almost every morning were seen barefooted figures scudding across the grass from the tents to the lakeside, and next would follow a great splashing about to the accompaniment of much laughter.
jack, who always enjoyed going further in her discoveries than any one else, was one morning wading just beyond where nan was taking her early dip. the sun had not been up very long and there was a rosy light upon land and water. every blade of grass was shining with dew and the birds were twittering in the trees or were dipping their wings in the lake as they flew over. nan was appreciating it all immensely. “there’s nothing like early morning to give one the true loveliness of a spot like this,” she was saying to jo, when jack came splashing through the water toward her.
“oh, nan, nan,” she cried, “come up here with me; there’s a poor something caught in the bushes, like abraham’s ram. do come see what it is.”
[138]“what do you think it is?” asked nan. “a bird, an animal or what?”
“it’s an animal. i don’t know whether it’s wild or not. i only saw its eyes and they were lovely.”
“well, i’ll come, but i won’t promise to go very near. we don’t want to be too much in a hurry to rescue wildcats or things like that, you know. this is properly mary lee’s province. she’d march right up to the creature, yank it out and be clawed for her pains. come on, jo, let’s go see what the thing is. perhaps it’s your friend the porcupine, jack. he may have come to call on you.”
“oh, porcupines don’t have big eyes like these. this is something much bigger.”
“oh, is it? so much the more dangerous, i should judge. however, there’s no harm in looking. where is it?”
“just in that clump of bushes over there.”
the three proceeded cautiously. at their approach the imprisoned animal struggled wildly to free itself, and the girls stood still, fearing lest it should suddenly become disentangled and pounce upon them. after a few moments the struggling ceased and they could see only two great, soft, startled eyes peering through the thicket. “they look to me like the eyes of a deer,” nan said at last. “it[139] certainly is not a wildcat nor a fox. i tell you what to do, jack; go back to camp, hunt up ’lish and tell him about it. he will know as soon as he sees it. the poor thing is in trouble anyway. it probably came to the lake for a drink and has become tangled up in all those wild grape-vines and brambles. probably it heard us coming and was startled so it didn’t notice where it was going. run on, now, jack. we’ll wait here till you get back.”
jack was ready enough to obey and was not long in reappearing with ’lish. nan and jo meanwhile had donned shoes and stockings and had slipped on waterproofs while they waited to see what would happen next.
’lish, stooping and squinting and shading his eyes from the sun, which was by now fully risen, at last declared: “it’s a young deer for sartin. poor crittur, i’ll go down and git it loose.” he approached the bushes, the girls drawing nearer as he did so, and as he parted the leaves they saw distinctly the graceful head and frightened eyes of a little fawn. it struggled madly and was almost dead with fear when ’lish finally lifted it out. one leg was evidently injured in the violent struggle.
“don’t let it go,” begged jack. “it couldn’t walk well and some beast might get it.”
“what ye want me to do with it?” ’lish[140] stood with the creature in his arms, making an interesting study, nan thought; the tall, lean, angular man in blue shirt, and butternut trousers with the little wide-eyed fawn looking around apprehensively.
“why, we’ll keep it till it gets well. couldn’t you do something to its leg, ’lish? rub it or bind it up or something? unc’ landy always could do things to our animals to cure them.”
“is its leg broken, do you think?” asked nan coming nearer the startled fawn.
“no, i guess it ain’t broke. i cal’late it’s jest a little wee mite sprained. probably it’ll get well of its own accord, but i might rub it with some hoss liniment i got. first-rate for sprains. use it myself for a lame shoulder. wal, come along, gals. we’ll take it up to camp and see what she says. i guess i might rig up some sort of paddock if you’re bound to keep it.”
the “she” referred to being miss marshall, a conference was had with that lady which ended in a decision to keep the fawn while the camp should be open, and then if it seemed best, to free it. “we’ll adopt it as our mascot,” miss marshall told the girls.
“it’ll be as tame as a kitten after while,” said ’lish. “my brother’s wife’s sister had one, and[141] blamed if the crittur didn’t follow her all over the house. it growed to be right big, horns and all, and one day it ketched a sight of itself in a looking-glass and blamed if it didn’t think it was another buck and put its horns right through the glass; smashed it all to flinders. susan said she would have to git rid of it after that. she couldn’t hev no sich crittur about the house.”
“but why?” asked jack.
“bad luck to hev a looking-glass broke. didn’t ye ever hear that? anyway, that’s what she said, so she let the buck out and off it went to the woods. guess it was jest as well; he’d soon got tired of private life, and would have broke loose some day. they like to range.”
“was that the last she ever saw of him?” inquired jack much interested.
“no, he’d come round once in a while, specially in cold weather, and she’d feed him. one time he brought his mate, but that was the last she ever saw of him. guess he thought after he’d brought his lady to pay her respects, he’d done his duty.”
jack laughed and followed ’lish to the little stable where the horses were kept and where they housed the fawn till another place could be provided for him. this was done in course[142] of time, and, as ’lish predicted, the little creature soon became accustomed to human beings and learned to know his friends, would eat from their hands, and would watch for them to come with some special tidbit.
the question of a name aroused great discussion. it was first deferred to jack as having the right by reason of first discovery. “i think we might call him dearie,” she said after a little thought, “because, you see, he is dear both ways.”
“why not fawny, then?” asked jo. “he’s so fonny, you know.”
“oh, that’s far-fetched and silly,” announced mary lee disgustedly. “why not call him caro? that’s the spanish for dear.”
“oh, you always want spanish things,” averred jack. “if we are to give him any foreign name i should say a german one, for we had venison all the time we were in munich.”
“what a painful suggestion,” laughed nan. “das rötwild is the german for deer.”
“i don’t care for that.” jack shook her head decidedly. “what do you think would be a nice name, mother?” she appealed to mrs. corner.
“how would lightfoot do?”
“oh, but you see one of his feet isn’t light he can’t use it at all yet.”
[143]this brought another laugh. jack’s reasoning was always rather unexpected.
“then tenderfoot might do,” proposed daniella, reminded of her ranch life.
“that’s worse yet!” declared jack.
“we might combine miss marshall’s name and miss lloyd’s and call him lomar,” suggested miss helen.
“oh, no. i once knew a boy named jim lomar and i despised him.” jack was decided upon this point.
“clearly we must be particular,” said bertha stine. “suppose we ask miss lloyd; she is always fruitful of suggestion.”
“heaven knows we have made suggestions enough,” said mary lee, “but the trouble is to suit jack.”
the question, however, was taken to miss lloyd who, after a moment, said, “how would you like happy as a name? this is camp happiness, and if he isn’t happy he ought to be.”
jack considered this gravely. “does every one like happy better than dearie?” she asked looking around.
“we’ll put it to vote,” said miss lloyd. “all in favor of happy will please raise their hands. one, two, three, four—nine. i think that is a majority, jack, for it leaves but six to answer. are you satisfied?”
[144]“oh, yes, i believe i like it quite as well. probably,” she added after a moment, “i liked dearie better only because i thought of it myself.”
“a reason which influences most of us in such matters,” said miss lloyd laughing, “but few of us are so willing to acknowledge it. very well then, girls, our mascot is to be called happy.”
jean took special pleasure in the little animal though jack always maintained she had a better right to him, because she had been the means of bringing him into camp. this fact, however, gave her a feeling of responsibility which in the end worked toward a new acquaintance.
“it isn’t every camp that boasts a mascot,” said jo at breakfast one morning a short time after happy had been adopted into the company. “we must take very good care of him, for he brings good luck, and if he gets away we shall have to expect ill fortune.”
“really, jo?” said jean.
“why, of course. if a mascot means good luck, no mascot means bad luck; that’s as easy as rolling off a log.”
“don’t give the child such notions, jo,” protested mrs. corner.
“oh, but it isn’t a notion,” persisted jo; “it’s a logical sequence.”
[145]jack was also listening and she mentally stored away the conversation and when, a week or two later, happy broke his bounds and disappeared, she was weighed down by the prospect of ill luck befalling camp happiness. she had gone to the paddock as usual just after breakfast, but no happy put his little soft nose between the rails to nozzle her hand for the food she held. ’lish was instantly hunted up and appealed to. when had he seen happy? he had seen him the night before. the paddock was then examined and ’lish’s experienced eye detected where the little hoofs had knocked off some bark from the barrier which was made of cedar poles. “he’s escaped,” ’lish pronounced the verdict. “i thought he was bound to sooner or later, as soon as his leg got well.”
“don’t you believe he’ll come back?” asked jack almost in tears.
“ain’t likely to jest yit. he wants his run. he may wander back some day, but he likes his freedom same as all wild critturs. ’tain’t likely you’ll see him agin for some time.”
but jack determined if there was a way to bring him back it must be done, so providing herself with some of his favorite food and a length of rope, in her usual confident way she started out to find the lost mascot. the print[146] of his little hoofs led her through the camp, across a field and into the first piece of woods beyond. here they were more difficult to follow; only once in a while upon the damp leaves could jack discover the impress. one of the pleasant occupations of the summer had been a study of wood lore from that master woodsman, ’lish, who knew more strange things than any one jack had ever seen except her old friend, jo poker, in california. he had taught her things, too. so she told herself she need not be afraid, as she knew just how to get back. the mountains were to the west of the camp and the sun set behind them. the lake was to the east, therefore when she could see one or the other she would know exactly the direction she should go. “when i go back,” she told herself, “i must have the mountains on my right for i shall be going south.” she noted very particularly all these points as she entered the woods.
she went on trying to trace the way happy had gone, but as he had pursued his journey by leaps and bounds and she could only trot along a rather difficult path, she did not make much headway and early lost all trace of him. still she did not give up at once, believing she might any time hit upon his tracks. but at last she had to confess to herself that it was not[147] worth while to follow up such a forlorn hope and she resolved to go back. “it’s dreadful to have to tell them we have lost our mascot,” she said, “but we shall have to stand it. perhaps he will come back to visit us as susan’s deer did, and then we can think we haven’t lost him altogether. i forgot to ask ’lish how long susan had her deer before it was set free. we have had happy such a short time that i am afraid he won’t come back, though i shall try to believe he will. now, let me see, i must find my way out of here.”
she trudged on through the dense woods which grew wilder and wilder as she continued her way, and a rough way it was. sometimes she almost lost the path and sometimes it seemed impossible that she could ever come to an opening which would allow her to see so far as either mountains or lake. at last, however, she did catch a sudden glimpse of the mountains which instead of being on the right or left were directly ahead. “that’s queer,” said jack stopping short. “i’ll have to get them on my right or my left. if i am going back they will have to be on the right.” so she turned carefully around but there seemed only a tangle of brakes and bushes in that direction and no path at all. she had not calculated upon the twistings and turnings of the lake shore.
[148]she halted again to consider what to do, and then bent down to examine her own footprints. “if i were an indian now, i’d have no trouble at all,” she told herself. “i wish i had a dog. po’ old trouble found the way to mary lee and phil that time they were lost. let me see. i came past that tree over there, i remember, because i noticed that some of the leaves were turning red.” she retraced her steps to the tree then halted again. “now, i can’t see the mountains from here. i’ll try to find the lake; it ought to be on the left as i go back.”
she trudged on again and finally came out upon the shore of the lake. the spot was unfamiliar but she was undaunted even though the lake was in front of her instead of to the left. “i’ve all day before me,” she said to herself, “and if i can’t find happy i can eat his buns, so i shall not starve.” she examined the pretty little shady nook she had found. “now i know what is the matter,” she said to herself; “the lake turns here, because this is a sort of inlet, only i don’t know exactly which way to go after all.” again she stood still and directly she caught sight of something moving among the trees. could it be happy?
she did not hesitate long in making her way toward the spot where she saw the movements and came face to face with an indian[149] gathering herbs. “hallo!” cried jack in surprise.
the indian nodded. “how do?” he did not seem in the least surprised at seeing a little girl prowling about the woods, but went on searching for his herbs.
jack watched him for a minute, glad to have met some one though it be a person so unresponsive. she wanted to make conversation but didn’t know exactly what to say. presently she remarked; “i’m glad you haven’t a tomahawk.”
the indian raised himself from his stooping posture. “i got,” he answered.
“where? i don’t see it.”
“in tent. you like basket? i make basket.”
“i like baskets. oh, yes, you mean those pretty sweet-grass ones? i think they are lovely.”
“i make. you buy some?”
“if you will come to the camp i will. maybe the others will, too. do you know the camp, miss marshall’s camp?”
the indian nodded.
“how far is it from here?”
“three, four mile.”
“i must have come further out of my way than i thought, then. which way do you go to get to the camp?”
[150]“so.” the indian indicated a path directly in the opposite direction from that which jack considered to be the right one.
“i hope he isn’t making a mistake,” she said to herself. “i can’t tell by the sun, for it is overhead.”
“i go little far with you,” said the indian shouldering his basket of roots and green stuff. “my woman make basket, too. i make good medicine. you come i show you basket.”
“oh, dear,” thought jack, “i believe he just wants me to go to his tent or lodge, or whatever it is, to see his baskets. i haven’t any money and i don’t want to go further than i need.” she turned to the indian. “no money to-day. you come to the camp, miss marshall’s camp. do you know ’lish?”
the indian nodded.
“it is the camp where he is.”
“i know him.”
“then you come and we will buy some baskets.”
“to-morrow?”
“yes, to-morrow.”
“all right. good-bye.”
this was the end of the interview and jack, turning her back on the indian, pursued her way. after going a short distance she suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to[151] ask the man if he had seen anything of a tame fawn, but concluded after all it would have been of no use, for wherever happy might have been earlier in the day he would be elsewhere now. so she walked on in the direction she had determined upon. she had not gone a great way before she heard a cheerful whistling at what seemed no great distance. following the sound, which fortunately was coming from in front instead of behind her, she presently came upon a young man standing before a sketching easel. he was busy at work upon the canvas before him, whistling cheerily as he worked, backing off every now and then to see the effect of what he had done.
here at least was an intelligent human being who could set her on the right way, so she decided to go up to him.
