 He took some of us for a ride. and before he left he asked If he couldn't bring out the whole party of fellows who were doing summer engineering near by! We had to say yes, after he'd given us ride.
 That ended all the fun. There were enough young men to go around, and then some, and they came morning. noon and night, We had to wash and iron long after we ought to have been asleep, so that we might be neat and fresh all day long, for fear some of them would come out to call. It was simply awful
 "I vowed that 1 was never going again. But the others seem to like 1t, and they're going to make regular house party of their camping next year."
 Its too bad that Fred has to be away all summer, isn't it?" murmured listener, cautiously. Now, If he'd"
 Yes" admitted the girl in the gray pongee. dreamily. If Fred had been there-"
 A ripple of laughter aroused her and she blushed rosily.
 What's the Use?