The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1914-05-26
CAMP FIRE GIRLS
sy LOUISE MEHaIrIELp.
sssssesesssssssssssessssss

: 4
~ 4 don't give continental ham
mother. It's close on to moving tim,
and ! amt going to let lot OF girl
like that camp out On my place
81 They'll be cutting crosslcts througl
the hay fields after water and yege
tables and all sorts of truck, and
( won't have II.
[ They'd be lots OF company for me
Pa" Out OF the cool buttery Mrs. Tis
dale stepped briskly. with two pail
OF milk. She put the covers on both
and waited. smiling at the stoop-shoul
dered. stubborn old fellow making his
toilet for dinner at the iron sink
Just tell them what / say, now
mother" the old man insisted. Il can't
be bothered round haying time"
Somebody was whistling down the
winding lane that led from the barn
to the brook where the cattle trooped
to be watered night and morning. She
knew il was Ben. and her chin settled
into decisive lines.
PA. hate to go against you, but
rights right, and these girls are will.
ing to go round by the road shall
tell them they can stay where they
are. | guess after thirty-eighf, years
| here, I've got some rights, Alonzo.
and they'll buy milk and butter and
vegetables steady for two weeks"
Ben stopped dead short when he
came around by the woodshed and
saw the girls. Perhaps he might have
bolted II 1t hadn't been for the friend.
ly, comradely greeting they gave him
He had never seen girls like these
Dressed In khaki skirts, middy blouses,
and hair bound in close Indian plaits
around their heads. the girls stood
smiling at him.
We're going into camp over on
your HILL" called one OF them. "Is
there spring around the pine grover
Ben assured them there was beau.
ty He'd go himself and show it to
them.
We're Camp Fire Girls. My name
Is Dorothy Nevins." The tall, blue
eyed girl held out her hand to him.
i heard your mother say Ben would
show us where things were, SO you
must be Ben. Is it safe bathing in
tnat pond above the DAM"
Safe enough II you know where the
holes are" Ben said Keep toward
the upper end on your side"
It's a darling old place." Dorothy
said, wistfully You want to live m
city all your life to really appreciate
this ! wish l lived here. part of the
year, anyway"
so do H. said Ben before he
thought, and then he stared hard at
the fire, and felt his cheeks grow
warm. Yet he added huskily, Il
wouldn't mind bit If you were here"
It was the last day before che camp
broke up Ben was in the pasture !
next the woodland hunting a couple
of calves that had stayed when he .
heard the girls calling for help The
cry came from the old mill pond down
by the hill. Ben took the short cut to
{ through the strip OF woodland and
he boggy meadow beyond. I
Its Dorothy" the girls called. as
le neared them. "She was teaching !
me Of us to swim and dive, and we
ant find her"
Ben knew where she was The bank
helved into rock strata at this point, $
md dipped down into a deep hole a
Iiled with treacherous sunken snags fl
md broken old boughs. Every boy is
nd men In the whole town too knew y
hat back hole in the Tisdale mill .
ond and steered clear of it.
Along the road came PA" Tisdale.
Gaming way over. and dreaming
is day dreams. He heard the girls g
ries, and inwardly resented the dis. ie
lrbance of the beautiful morning
eace, until he turned the bend and p,
aw what had happened And some
ow, sixty odd years dropped right off D,
Pas shoulders then and there He,
DO, knew that place in the pond He
ad lived there at the old farm as a
oy.
Whoa, girls" he called to the gray
Iares, and stood up, tugging at his
d vest and boots. Leaving the load
sweet-scented, fresh-cut hay stand
g in the road, he crashed through
le underbrush to the brink Of the
md, but Ben was swimming in with Z
ng overland strokes, holding Doro- N
y's unconscious body over his arm. X
was the old man himself who helped tc
m up the bank with his burden, and sr
ok the limp little body from him. "
The poor little thing. he said, OF
lskily We'll take her right home yy
Ma"
So 1t came about that when the lit.
body of campers was ready to
ove along, it went without its leader. tel
} at Maple View she rested, petted yc
d tended by Ma Tisdale for several ad
seks, with Ben and Pa both vying be
showing honors to their guest. an
mellow it seemed perfectly natural nd
e splendid moonlight night, out un. !,
: the naples with the whip-poor
ling over on the edge of the woods,
len Ben told his city sweetheart ali