Winona of the Camp Fire Part 23

"In other words," said Winona, "work for people, or make things to sell them, or have an entertainment."

"Precisely," said the Guardian.

"Then let's start at the beginning," offered Winona, "and everybody try to think what she can do best in the way of work, and whether anybody'd want them to!"

"One thing," reminded Marie, "we can't live by taking in each other's was.h.i.+ng, so to speak. We'll have to scheme to get some of their hard-earned b.u.t.ter-and-egg money away from the farmers' wives, or else prey on the summer-resorters."

"We expect to give it right back to them for b.u.t.ter and eggs," said Adelaide. "Whatever we do we might as well take it out in trade!"

After that n.o.body seemed to have any more ideas. Everyone sat silently and thought very hard; till Louise jumped up with a yelp of impatience that woke Puppums from his after-dinner nap, and made even Hike the Camp Cat open one green eye.

"Don't let's waste this gorgeous day thinking!" she said. "My head isn't used to it, and it hurts. Come on, anybody that wants to-I'm going to walk down to the village to buy something, I don't care what. Who'll come?"

Winona, Helen and Nataly dropped into step beside Louise, and the four marched off singing "In the Land of the Sky-Blue Water," which they were trying to learn.

"That song really sounds better to Opeechee's ceremonial drum than anything else," remarked Louise.

"Real Indian music always sounds better if you pound something while you sing it, even if it's only a dish-pan," said Winona.

"Please don't mention dish-pans," begged Louise, "they're a tender point. I just parted from mine half an hour ago."

"All right," said Winona good-humoredly, "I have something else interesting to tell you. I bought a rowboat to-day."

"Oh, good!" cried Helen. "Marie's canoe and mine will be up in a day or so, but a canoe wiggles so when you try to fish from it. Now we can all go fis.h.i.+ng. Elizabeth brought tackle, but we thought we couldn't do much good, fis.h.i.+ng from the bank."

"And the Blue Birds can go out in it till they learn more about canoes, too," said Winona. "I'm going exploring myself in it as soon as I can.

What are you really going to the village for, Louise-or don't you know?"

"Benzine for my burnt-wood outfit," said Louise. "I had some thinks, and that was one. Little Louise is going to make some nice burnt-leather things for the neighborhood. Pillows and table-covers, and heaps of things for the farmers' wives to buy. Lessons in the art if they want them. I brought my outfit, and some skins, and colors."

"I thought I'd model some vases and pots and bowls, and fire them," said Helen. "They might sell, too. Have you thought of anything, Winona?"

"Not a blessed thing, for myself," said Winona. "You know, I'm not particularly clever about doing things like that, except making baskets, and Florence does those better than I do. But I have thought of one thing-how to sell our wares after they are made."

"That's quite a useful thing to know," said Louise. "About the most useful thing there is, in fact. Well, how?"

"We'll have to peddle them," said Winona calmly. "The farmers' wives won't come out here to buy unless we advertise a lot, and we can't afford that. The thing for us to do is to get some sort of a thing to carry the goods in, and make it look awfully arts-an-craftsy, and pull it round and sell things at the houses."

"A soap-box on wheels is what I _think_ you're hinting at," said Louise, "but I hope not."

"Are you really in earnest?" asked Nataly, who had taken no share in the talk so far.

"Why not?" asked Winona. "It's no worse than taking a horse and cart down through the Italian quarter and selling rummage things to the women there; and that's what the Ladies' Aid at our church did last winter."

"It's different," insisted Nataly, and nothing could shake her in her ideas. So Louise poked Winona, as a hint not to argue any more. But when Nataly went into the little general store to buy some picture post-cards Louise whispered to the other girls, "I have a glorious improvement on your soap-box plan, Winnie. If you girls will help me put it through I'll tell you all about it."

"I'd like to hear about it first," said Helen doubtfully; for Louise's plans were always original, but not always safe and sane. Before Louise could answer Nataly was back again, and Louise began to tell her the story of the reduced English gentlewoman who had to sell shrimps for a living, by calling them up and down the streets. "And she was such a perfect lady," finished Louise, "that whenever she called out 'Shrimps for sale!' she'd add under her breath, 'I hope to goodness n.o.body hears me!'"

"And did they?" Nataly asked innocently, while Winona tried to keep her face straight.

"No, they didn't," said Louise sadly, "so she never sold any shrimps at all. And so she died of starvation."

But Nataly, instead of grasping the moral, said only, "Well, why didn't she eat the shrimps, then?"

At which Louise grunted disgustedly and went in to buy herself the benzine.

After that day there was always a feeling in the village near Camp Sunrise that every Camp Fire Girl's first object in life was cat-rescue.

And it was Winona who was responsible. To begin with, the day the girls arrived at camp she had been seen by all the interested villagers, walking near the head of the dusty procession, leading a small, sash-bandaged gray kitten by a string. Hike had meowed for air and exercise just as the village had been neared, and Winona had taken that means of giving it to him, without risking his running off. The villagers might have let that, by itself, pa.s.s. But when it was coupled with Winona's performance of this afternoon-well, you can judge for yourself.

It was after the girls had bought everything they came for, and were on their way to camp. Out of a gate, across their road, bounded two small boys, each of whom held a wriggling black kitten.

"Won't you hurt the kitty if you hold it by just one leg?" inquired Winona of the nearest boy.

"It don't matter if we do hurt 'em-they ain't any good anyhow," he explained. "We're going to drown 'em in a minute."

"Oh, _no_!" protested Winona.

"Well, will you take 'em?" asked the other boy. "Mother says she can't keep any more cats."

Winona took the victims on the spot, and put them into the continuous pocket all around the bottom of her Balkan blouse. The small boys went back into their yard, where they were heard announcing, "Mother! A girl took the kitties!" And Winona stood still with a kitten at each hip.

"You'd better give them back," said Nataly, who was afraid of cats.

"Oh, I couldn't!" said Winona. "It's so nice to be alive, even if you're a cat-and there isn't really any Cat-Heaven, you know."

"Well, advertise them for sale, then," said Louise impatiently. "Good home and kind treatment wanted for two black kittens-salary no object."

She wasn't in earnest, but Winona was.

"I will!" she said. "Not for sale, but to give away. Will one of you take this notice to the paper, while I take the kittens to camp for the night?"

"I'll take the kittens home!" volunteered Helen, Louise and Nataly with a touching oneness of feeling.

Winona grinned. "Why, you very obliging people!" she said. "Please put them in a box with netting, then, so they can't get away. I'll go and advertise. I'm perfectly sure such good kittens as these will have lots of applications!"

Louise and Helen, each with a kitten, accompanied by Nataly, kittenless, went slowly campward in eloquent silence, while Winona sped back to the office of the village paper. So the next day an advertis.e.m.e.nt appeared in the _Press:_

Wanted, to find homes for two black kittens, nice purrers, good mousers. Can be separated. Apply Box 2, _Press_ office, or at Camp Karonya, in person.

"I don't care if they do laugh," said Winona when she got back, to find Camp Karonya howling at her in rows. "If they laugh they're more apt to remember, and come get the kittens. I'll put them out of the way, poor little things, if n.o.body answers in a day or two."

But-whether it was that cats who were "nice purrers" were a novelty, whether it is true that there's a place for everything in this world if we could only get in touch with it-the very next day there were five applicants for those two black kittens. Indeed, Winona had great difficulty in holding onto Hike the Camp Cat, who had grown by now into a very presentable, if fat, Maltese kitten. People seemed to think that it was Winona's duty to distribute cats as long as cats held out.

The only drawback was that for the rest of the time it was there the village with one accord used Camp Karonya as a clearing-house for its cats!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN