CHAPTER VII
THE CHALLENGE
When Bessie and Dolly returned to their own camp they found EleanorMercer waiting for them, and as soon as she was alone with them, she didsomething that, for her, was very rare. She asked them about their talkwith Marcia Bates.
"You know that as a rule I don't interfere," she said. "Unless there issomething that makes it positively necessary for me to intrude myself, Ileave you to yourselves."
"Why, we would have told you all about it, anyhow, Miss Eleanor," saidDolly, surprised.
"Yes, but even so, I want you to know that I'm sorry to feel that Ishould ask you to tell me. As a rule, I would rather let you girls workall these things out by yourselves, even if I see very plainly that youare making mistakes. I think you can sometimes learn more by doing athing wrong, provided that you are following your own ideas, than bydoing it right when you are simply doing what someone else tells you."
"I see what you mean, Miss Eleanor," said Bessie. "But this time wereally haven't done anything. We saw Gladys, too, and--"
She went on to tell of their talk with Marcia and of the unpleasantepisode created by Gladys when she had overheard them talking.
"I think you've done very well indeed," said Eleanor, with a sigh ofrelief, when she had heard the story. "I was so afraid that you wouldlose your temper, Dolly. Not that I could really have blamed you if youhad, but, oh, it's so much better that you didn't. So Gladys has decidedto stay, has she?"
"Yes," said Dolly. "But Marcia seemed to think Miss Turner might makeher go home."
"She won't," said Eleanor. "She was thinking of it, but I have had atalk with her, and we both decided that that wouldn't do much good. Itmight save us some trouble, but it wouldn't do Gladys any good, and,after all, she's the one we've got to consider."
Dolly didn't say anything, but it was plain from her look that she didnot understand.
"What I mean is," Eleanor went on, "that there's a chance here for us tomake a real convert--one who will count. It's easy enough to make girlsunderstand our Camp Fire idea when they want to like it, and feel surethat they're going to. The hard cases are the girls like Gladys, whohave a prejudice against the Camp Fire without really knowing anythingat all about it. And if the Camp Fire idea is the fine, strong, splendidthing we all believe, why, this is a good time to prove it. If it is,Gladys won't be able to hold out against it."
"That's what I've thought from the first, Miss Eleanor," said Bessie."And I'm sure she will like us better presently."
"Well, if she is willing to stay, she is to stay," said Eleanor. "Andshe is to be allowed to do everything the other girls do, except, ofcourse, she can't actually take part in a Council Fire until she's amember. We don't want her to feel that she is being punished, and MissTurner is going to try to make her girls treat her just as if nothinghad happened. That's what I want our Manasquan girls to do, too."
"They will, then, if I've got anything to say," declared Dolly,vehemently. "And I guess I've got more reason to be down on her than anyof the others except Bessie. So if I'm willing to be nice to her, Icertainly don't see why the others should hesitate."
"Remember this, Dolly. You're willing to be nice to her now, but she maymake it pretty hard. You're going to have a stiff test of yourself-control and your temper for the next few days. When people are inthe wrong and know it, but aren't ready to admit it and be sorry, theyusually go out of their way to be nasty to those they have injured--"
"Oh, I don't care what she says or does now," said Dolly. "If I couldtalk to her to-night without getting angry, I think I'm safe. I nevercame so near to losing my temper without really doing it in my wholelife before."
"Well, that's fine, Dolly. Keep it up. Remember this is pretty hard forpoor Miss Turner. Here she is, just starting in as a Camp Fire Guardian,and at the very beginning she has this trouble! But if she does makeGladys come around, it will be a great victory for her, and I want youand all of our girls to do everything you can to help."
Then with a hearty good-night she turned away, and it was plain that shewas greatly relieved by what Bessie and Dolly had told her.
"Well, I don't know what you're going to do, Bessie," said Dolly, "butI'm going to turn in and sleep! I'm just beginning to realize how tiredI am."
"I'm tired, too. We've really had enough to make us pretty tired,haven't we?"
And this time they were able to sleep through the whole night withoutinterruption. The peace and calm of Plum Beach were disturbed by nothingmore noisy than gentle waves, and the whole camp awoke in the morningvastly refreshed.
The sun shone down gloriously, and the cloud-less sky proclaimed that itwas to be a day fit for any form of sport. A gentle breeze blew in fromthe sea, dying away to nothing sometimes, and the water inside the sandbar was so smooth and inviting that half a dozen of the girls, withDolly at their head, scampered in for a plunge before breakfast.
"They're swimming over at the other camp, too," cried Dolly. "See? Oh, Ibet we'll have some good times with them. We ought to be able to haveall sorts of fun in the water."
"Aren't there any boats here beside that old flat bottom skiff?" askedBessie.
"Aren't there? Just wait till you see! If we hadn't had all thatexcitement yesterday Captain Salters would have brought the _Eleanor_over. He will to-day, too, and then you'll see!"
"What will I see, Dolly? Remember I haven't been here before, like you."
"Oh, she's the dandiest little boat, Bessie--a little sloop, and as fastas a steamboat, if she's handled right."
"Now we'll never hear the end of her," said Margery Burton, with acomical gesture of despair. "You've touched the button, Bessie, andDolly will keep on telling us about the _Eleanor_, and how fast she is,until someone sits on her!"
"You're jealous, Margery," laughed Dolly, in high good humor. "Margery'spretty clever, Bessie, and when it comes to cooking--my!" She smackedher lips loudly, as if to express her sense of how well Margery couldcook. "But she can't sail a boat!"
"Here's Captain Salters now--and he's towing the _Eleanor_, all right,Dolly," cried one of the other girls.
"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Dolly. "Bessie, you've never been in a sailboat, have you? I'll have to show you how everything is done, and thenwe'll have some bully fine times together. You'll love it, I know."
"She won't if she's inclined to be seasick," said Margery. "The troublewith Dolly is that she can never have enough of a good thing. The higherthe wind, the happier Dolly is. She'll keep on until the boat heels awayover, and until you think you're going over the next minute--and shecalls that having a good time!"
"Well, I never heard you begging me to quit, Margery Burton!" saidDolly. "You're an old fraud--that's what you are! You pretend you areterribly frightened, and all the time you're enjoying it just as much asI am. I wish there was some way we could have a race. That's where thereal fun comes in with a sail boat."
"You could get all the racing you want over at Bay City, Dolly. Theyacht club there has races every week, I think."
"But Miss Eleanor would never let me sail in one of those races,Margery. I guess she's right, too. I may be pretty good for a girl, butI'm afraid I wouldn't have a chance with those men."
Margery pretended to faint.
"Listen to that, will you?" she exclaimed. "Here's Dolly actually sayingthat someone might be able to do something better than she could! I'llbelieve in almost anything after that!"
"Well, you can laugh all you like," said Dolly, with spirit. "But if weshould have a race, I'll be captain, and I know some people who won'tget a chance to be even on the crew. They'll feel pretty sorry they wereso fresh, I guess, when they have to stay ashore cooking dinner while Iand my crew are out in the sloop!"
Then from the beach came the primitive call to breakfast--made by thesimple process of pounding very hard on the bottom of a frying pan witha big tin spoon. That ended the talk about Dolly's qualifications as ayacht captain, and there was a wild rush to the beach, and to the tents,since t
hose who had been in for an early swim could not sit down tobreakfast in their wet bathing suits. But no one took any great lengthof time to dress, since here the utmost simplicity ruled in clothes.
"Well, what's the programme for to-day, girls?" asked Eleanor, after themeal was over.
"Each for herself!" cried half a dozen voices. And a broken chorus rosein agreement.
"I want to fish!" cried one.
"A long walk for me!" said another.
"I'd like to make up a party to go over to Bay City and buy things. Wehaven't been near a store for weeks!" suggested another.
"All right," said Eleanor. "Everyone can do exactly what she likesbetween the time we finish clearing up after lunch and dinner. I thinkwe'll have the same rule we did at Long Lake--four girls attend to thecamp work each day, while the other eight do as they like. You can drawlots or arrange it among yourselves, I don't care."
"Yes, that's a fine arrangement," said Dolly. "It's a little harder forthe four who work than it would be if we all pitched in, but no onereally has to work any harder, for all that."
"It's even in the long run," said Eleanor. "And it gives some of you achance to do things that call for a whole afternoon. All agreed to that,are you?"
It was Eleanor's habit, whenever possible, to submit such minor detailsof camp life to a vote of the girls. Her authority, of course, wascomplete. If she gave an order, it had to be obeyed, and she had theright, if she decided it was best, to send any or all of the girls home.But--and many guardians find it a good plan--she preferred to give thegirls a good deal of latitude and real independence.
One result was that, whenever she did give a positive order, it wasobeyed unquestioningly. The girls knew by experience that usually shewas content to suggest things, and even agree to methods that she wouldnot herself have chosen, and, as they were not accustomed to receivingpositive orders on all sorts of subjects, they understood without beingtold that there was a good reason for those that were issued. Anotherresult, of course, and the most important, was that the girls, growingused to governing themselves, grew more self-reliant, and better fittedto cope with emergencies.
The girls were still washing the breakfast dishes when Marcia Bateswalked along the beach and was greeted with a merry hail by Dolly andthe others.
"I'm here as an ambassador or something like that," she announced. "Thatlittle sloop out there is yours, isn't she?"
"Well, we'll have ours here as soon as it's towed over from Bay City.And we want to challenge you to a regular yacht race. I asked MissTurner if we might, and she said yes."
"I think that would be fine sport," said Eleanor. "Dolly Ransom isskipper of our sloop. Suppose you talk it over with her."
"I think it would be fine, Marcia!" said Dolly, with shining eyes. "Iwas just wishing for a race this morning. When shall we have it?"
"Why not this afternoon?" asked Marcia. "We could race out to thelighthouse on the rock out there and back. That's not very far, but it'sfar enough to make a good race, I should think."
"Splendid!" said Dolly. "What sort of a boat is yours?"
"Just the same as yours, I think. We can see when they come, and if oneis bigger than the other, we can arrange about a handicap. Miss Turnersaid she thought she ought to be in one boat, and Miss Mercer in theother."
"Yes, I think so, too. And I'll be skipper of our boat, and have BessieKing and Margery Burton for a crew. Who is your skipper?"
"Gladys Cooper," answered Marcia, after a slight pause.
"Bully for her! Just you tell her I'm going to beat her so badly shewon't even know she's in a race."
Marcia laughed.
"All right," she said. "I'll let you know when we're ready."
"Now, then, Bessie," said Dolly, "just you come out with me to the sloopin that skiff, and I'll show you just what you'll have to do. It won'tbe hard--you'll only have to obey orders. But you'd better know thenames of the ropes, so that you'll understand my orders when I givethem."
So for an hour Bessie, delighted with the appearance of the trim littlesloop, took lessons from Dolly in the art of handling small sailingcraft.
"You'll get along all right," said Dolly, as they pulled back to thebeach. "Don't get excited. That's the only thing to remember. We'll wearour bathing suits, of course, so that if we get spilled into the water,there'll be no harm done."
"We've got a good chance of being spilled, too," said Margery. "I knowhow Dolly likes to sail a boat. So if you don't want a ducking, you'dbetter make her take someone else in your place."
"I wouldn't miss it for anything," said Bessie, happily. "I've nevereven seen a yacht race. I bet it must be lots of fun."
"It won't be rough, anyhow," said Eleanor, after they had landed. Shelooked out to sea. "It's pretty hazy out there, Dolly. Think there'll beenough wind?"
"Oh, yes," said Dolly. "Plenty! It won't be stiff, of course, and wewon't make good time, but that doesn't make any difference. It's as goodfor them as for us--and the other way round."