"Well, maybe it's only a rabbit's," teased Bet.
"And I thought you were my friend, Bet Baxter!" Shirley answered, as she took the lead once more.
It was stinging cold. Every few minutes the girls had to stop and clap their hands together and stamp their feet to restore circulation. They pulled their wool caps well down over their ears and faced the sharp wind. They had crossed the main highway and struck into the woods on the other side, hoping to reach Cruger Lake by lunch time.
They walked and walked till long after the time set for lunch, but saw no sign of the lake.
"Let's build our fire in the woods, girls, and we'll go on to the lake afterwards. I didn't know it was so far." Bet slung her pack to the ground, and the others followed her lead.
"What's for lunch?" asked Joy Evans. "I'm starved!"
Outdoor cooking was a hobby with the girls and they soon had a fire started. And when a bed of coals was ready, a big steak with onions sizzled merrily.
Everybody was hungry from the long walk, and steak and sandwiches disappeared before the onslaught of four ravenous girls.
"And here's the dessert!" Bet held up a handful of dough.
"I wouldn't call that much of a dessert," Joy shrugged with disgust.
"Wait and see! You take a little piece of it and pull it out like this," and Bet stretched the dough into a long, narrow ribbon. "Now please hand me those sticks I was whittling!" After rubbing the end of the twigs in flour, Bet wound the ribbon around the end in a spiral.
"And now what?" asked Kit, as Bet passed each of them a stick with the twisted dough on the point.
"Put them over the coals but be careful not to burn them," she cautioned.
The girls kept the sticks turning so that the dough would cook evenly. Suddenly Bet held hers up; "I do believe mine is done, and this is the way you find out. If it slips off without sticking then it is done." Bet gave the twist a little turn and it came off.
"Now that's a bread twist!" she smiled with satisfaction, as the girls all took theirs off successfully. "Here, fill them up with jelly, and then tell me what you think of them."
"No words can describe this!" replied Joy. "I could just live on bread twists."
"And now let's be on our way!" Bet shouldered her pack. "It can't be far to the lake now."