Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1933-02-09
Tenting Tonight
By H. LOUIS RAYBOLD

g by Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.
WNU Service
THE Streeters had been tout" q
month. and by that l don't mean
out Of Jail. but on the road. in the great
out-of-doOrs. hitting the trail. or what
you will in camp lingo.
To look at them. you would know
they had been out for some time. A
thick coating of dust hid the newness
OF duffle bags. suitcases. stove, um-
brella tent. telescope cots. and col
lapsible table. all slowed on running
boards, tenders. bumpers and either
side Of the hood.
The latter arrangement was very
awkward for Mr.. Streeter when put
ting in oil but. as his wife said. it was
one of these small Inconvenience
which one should not mind. She
didn't.
Mrs. Streeter had been the instigatOr
of the trip. She had had difficulty in
persuading her husband to go. AS for
Darienne, their daughter, it required
all of their combined parental au-
thOrity to get her to accompany them.
And it was because of her that they
were there.
1--WE must get Dairy away from that
plumbers boy" Mrs. Streeter had in
sisted. 81 suggest that we take the
car and go touring"
stopping at hotels, of course?"
Nothing of the kind. 1t isn't being
done as 1t used to be- We will put up
at those lovely state parks and mu-
nicipal camps you hear tell of. The
Dunbars were out all last summer and
they said they just rode all day long.
looking forward to the camp at night.
; some Of which had electric lights. care
takers. showers. and everything
So here they were on this warm
August day doing mean forty-hye
and hoping to reach camp the man
In the chain store where they had
bought some groceries had told them
{ about. Somebody's camp grounds or
other. it says on sign. Don't know
on the highway and you can't possibly
miss it,"
However. darkness, unleavened by
moon or stars, for the night was
cloudy. had descended before the
Streeters reached their destination;
sure enough. there was the sign. on
which, aided by the spotlight. they
could at least make out the welcome
words camp grounds"
In the background. dark bulk. as
of tent. doomed up. and general trod-
den-down appearance of the level
ground seemed to indicate that ether
campers had preceded them.
Within an hour. mother. father and
daughter were wrapped in slumber.
Darry's sleep. to be sure. was inter-
woven with pleasant dreams of Char
ley regarding whom absence had only
seemed to make her heart grow
fonder
The sun had been up some time,
when Mrs Streeter awoke with a
start Then she nudged her husband.
Listen. Ed. am I dreaming or do
hear an awful lot of people outside?"
Ed turned over drowsily. reused up,
and peeked through the tent flap.
Then he sat up suddenly. There are
at least two hundred" he said. "sitting
around and acting as if they were
waiting"
'Waiting?" cried Mrs. Streeter. in q
loud whisper. waiting for what?"
"Well." groaned Mr.. Streeter. they
look as If they were waiting for us
to get up"
'And that canvas thing in back we
thought was a tent" broke i'm Dairy,
who had been doing some peeking on
her own account, "lOOks like statue
waiting to be unveiled"
Those storied Arabs. who folded
their tents and silently stole away had
nothing on the Streeters that morning.
In utter stiffness and with never q
glance at one another. they crept into
their clothes. packed up their equip,
ment and climbed into their car
Just as Ed put his foot on the start
er portly woman rushed over to
them and shook Mrs. Streeter's hand
violently. 1--WE do hope we didn't dis
turb you. but you know we're a club
made up of his descendants and we've
come to dedicate this statue on the
anniversary Of his birthday. If you
would like to stay
But Mrs. Streeter declined her we'll.
meant invitation kindly but firmly.
Not until they were many miles away
did she open her mouth again. Then
''Well. would like to know whose de.
seendants they were. but I don't sup.
pose ever SHALL for never. in all my
born days will l come back this way
again."
sWell, I can tell you. Mamma" SAID
Dairy bitterly. ut was Joshua Put
nam. While she was talking to you.
looked over at that sign we half read
last night and il said. Joshua Putnam
Camp Grounds. Where Joshua Put
nam made his headquarters in 1777.'
We weren't camped in what we think
of as camp grounds. We were sleep
ing in public park, and if you say