“Be quiet!” begged Mabel. “Blake, did you say you had an Indian book at home?”
“Listen, girls!” called Mabel. “Why can’t you all come over to my house this evening, and we’ll select our names. Blake only lives around the corner. He can leave the book, and——”
“Leave it!” exclaimed Blake, with peculiar emphasis. “Perhaps I had better _mail_ it, or send it parcels post, or call a messenger from the telegraph office. Only there’s none there after supper. However——”
“Oh, I suppose you can bring it—and _stay_—if you want to,” conceded Mabel.
“Not a pressing invitation, but—shall we take it, fellows?” and Blake looked quizzically at his chums.
“We can tell them how to make a camp fire, anyhow,” declared Jack.
“Thank you, we’re going to learn by practical experience, Jack,” spoke his sister.
“Then all come to my house this evening,” went on Mabel. “And, Blake, please bring the Indian book. Phil can entertain you and Jack while we look up some names.”
“And who will entertain you?” inquired Jack.
“Thank you—we don’t need it,” spoke Natalie.
“Well, I’m willing to wager my new hat against a hair ribbon,” declared Phil, “that with all you girls talking about wood-gathering and camp fires, not one of your crowd would dare go camping and build a real camp fire—I mean a party of you. It’s all very well to talk about being like the boy scouts, but when it comes down to the real thing, you’ll be so afraid of an ant crawling on a stick of wood that you’ll want an oil stove to cook on. Camp fire girls may be——”
“Stop!” commanded Mabel. “In the first place, Phil, the Camp Fire Girls’ organization wasn’t formed to go out in the woods, though lots of them do. We can have just as good a time at home. But, for all that, we do intend to go camping, and to make our own camp fires, too!”
“We seem to have stirred up trouble,” said Blake softly.
“They’ll never go camping!” came from Jack. “Here, I’ll offer a challenge—we all will. If you girls go to a genuine, bonafide camp, live by yourselves in tents, make the camp fire, cook your own meals, the same as we fellows do—why we’ll come up and see you once in a while. How’s that?”
“And bring you each a two-pound box of the best candy in town,” added Phil.
“And take back all we’ve said,” went on Blake.