He had nailed a cross-piece on this, so that it resembled the letter T, and was now laboriously boring holes and fitting in pegs, that Elsie might have a sort of closet behind her bed.
As for the rustic furniture, the girls and boys declared it to be too beautiful for words. They stood in circles about it and admired it without reserve, each claiming that his own special piece of work was the gem of the collection. The sunlight shining through the grey and green tints of the tent was voted perfection, Philip’s closet a miracle of ingenuity, the green and white straw matting an inspiration.
The looking-glass had been mounted on a packing-box, and converted by Laura into a dressing-table that rivalled Mrs. Pinkerton’s; for green tarlatan and white mosquito-netting had been so skilfully combined that the traditional mermaid might have been glad to make her toilet there ‘with a comb and a glass in her hand.’ The rest of the green and white gauzy stuff had been looped from the corners of the tent to the centre of the roof-piece, and delicate tendrils of wild clematis climbed here and there as if it were growing, its roots plunged in cunningly hidden bottles of water. Bell had gone about with pieces of awning cloth and green braid, and stitched an elaborate system of pockets on the inside of the tent wherever they would not be too prominent. There were tiny pockets for needle-work, thimbles, and scissors, medium-sized pockets for soap and combs and brushes, bigger pockets for shoes and slippers and stockings, and mammoth pockets for anything else that Elsie might ordain to put in a pocket.
By four o’clock in the afternoon Margery had used her clever fingers to such purpose that a white silesia flag, worked with the camp name, floated from the tip top of the front entrance to the tent. The ceremony of raising the flag was attended with much enthusiasm, and its accomplishment greeted by a deafening cheer from the entire party.
‘Unless one wants Paradise,’ sighed Margery, ‘who wouldn’t be contented with dear Camp Chaparral?’
‘Who would live in a house, any way?’ exclaimed Philip. ‘Sniff this air, and look up at that sky!’
‘And this is what they call “roughing it,” in Santa Barbara,’ quoth Dr. Winship. ‘Why, you youngsters have made that tent fit for the occupancy of a society belle.’
‘Now, let’s organise for reception!’ cried Geoffrey. ‘Assemble, good people! Come over here, Aunt Truth! I will take the chair myself, since I don’t happen to see anybody who would fill it with more dignity.’
‘I am going to mount my broncho and go out on the road to meet my beloved family,’ said Jack, sauntering up to the impromptu council-chamber.
‘How can you tell when they will arrive?’ asked Mrs. Winship.
‘I can make a pretty good guess. They’ll probably start from Tacitas as early as eight or nine o’clock, if Elsie is well. Let’s see: it’s about twenty-five miles, isn’t it, Uncle Doc? Say twenty-three to the place where they turn off the main road. Well, I’ll take a bit of lunch, ride out ten or twelve miles, hitch my horse in the shade, and wait.’
‘Very well,’ said Geoffrey. ‘It is not usual for committees to appoint themselves, but as you are a near relative of our distinguished guests we will grant you special consideration and order you to the front. Ladies and gentlemen, passing over the slight informality of the nomination, all in favour of appointing Mr. John Howard Envoy Extraordinary please manifest it by the usual sign.’
Six persons yelled ‘Ay,’ four raised the right hand, and one stood up.
‘There seems to be a slight difference of opinion as to the usual sign. All right.—Contrary minded!’
‘No!’ shouted Polly, at the top of her lungs.
‘It is a unanimous vote,’ said Geoffrey, crushingly, bringing down his fist as an imaginary gavel with incredible force and dignity. ‘Dr. and Mrs. Winship, will you oblige the Chair by acting as a special Reception Committee?’
‘Certainly,’ responded the doctor, smilingly. ‘Will the Chair kindly outline the general policy of the committee?’
‘Hm-m-m! Yes, certainly—of course. The Chair suggests that the Reception Committee—well, that they stay at home and—receive the guests,—yes, that will do very nicely. All-in-favour-and-so-forth-it-is-a-vote-and-so-ordered. Secretary will please spread a copy on the minutes.’ Gavel.
‘I rise to a point of order,’ said Jack, sagely. ‘There is no secretary and there are no minutes.’
‘Mere form,’ said the Chair; ‘sit down; there will be minutes in a minute,—got to do some more things first; that will do, sit down. Will the Misses Burton and Messrs. Burton and Noble kindly act as Committee on Decoration?’
‘Where’s the Committee on Music, and Refreshments, and Olympian Games, and all that sort of thing?’ interrupted Polly, who had not the slightest conception of parliamentary etiquette; ‘and why don’t you hurry up and put me on something?’
‘If Miss Oliver refuses to bridle her tongue, and persists in interrupting the business of the meeting, the Chair will be obliged to remove her,’ said Geoffrey, with chilling emphasis.
Polly rose again, undaunted. ‘I would respectfully ask the Chair, who put him in the chair, any way?’
‘Question!’ roared Philip.
‘Second the motion!’ shrieked Bell, that being the only parliamentary expression she knew.
‘Order!’ cried Geoffrey in stentorian accents. ‘I will adjourn the meeting and clear the court-room unless there is order.’
‘Do!’ remarked Polly, encouragingly. ‘I will rise again, like Phœbus, from my ashes, to say that—’
Here Jack sprang to his feet. ‘I would suggest to the Chair that the last speaker amend her motion by substituting the word “Phœnix” for “Phœbus.”’
‘Accept the amendment,’ said Polly, serenely, amidst the general hilarity.
‘Question!’ called Bell, with another mighty projection of memory into a missionary meeting that she had once attended.
‘I am not aware that there is any motion before the house,’ said Geoffrey, cuttingly.
‘Second the motion!’
‘Second the amendment!’ shouted the girls.
‘Ladies, there is no motion. Will you oblige the Chair by remaining quiet until speech is requested?’
‘Move that the meeting be adjourned and another one called, with a new Chair!’ remarked Margery, who felt that the honour of her sex was at stake.
‘Move that this motion be so ordered and spread upon the minutes, and a copy of it be presented to the Chairman,’ suggested Philip.
‘Move that the copy be appropriately bound in calf,’ said Jack, dodging an imaginary blow.
‘Move that the other committees be elected by ballot,’ concluded Scott Burton.
‘This is simply disgraceful!’ exclaimed the Chair. ‘Order! order! I appoint Miss Oliver Committee on Entertainment, with a view of keeping her still.’
This
